B is for....Bacon!

I never finished the big girl's story, and she deserves it to be told just like anyone else!

First ride!

That first day that we got her home, I was quite terrified. I am not sure why, but I was. Maybe because I had only owned stock horse breeds before? Maybe because I had not spent much time with thoroughbreds under saddle? I thought I might fail her. I certainly didn't think she would fail me.

She was pretty terrified too. I turned her out into the arena, and she ran around and yelled out for friends. The other girls came over and looked at her, but didn't say much back. She quickly covered herself in sweat. And I got more worried.

2nd Ride!

But it turned out to be just fine. I was so excited, I wanted to hop on her right away. Blake tossed me up on her bareback, and led me around for a few laps to satisfy my need. She was sweaty and uncomfortable to sit on, but she didn't make one wrong move. And then I felt relieved.

Light as a feather. Stiff as a board.

I threw a saddle on her the next day and went for a little ride. She giraffed around and was very stiff, and had very short strides. But she didn't offer to do any wrong moves. The first thing I wanted to install on her was an emergency brake and to enhance her flexibility. We did a crap ton of one rein stops, followed by lateral side to side stretches. She started to get some brakes!

Blake was weary of me riding her so fast, and thought we should do more groundwork before I got on her. I was very impatient, but he insisted. I let him work with her for about two weeks, and then did things my way.

Bacon goes western!

Bacon goes english!

Bacon tries side passing with cowboy Blake.

Bacon is beautiful!

We started to work on circles, trotting and cantering on a loose rein, some leg yielding, backing, going over very small jumps, and lunging her over larger ones. But most importantly, we tried to get some weight on this girl! We started her out on grass and alfalfa, then just grass, then just alfalfa. Then alfalfa with beet pulp, Ultium grain, Smartpak's Weight Gain, Cool Calories, hoof supplements and a calming supplement. And vegetable oil. And she FINALLY started to gain weight.

Summer 2012.

Jan 2013.

Winter 2012.

The day that Vegas had injured herself when Blake's saddle flipped underneath her was a day that never quit. After I fixed Vegas up and hid Blake's saddle in my truck (yikes!) and put Lucy away, I went to go and grab Bacon from the pasture. When I went to get her, she didn't move. I put the halter on and asked her to walk forward, and to my horror, she hobbled on three legs towards me.

Me and my flat hands have some work to do.

Back dat ass up.

I crumbled. I called Blake to come outside, and he hurried over. He felt horrible, as my two ponies became two lame ponies in the same day. Within the same hour. He quickly called our vet, who informed us that it might be an abscess. He had treated seven that day, and the fact that she had no heat or swelling in her limbs gave us faith in that. He came out, and searched for the abscess. But couldn't find one. He said to wait and see if it would resolve over time, as he would do more harm than good to keep digging for it. We waited. It didn't resolve. Well, not all of the way. Sometimes she was lame. Sometimes she wasn't. Our farrier thought maybe it was her feet. Then he thought maybe she was navicular. Everyone was confused. She had all of the summer of 2013 off. She was not ridden from April until October. I noticed she seemed to be moving quite well over an extended period of time. So, I decided to lunge her. And she did great! So, then I hopped on for a little bit. And she still did great! And then winter came, and here we are.

Had to use the fence to get on...

Yay knees over tiny cross rail!

So fancy in her purple.

I have big hopes and plans for her this year. There are several of us that think she may have just had a bone chip in her knee that lodged itself, which caused her on and off lameness. I just hope she stays sound and happy. Even if we can't jump anymore, I would just love to have my girl ok for flat work.

No butts about it.

We have to catch up to Diva and Papa!