When Beastmode Means Riding Two Days In a Row

Pony love.

Before I head off to my CT scan today, I will let you know that I RODE. Twice. IN A ROW. Now, for me, this is big news. I don't recall that last time I rode two days in a row. I think maybe October. And I didn't pass out, nor did I need to climb/fall off my horse because I felt like I might pass out. I got my heart rate up, and got some nice exercise in. Just so you know, another obstacle of Lyme is exercise intolerance.

Streeetch down dragon.

What does this mean? It means that I am unable to physically do things like I should, and after I try, I experience negative side effects. Things like pain, extreme fatigue, nausea, dizziness, etc. It also doesn't help that I have exercise induced asthma. But it could be worse, and so I will deal with it and do my best to not end up in the hospital.

My fav trot picture from the ride.

Enough of that. We are tired of hearing "woe is me". Let's see some pony pictures!

I had an itch. And I really don't like seeing those ribs.

Day one: Bacon had morphed back into a dragon. A racehorse dragon. That didn't know what being relaxed and slow meant. I knew this was coming, as I have increased her grain and supplement rations and she hadn't been turned out that day. I proceeded anyways. Cause I'm a honey badger.

Good job horse!

She was snorty and looky and pulling. Not my regular Bacon. But that's ok, I was riding. We did get some good work in. I tried to remember what Linds was having me work on last year. Posting slower and larger to kind of try to get her to relax and slow those legs down and hopefully increase the stride and power. When she wanted to pull too hard, I tried to remember to not fight back and give her some more rein. She attempted to chill the best she could, and I appreciated that. We also threw in some cross rails and a jump or two over the barrel. She seemed to like that.

Jumping off one foot again. Darnit.

Day two was a different horse. Calm, quiet, sleeping as I tacked her up. I was feeling sad and she must have known maybe. I wanted to keep it short and sweet if she was good. And she really was. We had some nice transitions, did a little lateral work and I rewarded her with lots of breaks and then some jumping.

Pastels for spring!

Nothing like riding around in the yard.

Ho boy she was happy to be jumping! The problem we were having last year was falling forward and flat towards the jumps. Her head would be down and we would almost always take a long spot. Soooo, this year, the goal is head up at the jumps, butt engaged and getting deeper into the jumps. As my husband would yell at us as we would be coming up to the jump: BALLS DEEP! Thanks hubs, Whatever keeps you clicking that camera.

Sexy horse.

Look at that mane!

Oooo a PS Bridle....

Compared to the day before and last year, she already had improved. Weight was shifted more towards the hind end and she was just so damn excited to be jumping. It made me happy. That's not to say we didn't have any ugly jumps, because we still did, but we had more that were better. And I'll take it!

Feet planted. 

Balls deep.

Husband framed us pretty awesomely in this photo!

Moo the hay dane.

We also played a game of chase the dogs in the pasture. Bacon really enjoyed it.

Meaty did not.

ZOMG IT'S COMING!!!!!

Wildebeest #1.

Wildebeest #2.

And a foggy Pandora nose!

TT: Buckpasser-Bacon.

Oh look, it is another addition of throwback Thursday lineage style! And this time we are going waaaay back to Bacon's great great grandsire, Buckpasser.

It is not uncommon for all of you with OTTB's to have this guy pop up somewhere. He was a racing machine and also great in the breeding shed as well. If you are curious, keep on reading!

Born in 1963 and bred by Ogden Phipps, the young bay colt came from royalty. Sired by Tom Fool (Horse of the Year over Native Dancer) and out of a distance mare (Busanda), he was bred to make history. He inherited his sire's speed, but also had the heart and guts of his mother and was able to win in longer races such as the Jockey Club Gold Cup and the Travers Stakes.

Love his face in this picture

The colt was tall and lanky (sound like someone we know?) and battled with quarter cracks and knee issues. He stood at 16.3HH (also sounding familiar) and always seemed balanced. He was one of Richard Stone Reeves (famous equine artist) most favorite horses to paint. Loved his conformation and his demeanor. It was said that a child could handle him in the stable. But on the track, he was a monster to hold steady.

Saratoga Stakes win.

His first race, he ran fourth. He was known to sometimes come a little too close with his battles at the front, and was a freight train come from behind runner. Quarter cracks kept him out of the triple crown races. He was also the winner of a Horse of the Year title at three. He had 31 starts, and finished first 25 times, second 4 times and third once, leaving him out of the money only one time. He earned $1,462,014.

As far as his progeny go, he sired five champions. They could compete on either dirt or turf and usually got better as the distances got longer. But mostly, he was a great sire of fillies, who then turned around and become wonderful broodmares. They have produced some of the greatest horses to ever hit the track. Two were broodmare of the year. He later died of a ruptured aorta on March 6, 1978 at the young age of 15.

Cute older man version!

Not the best picture of Bacon. I will have to retake one!

On The Steel Horse I Ride!

Happy boy.

Ok, I didn't ride. But my husband did. He got a new motorcycle and was SO DAMN EXCITED. It was kind of adorable. I had just pulled up on Saturday from work, and there he was, with the world's biggest grin.

CAN IT COME IN THE HOUSE?!

At that point, it was way cleaner than the dogs, so I said yes. So, it watched the supercross races with us in the living room that night. And the next day, I let him take it out to break it in and play with his friends. I use to love going to the motocross races and watching him race. That is where I met him. The first race I watched him in, he fell down in the corner where I was standing, and then got back up and ended finishing first.

The boys and the bike.

He was kind of a little creeper. Always strutting around without a shirt on if I was there. He would just stand there and smile at me. But you all know what happened and here I am, married to the weirdo. I loved watching him ride and race, and I loved to photograph that. So it was kind of heart warming and terrifying to come out and photograph the breaking in of the new bike. He is still fast as hell, and with this new bike, even faster. So, for your enjoyment (since I volunteered my day of riding) here are some photos of him and his friends!

Going slow at first to break the motor in. I like this speed.

Blake probably complaining about how slow he has to go.

Boys and mud. I don't understand.

Chris goes weeeeeeee! All the matching gear is an A+ effort.

Oh look, more mud!

Wait a minute. That is not quite right. (Thankfully, he was ok!)

Blake being a brat and roosting his friend.

Vlad's matching game is on point. The goggles are like the perfect matching fly bonnet.

Too fast too fast too fast too fast.

Look at him just have a hell of a time.

The herd goes galloping through the track.

I bought that gear for him. Yeah, I know. I'm good.

See, I told you he survived. He even got back out there and scared me some more!

The goggles man, the goggles. They don't match.

Dirty boys. The one on the right is terrified of horses and it is very entertaining. 

Conflabbit.

A high school original. Don't judge me too hard.

I don't really like today, just so you all know. I don't like going to doctors. I have five of them and they like to see me but I don't like to see them.

Saw ENT doctor today. New plan: CT scan. Polyps didn't go away and so now we are going to do more investigating on that count and see what kind of surgery plans we come up with. He knows my sinuses are screwed up by my MRI, so now we will really get to see what he is working with. Dude doesn't know show season is coming up though, and I refuse to sit out the whole season with a surgified nose. Not happening.

Another fine doctor. Ink print from a carving I did on a rubber slab.

Also, I was looking for more insight for the lyme deal. So far, the amoxicillan has done nada. So back on my evil nemesis. Doxycycline. If it is working correctly, I should get extra sick. It is called a herxheimer reaction to all of the bacteria dying in my body. They say the spirochetes like to hide in the body and that is why it turns into a chronic thing. Also, unlike most bacteria, it feeds off of magnesium and NOT iron. Soooo, need to start supplementing that. Maybe it will help with the heart palps and muscle twitching.

And a goat painting?

This is such a damn controversial disease. There are a lot of doctors who don't believe in Chronic Lyme Disease. I can understand why. It mimics diseases like ALS, Lupus, Multiple Sclerosis, etc. People who get treated right away get better without issue. I want to know why soooo many people, who finally get tested for Lyme after ruling out everything else and come back positive, have all of these horrible symptoms and yet, doctors don't think there is any connection. Even though they keep testing and testing and can't find anything else. There are studies done showing the spirochete bacteria surviving over and over again even after long term antibiotics. Here is a crap ton of abstracts from some of the recent studies.

Throwing it in here for funsies. Because I hope my hands will allow me to do a colored pencil drawing soon.

Doctors don't really know how to treat this, so a lot of them ignore it. There are no guidelines. "Lymies", as we affectionately call ourselves, are stuck going from one doctor to the next because most of them don't believe in Chronic Lyme. The western blot test is inaccurate 40% of the time. ELISA testing is not any better. One thing that hinders us is our appearance from the outside. We don't look all that sick. People have a hard time believing that you are sick. Trust me, if I could let you take my body for the day, you might understand what this is like. Oh yeah, and I can pass it to my future children via placenta or breast milk. There are some studies now showing it can be sexually transmitted too.

When husband used to race motocross. After 9 hospital visits, I said "no".

So, I don't know what happened to my post. I was originally going to post about my dogs after seeing Carly's post on her cute pup. Whoops! Don't worry folks. I am not quitting. I've got clinics and shows planned. And I have friends who are great inhaler holders/photographers/water supply/health meters who will tell me NO when I should be done. Everyone should have one.

Just look how cute they are. They look the same!

And don't spill your entire dinner on the floor before it is even finished, or you will get really pissed off and end up with a post like this. Now I am going to go eat a pickle because they are zero calories and I like the zest.

Conformation Is The Bee's Knees

So, I am following Carly and Terise's original post on examining conformation. Conformation is awesome. And plays a pretty important role in what you horse is capable of doing, their longevity in whatever they are performing in, perhaps how comfortable they are, their way of going, etc. It is important, and it is good to look at your "Precious" in this light, just to have a basic idea.

Now I am in no form all that knowledgeable about conformation. I try to learn and pick up things all of the time. That is why I was really excited when Terise posted her fun way of observing your horse's confo. So, I decided to do the same and evaluate my Precious. Bacon!

Say hello to my bay giraffe.

Alert: I apologize for the cutting off of my horse's feet. This picture is from a year or two ago, as she is currently only halfway shaved and I didn't want to embarass her anymore than she already is. Her mom got a fierce cold and the shaving will commence as soon as she feels better :)

1. Length vs Height.

Ideal: The length of the horse from the point of the shoulder to the buttock should be equal to the height of the horse from from the top of the withers to the ground. This should create an box around the horse (minus the head and neck) that is a square with equal sides.

Actual: Um, I am going to have to say that I already knew that my horse was probably taller than she was long. This can kind of be a bad thing, as a longer back would make her more symmetrical and help her with jumps. She has the shortest back of all of my mares and at almost 17hh, she only wears a 75" blanket. Note to self: for next confo photo, make mane neat and include feet!

2. Heartgirth vs Legs

Ideal: The depth of the heartgirth from the top of the withers to the elbow should be equal to the length of the leg from the elbow to the fetlock.

Actual: Again, legs for days. They are certainly longer than her heartgirth. This may inhibit her athletic ability in relation to housing her organs, as horses are wanted to have deep heartgirths. Long legs are good for covering ground and all the things too, so there.

3. Topline vs Underline

Ideal: The topline should be level so the point of the croup is at the same height or slightly lower than the top of the withers. The topline from the top of the withers to the point of the hip should be shorter that the underline from the point of the elbow to the stifle.

Actual: Well, she scores slightly better here. Obviously her croup is lower than her withers. What is considered slightly lower? That might be significantly lower. And her topline is ever so slightly shorter than her underline. She is not downhill, that is for sure, and she isn't some weird horse with a shorter underline. Almost, but not quite.

4. Forequarter vs Hindquarter

Ideal: The forequarter of the horse (minus the head and neck) should be equal to the hindquarter of the horse when a line is drawn through the center (near the last rib) of the horse in the box from before.

Actual: Not sure is I did this correctly, because it doesn't look like I got the line right through the middle. But then it wouldn't really be by her last rib. So, I don't know. I think she looks fairly equal here, as she doesn't have the most fantastic shoulder OR hind end there ever was. So they compliment each other.

5. Shoulder vs Back vs Buttock

Ideal: The shoulder, back, and buttock should all be equal in length when lines are drawn from the top of the wither to the ground and the point of the hip to the ground in the box from before.

Actual: Again, a little not so. Poor Bac' isn't scoring the greatest in her confo eval, but that is ok. I still love her to pieces. Her shoulder is certainly lacking here, but is fairly close to the length of her booty.

6. Head vs Body

Ideal: The length of the head should be similar to the lengths from the point of the hock to the ground, the chestnut on a forelimb to the ground, length of heartgirth, and from the stifle to the croup.

Actual: Had to improvise here, since her head is slightly turned in. If her head was as long as her heartgirth, I might be a little disturbed. I like her head the way it is. Apparently it is just a bit small all the way around. We'll just look past this one....

7. Buttock vs Hip vs Stifle

Ideal: The lengths from the buttock to the stifle, the stifle to the point of the hip, and the point of hip to the buttock should all be similar.

Actual: She wins at this game! And her race trainer always made fun of her pointy ass. Take that, race trainer!

So, what did we learn? We learned that even though the majestic horse beast has some flaws, most are pretty minor and I still love the crap out of her. And that maybe I will have to revisit this again with a better picture. And take a look at my other ponies! And for those of you who want to do this eval too, please go to Terise's post!

Also, lookie, my first ride of 2015! Sad, isn't it?

She is so gross. And I want to fix it. Only, it is going to start raining again!

I was going to ride her in her new PS of Sweden gear and my cwd saddle that my butt has been missing. But she is caked in mud. And trying to brush it off kills her, so I tried to shave it off. HA! Didn't really work...but I was just so happy to be on her and she was just wonderful.

Withers and crotch don't mix.

Stretchy horse wanted to be extra stretchy.

I just love her. And the fading spider with 9 legs on her ass.