Idiots that own horses....

I would like to prefice this by saying....I am not an expert. Remember..I'm the one who hung it up 20 yrs ago when I got hurt, instead of getting back on and sticking with it. HOWEVER.....I do a know a little bit about what is right and wrong, along with smart and ignorant.

I was flabergasted this afternoon, as I saw this woman hand walking her cute little, sorrel mare down my street(E 11th for my Newton friends).  I first saw her walking the horse west, down my street. Then a few hours I noticed she was walking east back down my street. I wasn't so much shocked that a horse was walking down my street, but this little mare was SOOO stocked up from stifle to hip on her right hind, I wanted to cry!!! Now, ironically she happened to be walking by while I was walking out to my car(to go play with horses in Andover), So you KNOW I had to say something. As she got closer, I saw that she had horribly cracked and panned out hooves and that her front legs were almost as bad as her rear. I will say that the mare was a good weight, and coat in decent bloom, and there didn't appear to be a speck of dust on her.

Me "Are you aware your mare is really off on her rear"?,
"Dipshit", "oh...well yeah...she's 30 yrs old."
Me "Why are you walking a 30 yr old mare with a stocked up hip, down the asphalt road"???
Dipshit "excuse me, are you an expert"?
Me "uuumm, I would say that my 30 yrs experience, and several years at competing in 3 day eventing, and other disciplines at Grand National level, breeding my own horses, and working for 2 large animal vets, DOES make me knowledgable" "and I certainly know enough NOT to walk a 30 yrd old mare, that is limping like that, down the DAMN street"!!
Dipshit "you never walked your horse down the street"??
Me "I have ridden a 5 yr old horse with special shoes in a parade for charity".
Dipshit "So you only ride down the street to show off"?
Me "isn't that what your doing"? "My question to you is, WHY are you walking on the asphalt? Why aren't you walking her on some turf"?
Dipshit "I'm hand walking her, to get the fluid in her joints moving, YOu gonna walk her? I don't want her standing in her stall all day with no exercise"
Me "I think that's great, get her on some damn turf" "why do you have a bareback pad on her if you are just hand walking her"?
Dipshit "I was taking pictures of her down the road. You think I don't take care of my horse, that I don't love her"??
Me "Noooo I didn't say that "Jayne", in fact I am sure you love your horse, I can tell she's well fed, and her coat is in good shape, I just think you should be walking her somewhere else"
Dipshit "How do you know me, you don't know me at all"??
Me "your name is stitched on your jacket"

I did ask where she boarded her horse, wouldn't tell me. I am pretty sure she is keeping the horse somewhere at the corner of 12th and Old Trail Rd.??

So you see how this went. She just didn't want to hear it. Truly a dipshit. How can you own a horse for 30 yrs(according to her, she has had this little mare since she was a foal), and NOT know, you don't walk a lame horse on pavement?! Some idiots should not own animals of ANY kind!!!! And although I am only a mile or so away from the suspected boarding location, that's a lonngg walk for an old mare!!! I told her I wished her the best, as she went fuming off, calling me bitch under her breath and such. Her poor little mare skittling on the pavement.

SO... a little prayer goes up, for a little sorrel mare tonight. and Grrr.... to Jayne.

Kindness shared between strangers....

So..while I was shopping today, a little boy(3 ish?)threw himself on the floor and would not get up or answer to his Mom. She was almost in tears. She also had a smaller little girl in a stroller. Clearly she had her hands full, and I suspected that since it was a little past lunchtime, SOMEONE was in need of a nap. She sheepishly mentioned that this was only their first stop and that she had more errands to run. I could tell she was dreading her day. As he lay on the floor, I bent down and started talking to him. My name is Beth..what's yours? Gage. Did you have a fun Thanksgiving? shook his head yes. His Mom thanked me. Did you eat lots of turkey?..yes. Did you have pie?..big grin. Then he finally got up and came over to me and showed me his new hat and sweater(even gave me a little whirl around look). He was a beautiful child, strawberry blonde curls and light blue eyes, with pink cheeks. I asked if he wanted to see himself in the mirror, he nodded yes(Mom gave me the nod also), then he took my hand and led us to the mirror. After admiring himself in the mirror, with my continual "coo-ing" of "what a big boy you are", "you sure are handsome", "you are being soooo good", etc., I sat on a chair close to where his Mom was shopping and I could see that she was teary eyed.

Gage continued to tell me all about his Thanksgivng. I asked where he had dinner and he told me "Nanna's house", "but just Papa was there". He climbed in my lap and put his little arms around me and clung to my neck, and I started to rock him. Now his Mom is sobbing, and she told me "My Mother passed away in February and this is our first family Holiday without her". Now, for the benefit of those who may be reading this and don't know me, my own Mother died in February 2010 and this was my "first" Holiday without her. Although I don't have children, I sure undertood the pain of missing your Mommy over the Holidays, more so than any other day in the year.

Of course by now, I am choked up and sobbing.  I never got his Mother's name, but we discussed how we plan to get through Christmas and agreed it will probably be harder than Thanksgiving. And all this time, little Gage is still sitting in my lap, hugging my neck and patting my face too. His Mom and I finally dried up. I sat for a little big longer, letting Gage hug on me and squeezing him back, and sneaking in a tickle here and there while his Mom shopped. Now he was laughing and being silly but well behaved. I finally stood up and said my good byes. I shook his little hand and told him I had fun with him.

As I walked out of the store empty handed(completely bailed on my shopping..lol), I heard a little voice say "Bye Beff"...I smiled and waved good bye again, then got in my truck and balled for a few minutes.

I'll never forget Gage and I will surely see him around town again with his Mom, but for now, this has left a profound feeling of "understanding", and kindness between myself and a complete stranger.

The Finger

So...a couple weeks ago, I noticed a bump on the pointer finger on my right hand. I just kind of ignored it as it wasn't being problematic. Sure I tried the ole home remedy using a pin and peroxide, but I didn't get anything out. Well, last Thursday I decided it was officially a problem. It was hurting and throbbing. My nailbed was inflamed and the whole fingertip was red, hot and inflamed. I went to Immediate Care. The Dr. there said, "Hmm, looks bad...I'm not comfortable opening that up due to the nerve and tendon structures. Start these antibiotics and see your doctor in the am". Friday am, my Dr. says "Hmm, looks bad...I'm not comfortable opening that up, you need to see the hand surgeon". That afternoon, Hand Surgeon says "Hmmm, that looks suspicious, we better open that up". I figured I would get a little numbing shot in my finger and away we'd go. OHHHh NOOOO.....I was put on a gurney and prepped down to my elbow. Passed out from the nerve block in my hand (they stuck a 4 inch, 20 gauge needle with 10cc of novacaine, in the palm of my hand between my pointer and middle fingers-HARROWING),....an hour later I had 2 incisions in my pointer finger; one with sutures, one without....and 2 days later, it still hurts like HELL!!! LOL!!! BTW...there was no infection, just kind of a pocket. The Surgeon seemed quite pleased about that.

Sadly they said no horse activites until the sutures come out....grrrrggrrrrr.....Just a bump in the road...I'll be back at it in no time!!

The Benefits of Equine Therapy

I am nearing the end of the first week of my new adventure of having horses in my life. I have worked with a variety of different personalites (there are 7 horses and a pony at Jenn's). And if variety is the spice of life, call me Spicey and slide me a margarita! "Kat" is the elderly matriarch of the herd. She is a slow, sweet and evidently bombproof, palomino. Next is "Son", he is in his teens and is a kind eyed, well muscled, beautifully marked light colored paint. "Wyatt" is around 10 (as I recall) with a blue eye, and is a flashy patterned red and white paint. He is approx 16.1 hands and the tallest of the herd. Ironically, my first horse "Shadow", was 16.3. Shadow was an appaloosa, throughbred cross. Twenty years ago, I rode English and was into Show Jumping, Hunter hack, 3 Day eventing and such. I needed a tall horse with a lot of leg. Now in my 40's, a short little 14.3 to 15.2 appeals..lol... I will talk about the rest of the herd as I get along working with them.

What is quite clear to me at this point, is that I am reallly getting back into the groove. I am having the best time! I was cleaning stalls today with a pink bandana on my face and Trey (Jenn's boyfriend) asked if I was gonna rob a bank after cleaning stalls...lol...Jenn is thrilled to have a "Barn Bitch"...lol...I feel good, I am tired at the end of the day, but surprisingly not too sore, and am sleeping really well.

And with regard to pain and such, I am planning to focus more on the "good ways" I feel, as opposed to dwelling on "how poorly" I feel. My friend Cooper told me "I love you, but, yeahhh....you always talk about how unwell you feel, and worrying about your next illness", "Beth, that is no way to live"! I love Coop for having the balls to say this to me. For stating the obvious, yet unnoticed, to me.

Praise the Lord and pass the amunition...I am SAVED!

Gonna Jump Right In!

So this is the first of what I hope to be many, many posts. Some interesting, funny, introspective, and at times mundane and boring. This happens to be a retrospective post. My Mother, "Max" passed away on 2-9-2010. I celebrated my 44th birthday 9-18-2010. My birthdate marked the "first" of " The Firsts". I have to admit, I was extremely, surprisingly so, down. I now see that I had been glum for a couple days prior to my bday, but chalked it up to the ole "curse" coming on. As much as I enjoy celebrating my birthday (this comes from my inner Princess), I found it hard to get excited about it at all. I thoroughly enjoyed my bday dinner, planned by my VERY best friend Jennifer. I had several offers to go out and "Do" something, but by 10:30pm I was in bed and crying myself to sleep...cause damnit...my Mommy was NOT there to celebrate with and that was just NOT ok. I realize that this is only the beginning of what appears to be a rough "thing" to go through as each milestone approaches, and necessary that I survive it. This will most definitely be discussed in my upcoming therapist appt.

On a good note; I have decided to seriously consider getting back into horses after over 15 yrs. Owning horses was truly a highlight in my life. I gave it up due to injury and cost. At the time I was a young, newly married woman who, wanting to please my asshole of a husband, hung it all up. I don't think this is just a whim, although the idea literally came to me as an "Oprah Light Bulb Moment". The thought of just grooming horses(I have a friend who has several to practice grooming/groundwork and such), has got my blood heating up...it has given me a plan, a goal. It is a somewhat short to long term plan and ultimate goal of ownership. It has been a long road to recovery from my Prize fight with Leukemia (the prize being my life)! I am still quite out of shape, and physically weak. I have discussed my plan with a few women who own horses, whom I value their opinions, and they agree, that my slow boat to the arena is a good one. I don't want to get as ambitious as to start showing again. I want to "get back to basics" on a sound horse, with a sound temperment and enjoy feeling the horse under me.

As this is a fledgling blog, there will be a separate post re; my Leukemia and such. It is important to ME, for YOU to understand what I have been through. I'm not just a blog, I am a person.

I hope all that read have a wonderful week! Peace out :0)