Horses are Hard

Hey, y'all. I'm sorry I'm the worst at this. Thanks to L. Williams for nominating me for the Sunshine Award, though, which is great because it prompted me to come back here and get to writing! I'll answer the questions in the next post, I promise.

I think one of the reasons I took a blogging hiatus, besides being incredibly busy with trying to finish my doctorate, is because things with Lex are super tough right now. I'm enjoying reading everyone else's stories about how they get to ride their horses and teach them new things and learn and go to horse shows and jump, but it's also making me kind of sad. Life with this little lady is an uphill battle and I haven't figured out how to level that hill.

The good news is, I'm back in the tack!

The bad news is, she's back to her dragon lady ways. She isn't lame - not that I can see, or that my trainer or anyone else whose opinions I respect can find. And it isn't a mare heat cycle thing, because she's a dragon all the time, and not just when she's in heat. I'll try to get someone to take a video of the ride, but basically what happens is, I lunge her and she's fine both directions at the walk and trot. No problems, sound and happy horse. Then I get on and we walk, and she's fine. Then we start trotting, and she pins her ears and throws her head up in the air and makes a fuss for awhile. After ten or fifteen minutes of that off and on, she calms down, stretches, relaxes, and is happy.

She isn't hot. She's actually kind of lazy. She'll break back down to the walk (I usually let her take a few walk steps - bad trainer, but I'm trying to feel for a physical problem) and she never offers to canter. I certainly haven't asked for a canter, either. If I can't crack the trot, cantering isn't happening. I think, in my heart of hearts, that this is a training issue. But I also feel a responsibility to make sure she isn't uncomfortable or in pain. Soooo the vet is coming back out tomorrow. A very knowledgeable friend thinks that maybe she has ovarian cysts or something, so I think we'll end up palpating her and maybe doing an ultrasound. But if it's ovarian cysts, why would she work out of the cranky attitude? Also, she really is not spooky at all. I rode her two days ago and the ring was full of scary things, like a lunge line blowing around on a jump standard and a jump that blew over right when we were trotting by. She didn't care a-tall. I love that about her.

Lex is also still fun to be around in the barn, and she looks FANTASTIC. She really does. My trainer can't shut up about how great she looks. I could pull her out of her stall and take her to HITS and she'd fit right in. I'm proud of how great she looks, because it means I'm doing a good job grooming her and keeping up with her nutrition. She loves to be groomed, too. Anything that feels like admiration to her, she'll take, especially in carrot form.

I snagged someone and had them take a couple pictures of her the other day because she's looking so good. Of course, there's no winter coat to be found. Even in Florida, it gets chilly enough at night that they need a sheet of some kind if they don't get fuzzy.

I love this.

Her Shinyness.

And a couple from the outtake reel. 

Gimme that nose!

Pay no attention to the shadow of our lovely helper.

Being around Lex is actually really fun if you're not riding her.

So that's the Lex news. Hopefully there will be something that looks like an answer after the vet sees her tomorrow.

I haven't been riding Zephyr. He got kicked in the chest and that needs to heal. There are other reasons, too, having to do with my relationship with his owner, but I'm not going to get into that. I am looking forward to climbing back on the monster soon. I think he misses having a job. He's harassing the poor girls who work there whenever they go out to catch a different horse. He could probably stand to be lunged a little, at least.

Aaaaaand I gotta hit publish so I can go to work. I will continue with updates and Sunshine Award loveliness tomorrow. Thanks for reading, and I will try to be a better blog human!