Will Rogers Classic Time Again

Ahh, the feeling after a 2-day horse show. Makes me remember how old I can feel. Somehow, I didn't manage to ride myself but Kathy rode Call two days in a row.

Poor Pico had to stay at Shipman's Vet Clinic until Wednesday when his white blood cell counts came down and he was discharged with the plan for another week of convalescence. So, since Sunny has been recovering from his foot injury, neither Alaina nor Ivy had their project horses for the Will Rogers Classic. Finally, we were able to have a couple of ride nights but I was in Kansas during the first and the girls and I were at Alegria during the second - so we planned to ride with Patty Friday night and to make mighty show preparations there. Ivy practiced showmanship with Sister and then rode Splash in a lesson while Alaina worked Casper. Then leg and tail washing and some minimal trimming since full wash was out even with hot water in the wash rack, it was 35 degrees (which for horse washing purposes is not even close to 40).

Off to the show grounds early Saturday for the start of the 2011 show season. Ivy and Alaina have moved up to the 12-14 age group and it is tough. Ivy showed Sister in Halter Mares, Showmanship, AND rode her in English walk/trot; she also showed Splash in Halter Geldings, Hunter Under Saddle and Hunt Seat Equitation. Considering that Splash was off most of last year after his injury in May, they did fairly well. Ivy got correct lead canters and fairly good transitions - and Splash lapped the competition, beleive it or not. And, Sister was very good. They didn't place much but Ivy did a great job with both horses.

Alaina and Casper had some really good moments, and overall, the pair was very good. They showed Hunter Under Saddle, Hunt Seat Equitation, Western Pleasure, Western Horsemanship, and Trail. Casper belongs to Kathy B and we made plans for Alaina to ride him in the 4-H shows until Sunny recovers. They had their first ride in January, but then the weather conspired and they didn't have another chance until last weekend for the Saturday lesson. So, they showed with 3 rides under their belts.

Sunday afternoon, Mallory, Roxanne and Maddie stopped by to hang at the show a bit.  Soon, Roxanne will have to join in the fun and then Mallory can be a 4-H horse show mom like me.  

So, Pico should be back on track for Ivy at next weeks lesson and Alaina will ride Casper until Sunny is recovered. The first dressage show of the year will be March 20 and I am planning to ride Sister, Ivy will move up to first level with Pico and Alaina wants to dust Diez off and try for the pony award. I hope that spring weather will provide some lovely days for riding every weekend. YaYa.

IVBHHA

That's what happens when you haul Pico to the vet on a Sat. night with signs of colic. And a step up from GVBF. After two vet emergencies in January, this was not in the plan or budget (OOM).
And the weekend looked so promising. The temperature made more than a hundred degree improvement since the sub zero / excessive snow events of last week. Friday was short-sleeve weather (for anyone in winter denial; crocus blooming in front yard) and I got to lunch with Kristina and Julie in Collinsville before getting the girls from school and vaccinating the equine residents at the Wild O Ranch with 5-way and Rabies.

SPL!  And my first dose of ET for February.  Long overdue.  The girls rode at 10 with Roxie and Mattie; big girls got the party lesson at 11. Kathy B, Mallory S, Shannean F, Nancy E and me. Great lesson although Splash was resistant to resuming training. Splash did get correct leads but was irritated to be moving and Alaina got along pretty well with Casper. After the lesson, Shannean gave Sister a brief workout while Alaina tortured Casper in the wash rack. Ivy and Pico finished their lesson with some nice jumps although Pico seemed a little sluggish - but the temperature was in the 70's and with vaccinations the day before, I didn't think to much about it. We tried the new Mexican restaurant in Inola (LAL) – Susan H, Carol J and Nancy F joined us for a rather long lunch. The horses got hot in the trailers and Pico didn't eat his hay. No pile in the trailer either.

Home, put horses out to pasture before heading to Kathy's to check her show stash to get the show wardrobes worked out since the girls outgrew most everything. Success in a pair of boots and showmanship jacket for Alaina, and show shirt/pants for Ivy. Kathy will bling the shirt and I will DYE the pants dark brown. Next stop, Lake Cheval to vaccinate Mallory’s bunch with 5-way and rabies. And, Alaina gave Jody a quick ride as the sun went down.

After a late dinner, Steve mentioned that Pico hadn't eaten so I went out to check on him before getting ready for bed. HIRD

So, off to Shipman's at 10:06pm. Symptoms: respiration - 68; temperature 102.8, dehydrated, gut sounds but dry/hard manure; bright pink gums with slow capillary refill; and elevated white blood cell count. So, several needle insertions later (blood samples, antibiotic, pain reliever, etc.....) as well as administration of oil and Pico got to stay at Che Shipman until the white blood cell count comes down. The good news is that as of Sunday morning, Pico was eating and his temperature was down. Cross fingers and toes that he will make a speedy recovery.

The plan for Sunday was to let Alaina and Ivy ride Jody and Romeo at Cheval Lake before going to the GCC/ODS year end party (rescheduled at Uncle Buck’s at Bass Pro Shop). But Ivy was feeling under the weather and with Pico in hospital, we skipped riding in the blustery morning. We had a lovely time with our dressage friends. Ruthie received the Jaime Memorial award and Marilyn won the 4H/Pony Club award winner sponsored by Patty C. Alaina and Sunny won champion Jr. (12 and under) Intro level, Ivy and Pico won champion Jr. (12 and under) Training level, and Pico and I won Armature First Level so we all received fabulous fleece jackets with GCC/ODS logo. Way cool. Next year, Ivy and Pico will move up a level and I will show Sister. Perhaps Alaina will show Diez once again. I can’t wait.  Meanwhile, the Will Rogers Classic is NEXT weekend and we are NOT ready....  FSCWTE, HCWEH

Texting Key For Horse Women - expanded list coming for future Blog
ET - Equine Therapy
FSCWTE - First Show Comes Way To Early
GVBF - Got Vet Bill, Fainted
HCWEH - Horses Covered With Excessive Hair
HIRD - Horse In Respiratory Distress
IVBHHA - Imagine Vet Bill, Have Heart Attack.  
LAL - Lunch After Lesson
OOM – Out of Money
SPL – Saturday Party Lesson

No-Ride February

So far. Two record breaking snow storms two weeks in a row plus a little bonus snow in between has prevented riding. Storm number 2 came in Tuesday night and dumped an additional foot of snow on the Wild O Ranch...  And, -18 degrees (that is MINUS) was recorded on the WOR weather station.  Uncivilized.

And I am in dire need of equine therapy. Cross all fingers and toes for a lesson on Sat.... and lunch with horsey friends.

Meanwhile, Sunny has been on stall rest to allow his injury (mysteriously acquired) time to heal. I am loosing hope for recovery in time for the Will Rogers Classic. We have been wrapping his foot every 2 or 3 days for 3 weeks and it is finally starting to look a bit better. He is really ready to GET OUT.

The girls competed at the 4-H State Horse Communication Contest in Stillwater over the weekend and came away with 2nd place in Horse Quiz Bowl and red ribbons in Team Problem Solving and their power point presentations. Ivy discussed Dressage and Alaina talked about Gymkhana and other games on horseback (including Pato originally played with a duck in a basket rather than a ball). The kids had a good time and we had dinner at Eskimo Joe's before we came back to Claremore.

Sure have missed my YaYa Sisters so let’s ride the range soon.

Blizzard Report

News Flash! I hate snow.

It interferes with riding and trailering the equine partners is impossible if your trailer has 6 foot snow drifts all over the wheel wells. After the last weekend in January had temperatures in the 70's, the forecast snowfall didn't seem possible.... but record snowfall and excessively low temperatures came anyway. The snow started Monday evening and the temperatures started to fall Tuesday. By the time the snow stopped Wednesday morning, there was 20 inches in Claremore and high winds making huge drifts all over the county. Lows dipped below 0 all week and hit -5 degrees on the coldest night - daytime highs were below 10 degrees - pretty cold for a Florida girl.

Sunny and Splash in the open barns had heat lamps as well as winter blankets and the other 3 had blankets in the main barn. Steve hauled hot water several times a day and moved a lot of snow. Then, to add insult to injury, we got an additional 4 inches of snow on Friday. Roads in our area were dangerous until the temperatures finally got to 40 and major melting started on Sunday. The bad news is that more snow is forecast for Tuesday/Wednesday - 5 to 10 inches. Let’s hope that storm misses us and that spring comes soon.

Exept for Tuesday and Friday when snow was falling, we let everyone out of the barns (except Sunny) and I tried to get some good snow pictures.  I got a couple so now I am ready for daffodiles and spring rides with my YaYa's....

Hi Ho Silver... Diez

The old gray mare..... she is more than she used to be.

We let the horses out for some snow fun while "we" cleaned stalls - except poor Sunny who had to stay in to keep his injured/bandaged foot dry.

Splash chased Pico around the field and through the trees to see if they could rip up their nice warm blankets and Sister considered having a roll but changed her mind when her belly hit the snow. 

Both Pico and Splash had halfhearted rolls too.

The low this morning was 2 degrees with a high of 17.... Eggs were cracked before we could collect them and the chickens are not that smart about snow, they don't want to walk on it, to funny.