Colorado Day 3 – Show day 1!!!

If you have been reading this blog regularly, then you know that it has mostly surrounded his Grayness, and all of the boisterous happenings of life with a horse who otherwise considers himself a royal subject.  TJ has never really been out of my life, but for the last year and a half he was on lease in a situation where he didn’t travel with me as much, and I rode him 2 or so times a week to keep him tuned up.  Over that time I did get to show him some, but less so since I spent more time on the road out of state. 

With his new leasee, he is back at my barn, and she has plans to do shows with Matt and Woodhill whenever possible.  Double bonus for me!  Since TJ is in Colorado, I’m taking the opportunity to ride and show him as much as possible.  Traditionally, he is my 3’6 A/O horse and we’ve dabbled in few National Derbies and even done couple of Internationals as well.  The fact that this horse is willing to tote me around an international derby with some 4’ high options simply means he is literally worth his weight in gold. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvmWwqN8UN8

I mean, should we even talk about how I was so nervous that I 3 legged the first jump on course and yet he still campaigned around the course like it was no big deal?  Really I love this horse. 

Since he has just come off lease, and we are easing back into showing, Matt and I decided to do the A/As for at least the first week.  Simple, easy, and confidence building.  DC was going to continue is “reign” as the greenest 3’3 A/O horse on the planet, and he did indeed live up to the billing. 

My day started with my usual hack on DC first thing in the morning.  His pep seemed to be back, and he was very straight and relaxed.  Although I wouldn’t say he felt GREAT, he did feel very very good.  Besides, he had a special purple puff on top of his head.

If that’s not good luck, I don’t know what is.  And people say hunters aren’t any fun.  Unfortunately I didn’t get a better pic of the poof, NOR did I get a pic of TJ’s braid charm.  I am a failure at picture taking. 

DC had a warm up and two hunters for his Saturday line up.  We started with the warm up, which is best stated as all over the place.  It wasn’t awful, but I’m not sure that a more inconsistent trip has ever been had by the two of us.  Up, down, fast, slow, lean in, lean out.  If there were moves, we made them.  Not exactly the goal of smooth and serene. 

The second trip we started with a single coming home, and then had a left lead 5 stride line going away.  Coming out of the corner to the line, I saw this big move up to a gap.  Trying to follow the mantra of, “if you see the move, stay the same and something else will appear,” I stayed the same.  Except then I pulled.  And then I legged.  And then I PULLED.  You know what is not staying the same?  Pulling, kicking, then pulling.  Oops.  We chipped coming in, and had about 15 years to get out of the line.  Since the chip was completely my fault and I didn’t feel like running for my life out of a line would be my next best move, I whoaed for the nice add.  Matt was not as appreciative of this decision as I was.  I’ll just say that.  The rest of the course was actually quite beautiful, which makes the add even more disheartening. 

Our last trip was the handy, and I have to say, it was quite nice.  I even have a video of it, but haven’t loaded to youtube yet.  So, sorry.  We did all of the inside turns, had a lovely bending line (maybe a little close out) and a great trot jump.  Thus we ended on a good note. 

TJ was just a rock solid little citizen in his trips.  We were in Hunter 2 and the jumps were decidedly small for 3’ and the lines decidedly short.  He wasn’t too impressed with either of these things, however he really just turned in some decent trips.  We had four trips total, two hunters that were also first classic rounds, and two second classic rounds. 

Our first hunter I had one of those OH MY GOD ARE WE GOING TO FIT THE STRIDES IN moments going down the hill.  Seriously that 5 was awfully close to a 4.  TJ is a big horse with a big stride.  We scored a 73.  My second hunter was very nice, but nothing fabulous, scoring a 75.  The second round of the classic (third trip) I cantered in to that 5 stride and was all “no way am I going to almost leave a stride out this time.”  So I pulled and pulled again, and was thinking to myself, “yes this 6 is going to work out great.” Right after which I thought to myself “oh shit this isn’t a 6 this is a 5, OH GOD TJ, JUMP!!!!!!”  Remember when I said TJ is worth is weight in gold?  He really is.  My last course was actually quite nice, and we scored a 78.  The 75 combined with the 78 was good enough for third in the Marshal and Sterling Classic!  I was thrilled walking away with a good ribbon against all of the adults (about 30 entries total). 

Love me some TJ.  Really I do.

Colorado Day 2

Although it was officially only Colorado day 2, you have to imagine for me it was like an eon of time since day 1 as I had spent the previous 5 days in Las Vegas. 

As I have mentioned before, DH and I do a couple of trips to Vegas a year, and always have a great time.  This trip was no different, except he had a pesky work conference getting in the way.  I guess pesky work conferences are to be allowed when it provides for a free place for me to stay as a “third wheel.”  DH and I work for the same company, so luckily at very least I know and am friends with many of the other conference attendees he was with.  We had quite the fun time with lots of eating, drinking, shopping, and gambling.  Not to mention a lot of time doing this:

which is my most favorite "activity" of all.

Although DH did not go with me, a group of work friends and I went to see Michael Jackson One.  If you like MJ AT ALL put this on a must do bucket list.  It was freaking awesome.

Another highlight was a trip to a small joint in the Palace Station called the Oyster Bar.  It’s a total of 18 seats, and the line gets up to 3 hours long.  They make the most amazing soup like dish called “pan roast” (it has nothing to do with a pan or a roast, I take no credit for having any idea where the name comes from).  Heaven in a bowl I swear.

Fast forward to our flight back to Colorado.  With no mani/pedi involved we arrived in plenty of time to grab some food and think about how hungover I felt.  It’s kind of like a hangover from 5 days of non stop fun, sooooo I’m thinking my riding is just going to go super. 

I arrived back to a bustling horse show, with Friday classes in full swing.  Matt asked me to get on TJ first so his leasee could do her ride after I was done.  The Colorado Horse Park footing for the hunter rings is a technical footing made by GGT (http://www.ggt-footing.com/ggtproducts.html). TJ has always been a horse whose movement is greatly affected by what he’s on, and he absolutely LOVES this type of footing.  Starting off he felt so powerful with so much suspension, really just showing his big black stuff.  He schooled beautifully and I was once again reminded why I love riding him so very much. 

Historically, TJ has been my 3’6 A/O horse, and has done some international derbies.  Given that I hadn’t really jumped a course on him in 6 months, and that he was probably going to be a bit rusty in the show ring, we decided to give him a simple weekend in the Adult Amateurs (A/As) which is only 3’.  I was simply looking forward to riding him again, even if it was over poles on the ground.

After TJ, it was time to school DC.  Honestly, DC did not feel as good at TJ did.  Matt had done the 3’3 Performance on him during the week.  The reports back to me were that he was good, but definitely rusty in the ring and not as responsive to leg as Matt would like.  When I got on he simply felt tired.  He lacked the spring in his step and great attitude he normally carries.  Maybe it was the thin air, maybe it was the relatively warm day, or maybe he just wasn’t into it.  Either way we kept the school short and sweet, looking to save him for my 3’3 A/O classes that weekend.  Don’t get me wrong, he was good, just lacked a spark he normally carries. 

After finishing with riding, I headed back to the hotel room for a desperately needed nap.  I do have to say, given my level of exhaustion and previously mentioned hangover, I rode rather well.  But that doesn’t mean I didn’t hit my head on my pillow and immediately crash.  That night at dinner all I could think about was more sleep which meant instead of joining in on some fun at a bar, I actually chose the responsible route and went to bed. 

I have moments of acting like a grown up.  Thankfully they are few and far between.

Colorado day 1

Colorado day 1 is really Colorado day 1 + Vegas day 1.  If you follow my blog, I’ve mentioned before that I may or may not have over committed myself for the first week of Colorado.  To recap:

1. Drive to Colorado
2. Fly to Vegas
3. Fly back to Colorado
4. Show
5. Attend a wedding in Vail
6. Show again
7. Drive home.

We are currently sitting at #2. 

But of course, instead of just taking the easy route and packing up my stuff and heading to Vegas, I had PLENTY of time (read 4 hours) to head to the show, check on my boys, do a hack, then catch a flight.  Plenty of time.  So I did.

When I got there, the guys were doing all of the show set up.  If I thought I required a lot of stuff for a show, I’ve got nothing on a 20 horse operation and full show set up.  Although I didn’t take any pictures of the chaos, I probably should have. 

First I did a quick check on TJ.  Matt’s assistant Meghan arrived from Dallas the evening before at around 7pm and reported that he was up and talkative (good sign, he’s a big time talker).  Matt himself arrived around 11pm and also reported that he was “fine.”  They are so good at feeding my neediness.  As confirmed the night before, TJ seemed back to his normal self, so I chose to hack him first. 

A few things about Tj.

1. He is huge.  I mean really huge.  17.2 in height, enormous head and just about the length of an elephant.  I wish I could impart the level of enormity of him in description, but I will just simply say that the braider texted me no fewer than 3 times stating “that horse is HUGE.”
2. He’s black.  Ok this goes without saying, but so many people are impressed with my huge black horse, it leaves me a bit mystified.
3. He’s a gentle giant.  Seriously, this is one of the most kind, quietest, gentle horses you’ll ever meet. 
4. He’s stoic.  You really have to know TJ well to understand how he’s feeling.  He hardly shows any emotion to anyone.
5. He’s got a lot of bravado.  TJ acts like he’s going to make a big deal about something, but actually doesn’t.

Funny enough, all of these attributes are noted by everyone that he meets.  It’s usually something like “wow he’s big, and so black!  But so sweet, and what a great personality. He’s so impressive.” Our first experience in colorado was no different.  Two separate people stopped me when I was out with him and made similar comments.  If nothing else, he definitely stands out. 

As we made our way to the hunter rings for a light hack, his bravado was showing its face.  He was 100% ears pricked, snorty, with huge giant impressive steps of being so awesome.  Thankfully he was just simply the so awesome part and we had a lovely light hack.  TJ is the epitome of long and low and can really turn it on when moving out. 

After hosing off TJ’s legs and setting him up to dry, I got his Grayness out for a hack as well.  I often say that DC is TJ’s yang to his own yin.  I love them both dearly but their personalities couldn’t be more opposite.

1. He’s tall but 100% refined.  Refined bone, cob sized head, long slender legs.
2. He’s gray.  Again obvious, but just as much as people love black, they love gray.  (I’m more of a chestnut person myself, which is why I have a black and a gray.)
3. He’s all about being in your pocket.   Me me me me me me me me me hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi is DC’s daily mantra.  Think Lab personality in a horse body.
4. He’s ALL personality.  Whatever he thinks or feels, you know about all the time, every day, every minute.
5. It’s all about reaction.  He’s all about doing first, thinking second.  All the time. 

Typical DC he was fascinated by the bunny in the ring, wanted to say hi to every one as we walked to the ring, and was pretty happy and distracted for our hack.  I can’t say we reached the goal of long and low, but certainly we had improvement.  

When I finished my rides and got the boys cooled off and dry, I finally decided that they were going to be just fine without me and headed back to the hotel.  At this point I was only running 30 minutes late, which as a horse person, I find this to be very impressive.  My saving grace was that my flight was delayed an hour, and thus I was able to get ready and get to the airport with time to spare.  At least that is what would have happened had I not also chosen to get a mani/pedi “on the way.”  This may or may not have lead to us getting to the airport only 45 min before our flight, late checking our bags, and then having to wait in the Las Vegas airport for them to arrive with the next flight. 

Sometimes my decisions are questionable, but never ever boring.  

Colorado Day 0

Sadly, Colorado day 0 did not involve any bucket list items, and was just the final trek of the beginning of my summer showing.  That said, given that it is me, there was just simply no way that it would be as easy as dropping horses off and calling it a day. 

Stephen and I woke early in the morning with another 7 hours of driving ahead of us.  I immediately went out and checked on the horses.  One of the nicest things about Bed and Bale is that they have both bedded stalls for horses and cute bungalows for people to stay in.  Ten steps and I was at their stalls. 

First thing I noticed was that both horses had drank two full buckets of water, and TJ was snoozing. 

Ok, pretty normal, and he looked super comfortable, no biggie.  He popped up and nickered when he saw me.  I went back inside and got ready to leave for our drive.  When we were ready to go, I walked to the barn, only to find TJ down again.  This time when I talked to him he laid all the way flat instead of popping up. 

O.K. small red flag time.  I mean I understand sleepy, but down twice in one morning?  I went in and did some quick rundown of diagnostics.  All seemed well, gut sounds, gum color, heart rate, and capillary refill rate all normal.  He drank another half a bucket, so I decided my best course of action was to continue on.

We had a smooth ride all the way to the outskirts of Denver.  At that time, off to our left was a large, ominous looking storm.  I checked the radar, and sure enough it was on track to follow us directly into Parker and the horse show grounds.  I also noted that the temperature had dropped to 50.  BRRRRRRR 

As we continued to drive, the temp only got colder, and the weather more nasty.  At one point we passed through an area that had had so much sleet, the ground looked like it had snowed.  Fantastic. 

Keep in mind that last year as I was making this drive it was 105 degrees and a horrible forrest fire was raging.  We drove through smoke, ash, and fire.  As we were driving they were evacuating the area around us, and closing down roads.  Quite the opposite welcoming weather this year!  We arrived to sopping, freezing show grounds, with rain coming steadily down, and the wind howling.  It is a good thing we only had about three hours of unloading and organizing to do before we could call it a day (does sarcasm come across in blogging?).

As soon as we unloaded the horses and bedded the stalls, TJ laid down once again.  He wasn’t acting colicky, just like he was simply tired and wanted to rest.  My equine paranoia was on full alert now.  What horse comes into a brand new place where it is freezing, storming, and crazy windy, and lays down?  UGHHHHHH. 

I once again did all of the diagnostics, including taking his temp.  All normal.  After a quick chat with the vet….I make this sound so normal when it was really more like

Me: OHMYGODSOMETHINGISWRONGWITHTJHE’SLAYINGDOWNANDSLEEPYANDWASLAYINGDOWNTHISMORNINGANDEVERYTHINGISNORMALBUTHE’SJUSTNOTRIGHT.

Vet: Um.  Slow down.  Take a breath.  What?

Me: I’m worried!

Vet: I got that much.

End result was to give him some banamine and check in an hour.

DH and I finished unloading all of my stuff.  Horses require A LOT of stuff.  On top of the unloading was my stress of a possibly sick horse, the weather, and being soaked to the bone.  

After an hour, TJ was up, perky, and drinking well.  Of course me being me, I felt the need to wait another hour to make sure he stayed that way.  DH thus gets gold star number two as he endured all of the rain, wind, cold, and stress to help me get my beloved horses settled and happy.  

Colorado Day -1

There are a lot of people in this world who know Texas is big.  I don’t think a person can truly understand the size until recognizing that from my home in Central Texas, I have to drive a minimum of 3.5 hours to reach a border of the State (in this example Galveston on the Gulf of Mexico).  Converse to that, I can drive up to 9.5 hours and still not reach the state line in the panhandle.  Getting to Colorado involves one of those epic Texas drives where 9 hours is spent in Texas, about an hour in New Mexico, and 4 hours total in Colorado.  Yes, you drive a full day and still don’t get outside of the State. 

The route we selected for our drive involved splitting the time into two, easier, 7 hour drives each day.  There is a lovely little Horse hotel outside of Amarillo called Bed and Bale.  I overnighted there last year as well, and knew that the facility is top notch and my horses would be very safe. 

Driving through West Texas involves a lot of this:

And not much else.

  

Thrilling. 

Though I do have to say, Texas does have some awesome truck stops

And so fashionable!

Thankfully our trip was smooth sailing, and we arrived at the Bed and Bale at 3pm to some happy horses. 

Did I mention the Bed and Bale has a nice facility?  Their stalls are HUGE.  TJ approves.

We arrived and got settled just in time to watch the Belmont.  I was so sad that Chrome did not pull of the win.  Will we EVER have a Triple Crown winner again?  And no, I don’t believe in dumbing down the competition just for the sake of winning.

After that let down, THE MOST EXCITING PART OF MY DAY was about to happen.  A few years ago, CBS Sunday morning had a segment on The Big Texan in Amarillo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7uaQ6AWUhE

It went on the bucket list to go, though trying a 72 oz steak was not in my plans.  This place is a slice of Americana like you wouldn’t believe.

There it is!

YES!!!

They have a candy Store!

And a stage coach!

And a giant steer!

And a shooting range!

And a boot!

And a giant rocking Chair!

As you can tell, I was really excited!

If you wanted to try for the free steak, you get a stage and everything.

The food was honestly just OK, but sooooooo worth it just for the experience.  The most amusing part to me was that a large portion of the crowd was European.  Nothing like showing our great nation off like the cheese of all cheeseball places. 

The last thing to do for the night was to tarp the hay in my truck.  There were storms coming in from the north, and the last thing I needed was a bunch of wet hay.  Some might ask why in the world I was hauling hay halfway across the country.  Well, my precious TJ in all of his precious TJ ways is allergic to the world.  Corn, Wheat, Molasses, Oats, Beets, Pecan Trees, Privet Trees, Thistle, Baccharis, Ragweed, Marsh Elder, Nettle, Sheep, Cats, Flax, Mosquitos, Horse Flies, Timothy Hay, Bluegrass, Bahia Grass, Johnson Grass, Bermuda Grass, and Kochia.  In Colorado, they sell Timothy and Timothy Brome mix. 

I know from experience that Timothy makes my dear TJ look less like a horse and more like a Chenille blanket:

And thus being the good mom that I am, loaded my truck down with enough precious Coastal Hay to last him through the trip. 

Horses.  Seriously.  

Colorado Day -2

So my WEF adventure started with days -1 and 0.  For Colorado I feel the need to reach all the way back to day -2 (T minus two days from arrival) as my adventure really began there. 

On Friday, the day before we embarked on our two day journey to Colorado, I had about 100 million things left on my to-do list.  I have this pension for over planning myself, and this trip was no exception.  The planned itennerary for the next week is as follows:

Saturday: Drive to Amarillo

Sunday: Drive to Parker, unload all items, settle the horses in

Monday: Hack both TJ and DC, Fly to Las Vegas

Friday: Fly back to horse show, school both horses

Saturday: Show both horses, drive to Vail for wedding, drive back to Denver

Sunday: Show both horses, fly back to Austin

In other words, I needed to pack and plan for a cross country drive, two horses living in Colorado for 5 weeks, a Vegas Vacation, four horse shows, an a wedding.

Ambitious?  Maybe. 

I’ve mentioned DH and his amazing, selfless ways before, but this trip he really gets a gold star.  To begin with, he was of course volunteering his time to drive with me, but that also comes with an enlistment to load and unload the unbelievable amount of stuff required for this trip.  This includes but is not limited to saddles, bridles, tack trunks, buckets, fans, shavings, hay, feed, suit cases, show clothes, schooling clothes, vegas clothes, snacks, ice chest, and of course the all-important horses. 

My truck ended up looking like this:

After loading, I thought that I was all ready to go and all we needed to do was pull out in the morning.  Unfortunately my trailer had different plans.  On my previous haul it came to my attention that my rear signal was not functioning.  It was an easy fix of just replacing the light, and it worked perfectly.  Or so I thought.  Stephen was following me on the way back to the house, and called and said “uh you know that tail light you fixed?  Not so much.” 

Crap.

My only plans were to drive 15 hours over the next two days, who needs a tail light right? 

I put my handy hat on, and with some phone-a-friend help tried to fix the problem.

Unfortunately my efforts were in vain, and I was unable to get the darned thing working.  My professional assessment is that I have a faulty ground wire.  But by professional I mean I randomly poked around on my wiring with a screw driver. 

It was such that we had a 5 am call the next morning, down one tail light, but up one person who now felt like an expert in trailer wiring.  Regardless of my inability to actually fix it.

Plans Plans Plans

So, I haven’t blogged in a while.  That whole real life thing is really such a pain, why can’t it be ponies and horse shows every day all day?? 

Post the mini derby, I had grand plans to do two weeks of showing at a couple of AA shows in Tyler and then off to a summer of fun in Colorado.  The best laid plans of mice and men oft go astray.  My own personal astray is a bout of bacterial skin infection, cellulitis, thorn stuck in the pastern, abscess under the skin, removal of abscess under the skin, shockwave, and finally normal pony. 

I am happy to report that I am finally in the normal pony section of this 2 week long drama, but here is a synopsis in pictures.

OH MY GOD WHY DOES HE HAVE AN ELEPHANT LEG??

Vet: It's a bacterial skin infection. Ice, Medicate, wrap, and hand walk  for 7 days.  oh joy. 

<side note> I should mention here that the skin infection was very very very painful according to DC.  The first day of wrapping I was trying to gingerly place some medication and 4x4 squares on the inflamed area.  Apparently my ginger was not ginger enough as DC jumped side ways throwing his leg in the air in pain.  Unfortunately my head/eye socket was in the direct path of said leg jerk, causing a blow that made me see stars.  My friend Suzanne was quite concerned that I had perhaps fractured my occipital lobe and encouraged me to see a Dr.  I assured her I was fine as I had squished all around on my swollen black eye and all seemed to be in order.  Squishing around is a great diagnostic tool, I recommend it for all future injuries. </side note>

DC: "I don't mind I get to bury my head in a pile of alfalfa out of the deal"

"And look how cute I am on our handwalks!  This is the life."

AND I LEARN TRICKS!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KETlP5iysGI

"Look!"

That's all great until he BIT the CRAP out of my arm.

The next hand walk was not nearly as fun with added chain.  His expression shows his displeasure of this turn of events.  I am a fun killer.

Wait.  What's that hard bump under the surface and pink spot why has my horse gone from sound to a Grade 3 lame???

Vet: "Looks like the infection has a thorn or splinter on the inside that's trying to abscess out.  Need to cut it open and remove."

Another 7 days later, Suture is out!

Now with protectant Equifit bands and trouser socks, leg is back to normal!!

 As a result, there was no Tyler for me.  As a second result, DC and I trailered over to the trainer where TJ has been living for the past year and a half and did a lesson.  This trainer is particularly detail oriented, and focuses on how the rider’s body and emotions affect the horse.  She really worked on a lot of little quirks that DC and I have developed together, showed me some holes in both of our programs, and really focused on how to take his training to the next level. 

Since this lesson, DC has really been on his A game, which makes me VERY excited four our upcoming summer showing plans.  We leave tomorrow for 5 weeks in Colorado, 4 of which will include horse shows.  On top of this, TJ has a new Leasee, and she decided to join in on the fun and send TJ up to Colorado as well!!!!!!  Yes, I think that deserves at least that many exclamation points. 

My plans include Divisions, Derbies, Classics, parties, vacation, a wedding, and Las Vegas all thrown in the mix.  It should be an interesting month, and regardless of how many ribbons I take home I’ll have the best of times.  Who am I kidding, I want those damned pieces of satin to embarrassingly hang on my lamp shades. 

Stay tuned, for this Working Rider is planning to blog about it all, if for no other reason than I want the memories in writing!