Koda is doing wonderful! He continues to be a willing partner and doing everything I ask - as long as I ask correctly and many times even when I don't. Unfortunately we haven't been back out on the trail, but continue to arena ride 2-4X a week. I am mostly working on my communication these days, and increasing Koda's conditioning. Summer treats him a little too well, me too. This week I added counter cantering for the first time in a long time. Felt weird to lope "wrong" after working so hard to get it right. I forgot how smooth his counter canter is. Koda was funny when I asked for it the first time. I could see his eye look back towards me, and felt him think something like "are you sure that's what you want?!" Ha ha! He's truly been nothing but pure joy. Pinch me!
Nemo, poor guy is STILL suffering from allergies :( it weighs heavy on our minds. There have been beautiful sunny summer days when we are stuck riding inside, because we would rather be together. The days we find Nemo really bad, he just doesn't get ridden. Sunlight makes his symptoms worse. We've thought about taking him to an equine ophthalmologist, of course we have to find one first. Altho our vet is adamant nothing is wrong with his eyes. I agree with him.
This year during turnout our horses aren't in a pasture with shade. Koda is Nemo's only outside shade. It breaks our hearts. We are working hard to get our land things in order so we can bring him home as soon as we can, but it won't be this year. The barn he lives at is very caring and trying hard to do the best they can for him. From what I've read, Nemo's symptoms align with "photic headshaking". The big guy that loves being outside most, and is a stellar trail horse, is happy to find relief in his stall. During turn out he is double masked. Yesterday I bought him a new long nose version. Maybe that will help a little more. We have tried different schedules/doses of Dex that have worked really well in the past. Not this year. Today finds us with another call to the vet, to discuss a different treatment.
Cierra is working hard with her guy and getting ready for a mid August show. They typically do two lessons a week, and just keep getting better as a team. They are looking great!
Harmony (yes, we have four horses) continues living at a different barn, where both she and her girl are finally happy again. Not sure if Harmony will be coming to live with us. Hope so, we would really like our little herd to be together again. They were so content together. When the time comes, that will be up to her owner (Brad) and our daughter.
Our Land is producing a bumper crop of alfalfa, along with the rest of the Midwest. It is hard to find anyone who wants it, or even do the work. Brad ended up cutting the 3rd crop himself, or part of it. The borrowed equipment kept breaking. Isn't that how it always goes?! Now we are waiting on parts. Sigh.
We decided on house placement, and got the nod from the builder & excavator. We also met with the architect and left with a first draft of our floor plan in hand. Boy have things changed since the last time we did this, 18 years ago. The floor plans were projected on a big wall screen and we made changes on the fly. Our hope is to put the driveway in this Fall, maybe build the barn this Winter, and start the house in the Spring. Until then, we find ourselves living in a field of dreams...
5 comments:
Well just WOW! Things have been moving right along with you all. :) You must be so excited - and so brain tired (?) Think I would be. All those decisions, but so much fun too. Wonderful about you and Koda. When things are going right, they are just sweet! Love that feeling when everything riding just feels right and clicks. Good work! Poor Nemo...wish I could offer something to help, but I just don't know. I'll talk to my boss and see if he has any ideas that you haven't already tried. I feel so sorry for him too. Must be heartbreaking for you to see him missing out. Allergies do seem to be on the rise everywhere. Not just with animals either, people too. Personally? I blame all those chemicals that are used everywhere - soil, water, fertilizers, food additives, perfumes, hair products and on and on and on. Anyway, I'm chatty and need to get to work. So happy for you and glad everything is going well with your house and riding and all. Good to hear from you again. My trail riding with Eags last W/E was a mixed bag, but all good. I had one splendid ride! I'm still glowing from that one.
Sounds wonderful! except for the allergies! Poor Nemo. We have a wonderful crop of hay also ,but are struggling to get it put up with all the rain!
Wonder how much it would cost to ship a semi-truckload of that alfalfa to Oregon??? We could absolutely sell it here! Alfalfa per ton ranges $250-$450 depending on the cut. We're picking up a ton this evening for our two seniors.
Good question Lorie. It's going for half that around here & right now it's not going anywhere. A neighboring farmer we had lined up left us high & dry after 2nd crop. For now we plan to store it. You've got a great idea, thinking about areas in need. Hmmm, maybe we should take a hay hauling vacation to Oregon?? I've never been. Would spend the lions share of the trip on the road tho :/
Oh man, I can't believe you have extra alfalfa. Hay is so freaking expensive here and it's often crappy. I would love to have such gorgeous looking hay.
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