Cierra has allergies

Not sure what the odds are on owning two horses that both have allergies that compromise them. Whatever those odds are, Brad is doing his part to cover the "got allergy" odds. As you know, Nemo has allergies and Cierra has developed them as well. No doubt if every horse was tested something would come up that irritates them, but not necessarily affects them.

Cierra's allergic reaction first showed up in 2017 as odd labored breathing. The vet did a garbage bag breathing test on her. Cierra's lungs were normal. Once in a great while, the labored breathing would resurface briefly. Nothing alarming that prevented her from an otherwise normal life. If the odd breathing popped up, she would get time off, ride lightly or whatever best fit the situation and her needs. 

However, Cierra's difficulty breathing normal resurfaced more significantly last year. You may recall the dusty 2019 AQHA WI State horse show that brought it on full force. Brad decided to have her allergy tested. Something I highly recommend. It is ideal to know what you are dealing with, the results explain a lot and give direction on effective management.

I always thought her compromised breathing was related to spending the vast majority of her time in a heated older show barn, shared with multiple cats and a bunny (phew, it was eventually re-homed). I've never been a fan of heated barns, and was right in part but the test results proved it was much more. 

When Cierra's results came back, we were surprised that she was allergic to no less then 34 different things!! Not all cause symptoms, but still...34...gulp! In comparison, Nemo's results came back with just 4 allergens and he had soooo many struggles. 

Cierra's higher allergens come from multiple grasses, Marsh Elder weed, Pyrethrum (an insecticide) and some insects, as well as Alfalfa, Apple and Carrots - this explains why she didn't like our fresh treats!!

Cierra is a candidate for allergy shots, but with a few simple adjustments her breathing symptoms have not resurfaced. Brad is holding off on allergy shot treatment. The main thing that changed, is her food. She was switched to grass hay. They also relocated Cierra to a different location in the show barn. Now she lives in a more open stall, and not directly across from the 6-8 alfalfa hay bales they restock. I was so happy to hear these changes made a big difference!!

I have no doubt in my mind, when Cierra moves home it will be even better for her and she won't need allergy shots at all. 

re-sharing Cierra's 2019 calendar debut

nemo's allergy update

If you've been following this blog for a while, then you already know that Nemo has allergies. If you are a newer reader you can read past informative posts about allergies here, along with some great reader suggestions on allergy care in these comments.

To summarize, Nemo's allergies surfaced in 2014 when he was seven. In the beginning we tried various medicines, in different combinations. We tried Dexamethasone, eye ointments, Equipatches, double masking, a Guardian Mask and adjusted his turn-out. We ended up having Nemo's allergies tested. Started allergy shots and continue doing Subcutaneous Immunotherapy to this day. 

While our horses were boarded, we agreed with our trainer that she would give him his shots. I would reorder Nemo's allergy shots, figure out the schedule and make a hard copy calendar to keep track of it all. 

When we moved our horses, we learned how to give Nemo his shots and took over all his allergy care. While we were switching, the timing got confused. We figured it out, and now have a permanent place for his calendar in our barn. 

our attempt to stay organized
Nemo's allergy calendar on right & magnetic dry erase stuff on left

Nemo get's two allergy shots, the same set always on the same side. We were surprised and concerned that he does react. Especially on one side. It really helps to massage the bump, and by the next day it's gone. 

Nemo's reaction

The first three days the horses were home, Nemo was turned out all day without any mask! We were thrilled.

Nemo in June

Day four it rained, and it must have knocked pollen down because poor guy came in at night with puffy eyes. We felt bad and decided to just automatically mask him. With only one mask. First we used the Guardian mask, but the eye edges block peripheral vision. Not ideal with a sensitive horse that wants to keep track of his world. We switched to Cashels Quiet Ride (my fav mask) and so far it's been going pretty good.

We are now mid-August and he seems to be a bit more bothered. Not terrible head flicking, but Nemo follows Koda so closely most of the day. In his shade, under his tail, and rubbing against him. He must be driving Koda nuts. I can hear Nemo frequently clearing his nose. 

Nemo has only come in once early afternoon, since we moved. He stays out all day. At our trainers he was double masked and coming in by noon, or even around 10 am most days during allergy season. 

Nemo's allergies have clearly improved since we moved. But I think we can help him even more. I re-read previous related readers comments (link in first paragraph) and plan to bug talk to Brad about trying some of your suggestions. I would love nothing more then to see Nemo's allergies improve even more. He is such a personable guy. 

expect the unexpected

Not sure where I am going with this post, but hopefully by the end it will be clear (er). We have had more then our share of a very wet cool spring, and it makes me think. About life. About expectations. About purpose.

Our horses are an important part of our life. Every time we seem to get past "things" as they occur, we take a turn. Sometimes better, sometimes worse, and many times just different then we expected - or hoped for. Which is practically the same thing. 

Nemo's allergies are back. Did we really expect them to go away? We sure hoped they would. They are not as bad as last year, but his allergies are back. I don't think it means the subcutaneous immunotherapy isn't working, I think it means he is still being exposed to high environmental allergens. Once we have him at home, we can limit exposure much better. At least with Timothy Grass, we planted a mix without any. 

Grey Horse Matters (or other's with related experience) did your daughter do anything in conjunction with her horse that was on allergy shots? or did the shots control the allergies? Feel free to message me if you prefer.

We've got a call into the vets to see if he has anything more to add. We are already doing the basics (masks, adjusting turn out time etc) but maybe there is something else??

Life these days revolves around the land/building X2. Last night we agreed to cancel our upcoming annual trail riding trip up north. I keep telling myself, it's just this year - but will it be? Who knows what life holds in store for us. 

After a horseless weekend, we arrived to the barn on Monday with high expectations of riding and spending time with our horses. All I can say is, our move can't happen soon enough! No use whining about all the silly stuff. I'll just say - Brad couldn't ride Nemo and I chose not to ride Koda for long. I wasn't a whole lot of fun on the 40 minute ride home.

It had been a week since I've ridden Koda, and my last few indoor rides were marginal. When you add feeding time and commotion, he get's his appy-tude on. There were waay too many riders that are never usually there (surprise!) to get anything accomplished, and it was wet and sloppy outside. Sigh. When do I get to ride and be with my horse?? I had such high hopes. Patience. I have learned some over the years. I always say I was in the bathroom when patience got handed out ;) it's not one of my better virtues. 

Then there is this thing nagging at me, called purpose. Brad thinks my purpose in life is to drive him nuts. That's true, I do it all the time - hah!! But seriously, life's purpose makes a person think. I try not to dwell on it, but who wants to aimlessly float down any ol' stream of life? Not me.

Photography? Sure. It can be a beautiful thing, with purpose. But I don't want to snap photos, just because I can. The whole entire planet is doing that. I've been trying to figure out my style/purpose. My most recent effort lasted 56 consecutive days, almost to the end of February. It's further then I thought I would get, but a whole lot shy of 365 days. The daily challenge was more "pressure" and less purpose. Now I only shoot the days I feel compelled to. Most people who accomplish the 365 challenge year after year, do it for fun. Some do it for recording daily life, others enjoy sharing detailed life out loud. 

My self restriction was no phone photos, and no quicky photos just to get it done. I wanted to practice with my camera more, take thoughtful photography, with hopes that there would be a revelation. I may try the challenge again under different circumstances, but it simply wasn't serving my purpose. Whatever it may be.

Woodland ~ 96/365 photo challenge

So much for clarity. Welcome to my overcomplicated brain. If you've got all this life stuff figured out, do tell.


..................................................................................


Expectation is the root of all heartache.

 ~ author unknown

subcutaneous immunotherapy

If that isn't a mouthful I don't know what is. Try saying Subcutaneous Immunotherapy five times really fast! You know you want to ;) SO what is it anyways? It's Nemo's new complicated allergy treatment. 

As you may recall, we unsuccessfully tried this, that and the other, and nothing helped Nemo much. The next step was no turnout for a whole week, and a blood draw to see exactly what Nemo is allergic to. I learned they can also do allergy patch testing on horses, similar to humans, but the blood test was recommended to us as less problematic. You know what? The boy who prefers to live outside was perfectly content to stay inside 24/7. He was that miserable. Staying inside allowed the inflammation to calm down. Nemo progressed to daily 2 hour morning turnout that went on for weeks. With the cooler weather we finally increased his turnout to half days. He had his first full day turnout last weekend. So far his allergy symptoms have not resurfaced!!!!

ACTT Allergy Program from ALK tested two sets:

Set 1: trees, grasses, weeds, epithelia & fibers
Set 2: molds, mites & insects 

Nemo's results revealed he is allergic to four things. From Set 1: Box Elder/Maple Mix, Crowngrass, Timothy Grass and from Set 2: Candida (a yeastlike, parasitic fungus that can sometimes cause thrush).

Apparently this was good news as some test results come back with lengthy lists, some with 30 things on them. Of course the more allergens the harder it is to treat.

Nemo's immunotherapy treatment arrived on Thursday, and holy moly it is detailed and goes on for months!! Different doses, different intervals, different colored vials x2 sets. It will all be worth it in the end, if it works. Assuming it does, Nemo will need an allergy shot once a month forever. We haven't seen the bill yet, no doubt it will continue proving Nemo is Brad's million dollar horse. In more then one way.

nemo & allergies

It's mid September, allergies should be gone. But they are not, and neither is our endless rain...sigh.
 
Today is the last application of a ten day course of the latest treatment attempt to help Nemo with his allergy symptoms, Equiwinner patches. I don't fully understand how electrolyte patches help allergies, other then balancing systems, but apparently they do. Just not Nemo.

We also are trying a new mask called Guardian Horse Mask. I came across them while doing online research. From everything I've read, they are very helpful for horses struggling with light and affected eyes. A horse mask with sunglasses, who knew??! These masks are all handmade, and the company has been great to work with. Jury is still out if it is making a difference for Nemo.
 
For several years, we've tried various courses off/on of Dexamethasone. Most years it's worked like magic. This year he initially showed some improvement, but it didn't come close to clearing symptoms up. We gave Cyproheptadine a whirl (along with Dex) it didn't work at all. He is currently off both. Brad hauled him to the vet to get his nose & throat scoped, nothing was found out of the ordinary. I have seasonal allergies myself, and know they are ever changing.

Nemo is double masked. We added a nose piece, and have limited his turnout during sunny days. Of course night only turnout is a possibility. It doesn't really solve the problem and puts him out of his regular lifestyle. We are less then thrilled about the idea in general.

Brad hasn't been able to ride him for weeks, not even indoors. Would like him to try some type of nose band to apply gentle pressure. Some folks are having success making them out of panty hose. Nemo is so unhappy he even bit his beloved human in his stall, while Brad was giving him some hay. So uncharacteristic. It's only happened once before. When he was a yearling walking in the pasture, testing Brad. Thought maybe Nemo just missjudged, but guess it was deliberate. I am sure Nemo was sending a message, he feels left out, and crummy. I know most horses don't care, but Nemo is one of those horses who visibly would rather not share his human. It was naughty, and really made his owner mad. I do think Nemo knows we are trying to help him. He puts his big head in our hands, looking for rubs & relief. Even with me.

Our vet has mentioned he thinks Nemo is allergic to something growing in the pastures. We think so too. It's a tough balance when Nemo prefers to be outside. All we can hope for is winter, and eventually moving him to our new home. The new location might not solve a darn thing. However it will allows us to manage the pastures and his care ourselves.

We are in the process of finding out what to try next, from our vet. Thankfully there are other options. I plan to look further into natural alternative's, most likely to try when we bring him home.

I found a very informative vet's website that has been compiling research on Head Shaking, altho much doesn't apply to Nemo and his allergies, some does. He falls under the Photic Headshaking section: http://www.headshakerinfo.org/
 
Suggestions on what has worked for others are welcome. 

sending off summer

Just a few more days before summer, it's wetness, heat & humidity, pesky bugs, and dreaded allergies, will be behind us. I hope. I love all four seasons. Really I do. We had a good summer, altho we didn't trail ride much. We just can't get Nemo's allergies under control...poor guy. I appreciate each season. They all pass too quickly, before the next one shows up with all it's good & not so good offerings. But I know first hand how allergies can rule your life. As I sit here with head fog, watery eyes and blowing my nose. This year allergies are ruling Nemo's life, and it sucks.

Right after my last post, our horse got switched back into the big pasture with shade. Nemo is still glued to Koda. It turns out shade isn't the only reason he follows him, instead it appears to be more of a comfort thing. Nemo doesn't follow Cierra around, just Koda. He has big lush Fabio like hair to hide under, and they've been together since birth. It is so uncharacteristic of Nemo (an alpha horse) makes me sad. In part his change in demeanor is the meds he is on. First one, then another, now two, higher doses, smaller doses - doesn't matter. None of it works. He is miserable. I can't wait for him to feel better.

The show season will also soon be behind us. One more show to go...Brad plans to compete in Ranch Trail for the first time, and also Ranch Pleasure and Conformation. It's a bigger show then the others, and I hope for Cierra's sake he finds a way to not be so nervous on day one. He is the only one who can.

My rides on Koda continue going well, and ever changing. He has switched back to favoring his right lead. Go figure. Darn counter canter really messed us up! We stopped working on that right after we barely started, guess we I am not ready yet. Need to get my lefts & rights, right. Right? No, left! Will be a challenge whenever we get back to it. Counter canter is so easy for him, and smooth. Such a smart horse, keeps my skills up. 

Among other things, we continue working on extended trot, two tracking and always soft releases & asks. I recently (re) started getting him to move his front half over. Turns on the haunches have always been my demise, and what happened to his side pass? In particular to the left...it's all good fun and Koda is being a really really good boy and putting up with me.

We haven't made any more progress with our land, other then checking on things...

securing the tarp

 ...and watching the alfalfa grow and grow, and grow. Sigh. We have had SO much rain this year! Much to Brad's dismay, we will have to cut a healthy looking fourth crop...and find a place to store it. The good third (first for grass) crop is in our neighbors barn, the stuff under the tarp got rained on while we were stacking. Not ideal, but most is okay. We won't have to cut grass again this year, the alfalfa on the other hand...

good problem to have?

Our gardens at home are weeds this year, I mean weird this year. Impossible to keep up with! We've enjoyed fresh veggies regardless. These Carmen Red Peppers are our favorite...

Other then that my life this summer has gone to the (grand) dogs. Thank goodness they eventually wear out...

10 weeks old vs 3 years old

We have some fun stuff planned for this Fall, horse and non-horse! It's hard to wait, but makes for good anticipation. Everyone will agree, Fall will be a nice change. Until next time, be well my friends!

living in a snow globe

One minute it's sunny, then the wind wildly kicks up every possible direction. Big fat flurries start floating around willy-nilly. Sometimes softly, then becoming a white out, or spitting ice pellets. Suddenly it stops, and we find ourselves living in endless clouds and grayness. Someone shakes the snow globe, and the whole thing starts all over again! Day, after day, after day. Mother nature is having some fun with Wisconsin this Spring...keeps us guessing and wishing for tranquil sunny days...

Instead, we had a breathtaking beautiful ice storm...

Thanks to the wackadoo weather, we haven't been riding outside. The water table is at flood stage. One of many area's where the river overflowed...

Rides with Koda continue progressing and typically last around 35 minutes. I switched from setting a timer to a stop watch, that just tracks time. Koda quickly learned that when the timer alert went off, it meant we should be done riding. He was never very happy to continue riding after the minimum time alert went off. I found myself distracted and checking the timer too often. I think it was helpful in the beginning of our rehab, for progression to be more consistent. But now that Koda is healed, I can concentrate more on the quality of our rides and less on the length. I am still tracking saddle time, more for curiosity then anything.

We continue working at a walk/trot, with a little lope mixed in most days. It's not always pretty, but we have our moments. He continues to respond well, and I feel most of the time Koda is really trying. It would help us both if I was clearer with what I ask. I am rusty after not riding for so long, it takes extra thought on my part.

I am still in awe of yesterday's ride. The difference from previous ones, was mainly his lope. Both directions and just a bit longer, with correct leads and frame held (to the level we are currently at). I recently added back in a couple forehand turns, and for the first time in a long time, I asked for a side pass. He did all of it, and nicely. Who does that after almost an entire year off?? It's a testament to a great horse, and good solid training. 

The fact that Koda is trying so hard, makes me love him even more.

We are closer, and yet so far away from anywhere we were when Koda came up lame. I am hopeful in the long run we will be further ahead, and more united. Learning from both the good and not so good experiences. Both of which have more to come. We continue taking our sweet time, and doing things our way. When it feels right. Together.

Other things happening inside our snow globe:

Brad & Cierra got into the Mozaun McKibben Ranch clinic, coming up at the end of the month. There are other people going from the barn, including our trainer. I may audit one of the days, just to support him. I am sure I would learn a thing or two, altho I have zero desire to compete in Ranch Riding. Brad's technical riding has really improved. It's been fun to watch his progress.

Even with our non-spring like weather, Nemo is already having allergy problems. Sigh. We figure it stemmed from the one week of blissful warmth we enjoyed early in the season. Allergies pop up out of nowhere, and when they peak...let's just say Nemo stayed inside until the vet could see him. His allergies really effected his eyes this time. He was given a shot of Dex. to calm the flare-up, with an ongoing care plan of eye ointment & low dose Dex. 3X a week. Hopefully allergies won't be too problematic for the big guy. Nemo loves being outside best, and we have high hopes for trail riding this year. 

Next week is Midwest Horse Fair!! Already. Wow that is coming up fast! I am excited to see Guy McLean again. He is a special horseman, great entertainer and a bush poet. I have yet to pick out which clinics to watch at fair, and haven't made a shopping list either. Maybe that's a good thing!! 

Altho horses and snow globes are pretty, and we have large new pavilions to help keep us dry, I hope for everyones sake (especially the outdoor vendors) that Mother Nature decides to show us a more pleasant side. 

may flew by ~ an update

Apparently I'm tongue tied again. I didn't share a single thing in May, and yet much has happened in my equine life. The best way to attempt to catch up is a misc update. Here we go, in no particular order:

I'm 0-2 for photographing horse shows so far this season 
Cierra didn't show at the first one, due to the EHV virus. Attending horses came directly from a previous show with confirmed case (s). Several of the area barns stayed home and did not risk of exposure.

Our trainer showed her in Ranch Classes at the second show, and made valuable strides. Placing right behind the big guns. Brad's goal was to learn a lot, and he did. He studied the competitions, and rode her a lot during practice hours. Brad traveled north to the show and I traveled south, to help my daughter with our first newborn grand baby. Six days is the longest Brad & I have ever been apart...let's just say we honed our texting skills & are happy to be back together.

Koda is lame again
He healed over time from the first signs that surfaced at the end of March, and was completely sound at all gaits for three weeks of our regular arena riding. I thought we were out of the woods. Silly me. When I came back from traveling, it took two steps out of the pasture for me to know he was off again. X-rays revealed early stages of Navicular, altho this visible reoccurring lameness is most likely from his previous soft tissue bruising. I decided to forgo the $2,000-ish MRI to confirm which one of the two evils was the culprit. I had front padded plates put on him for now to relieve pressure. He is already somewhat better. 

Our vet participated in an Osphos study for Navicular with favorable results, and Koda is tentatively scheduled for a treatment. I must admit I am a little apprehensive about anything new. Time and (re) evaluating will reveal more layers of answers as we move forward. He is expected to be able to continue with our regular programming. We sure do a consistent job of living the adage "one step forward, two steps back"...

Nemo's allergies are raging
We also returned from our travels to find poor Mr. Nemo in full blown allergy mode. He is back on seasonal Dex, which is taking longer to work this year. It's a bad allergy season. For the first time he is sporting a double fly mask. Nemo was feeling better, I rode him last week. But this weekend he is miserable again, poor guy. 

Our first trail trip of the season will be horseless
It appears like it's going to be "one of those years" when we don't get to enjoy the trails much with our beloved horses. Yes, we do have two other rideable horses in our family. However Cierra is in training. She can certainly enjoy local trails, but it's not fair to whisk her away for extended trips. I wouldn't be comfortable riding our daughters horse Harmony on the trail. I've not trail ridden her, but guess she spooks at everything. Not to mention it's been eons since I've even ridden her in an arena. She's a bit too edgy for me. 

RIP Emma 
The new foal at our barn is gone too soon, due to colic. Felt so bad for her momma. I've never seen a horse so sad. I loved on Dolly while at the barn, sweet mare. I didn't manage to photograph her big spunky pretty baby while she bounced around in the field the past couple weeks. A good reminder to click before it's gone.

Going nowhere fast
Our wishful quest to move to a place where our horses can live with us is going nowhere fast. The options looked promising at the end of March, and then they fell flat. There is nothing even on the market that fits us. Acreage is either too far away, non existent, or out of our price range. Guess we won't be living with our horses any time soon. Sigh. I'm okay waiting for the stars to align, and they will. In the meantime we'll keep saving pennies.

Aurora Williamson Photography is on Facebook
I tried not to do it, really I did. Social Media for businesses was part of my job for years. Personally I don't like the Facebook platform, there I said it. However, some things are best not avoided. Like closing a business website and "replacing" it with Facebook - it's not remotely the same people!!! Saving that rant for another day. You are welcome :)

The Google gods count every stinkin' online thing, when done well. Speaking of doing things well, I've got a lot of never ending online work left to do!! I don't mind Facebook for businesses, but the personal side of it is soooo fake. On the other hand, I really like Twitter/Instagram/Pinterest for the different flavors they offer. I would forgo a personal page on Facebook, but you can't have one page type without the other. With all that said, join me on my new business page!! I mostly share pretty pictures (mine & others) along with inspirational thoughts. Think positive my friends!

it's not all about the ride

Earlier this month we made the trek up north for a trail riding trip with Nemo & Koda in tow. The change of pace, different surroundings, friendly faces, and spending time away with our horses are memories we always look forward to making, and hold near and dear to our hearts.

Koda

As many times as we've ridden the same Nicolet National Forest trails, they always feel different. The ecosystem is ever evolving, and this year it offered a very lush forest. It was as if someone dumped buckets of different shades of fresh green paint, everywhere. The forest also offered something much less appealing, the worst mosquito/gnat/biting fly infestation we've ever experienced! Apparently after such a looong cold hard winter, the sudden hot weather hatched 5 out of 7 mosquito varieties all at once. Fun-fun, or more like swat-swat!!

We heard the bugs were bad beforehand, and armed ourselves accordingly. We picked up a couple Thermacell clip-on's, loaded up on fly spray and brought along fly masks for the horses. 

Nemo had started showing signs of trouble with his allergies the week before we left, and got checked out by the vet. The fly mask seemed to keep whatever was irritating him at bay, so we didn't medicate. Some years his seasonal allergies are an issue, some years not.

The bugs weren't too bad at our cabin site. We decided to head out late afternoon on arrival day to see what the buzz was all about. That didn't last long. We never made it off the main multi use trail, and turned back home shortly after leaving the ranch. The horses got swarmed by pockets of mosquito's, not fun for any of us. Koda was thrashing his head from side to side so bad that he actually yanked one of my reins right out of my hand. I wasn't very happy that he didn't whoa, and continued being an antsy-pants while spinning in a one rein stop fashion...I know he was understandably in a frenzy from the bugs, but still...whoa means WHOA!! We finished our ride in the much less buggy outdoor arena on the ranch, and called it good.

After going out for a quick bite at one of our favorite local bar eateries, it was campfire time!

ifire

The paddocks are right outside our cabin. It feels like the horses are all but sitting at the campfire with us. We love, love, love our campfire time!! 

where siesta's happen

Listening to the soft sounds of our horses munching hay, fire crackling, evening chirping, and the clear expansive star filled dotted sky....sigh...it's SO relaxing, and puts everything into perspective.

smoke follows beauty ;)

We tacked up and headed back out on the trail in the morning. This time it was Nemo that was clearly miserable, his head tossing was hard to manage. Poor guy. Nemo's allergies hit full force as soon as we left the ranch. We didn't get much further then the day before, and turned back around. Wondering if we should load up and take the horses back home? or just not ride?? We decided instead to see if we could get a hold of some medicine, and when/if it calmed Nemo's allergies down - then we would try trail riding again. 

We played telephone tag-n-text with our daughter, who works at our clinic, who got a hold of our vet, who called the local vet the ranch owners use for their horses, then we called, she called, they called - all to help Nemo be more comfortable, and make a difference. Altho everyone was super helpful and responded asap, this all took hours - including our little adventure we had picking up the medicine. Finding the north woods vet proved to be harder then we thought. No thanks to our phone GPS. At one point the GPS told us to get out and walk the rest of the way to our destination (not kidding!!) in the middle of nowhere...say what?!? We called the local vet, and found out we had another 30 miles or so to go. That would have been one heck of a looong walk! Needless to say we turned off the dumb@ss GPS. Guess we should have accepted the directions we were originally offered back at the ranch!

We gave the allergy medicine a chance to work overnight, and savored a nice dinner at one of our favorite supper clubs on the lake. I had my usual, walleye & scallops ~ mmmm! Of course we also enjoyed another p.m. & a.m. relaxing campfire, shared with our horses!

Brad's iphoto with caption that he sent to a few friends

"6:00am, horses eating breakfast, fire going,
 sitting back with a cup of coffee with my best friend.
Wish everyday started like this."

At first we were somewhat disappointed that we had barely ridden through the forest on this trip, but Nemo's comfort was more important. We truly enjoy being up north. It's not all about the ride...our trips are so much more then that to us.

Nemo

On our last full day we headed out on the trail, going the opposite direction. It's got more hardwoods, so we figured it might be less problematic for Nemo's allergies. There was only one way to find out if he was better - and whala - the allergy med's worked! It felt good to be back trail riding in the depth's of the serene forest! 

The cooler weather made for less bug activity, so it was enjoyable. Altho Koda had gotten a taste of turning around from the prior attempted rides, and gave me some challenges. We worked through them, without dismounting. Some were easier then others, each scenario was resolved differently. Thankfully there were only a handful of "I don't want to go that way" and eventually he quit the sudden spin to change directions. 

Koda was on forward march the entire 3.5 hour ride. Needless to say we lead most of the way, and at times worked on rating his speed. Sometimes we do a little trotting on the stretches, but otherwise we walk the winding trails and soak it all in.

being one with the pines

sauntering through a sea of green

On leaving day, we opted not to ride. Some years we pack everything up before heading out for one last ride, and some years we don't. The boys were sooo relaxed, and comfy in their sandy paddocks... 

chillaxin

...so much that Koda attracted another camper who stood watching him lying flat out on his side sleeping for the longest time, and took pictures of him. 

It's wonderful to see that even the horses settle in and enjoy our trips. Everything moves at a slower pace in the north woods. Not that the local folks don't work hard, because they most certainly do. But when surrounded by vast nature, eventually relaxation sets in - if you let it. 

We had a wonderful trip, and wouldn't change a thing (minus mosquitos). It all serves a much larger purpose.

beauty is in the eye of the beholder