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

wednesday whirlwind

This post title fits my world lately. It is mostly inspired by our second day of ridiculously high winds! I guess if your days are crazy, you might as well have crazy weather too. Said no one ever. 2017 already ranks high on the "it's been a very unusual year" list, in more ways then one.

Our spring vet appointments came & went, over a week ago already. Koda lucked out, and only got immunized. Cierra had shots, teeth floated and since she was doing some odd breathing for our trainer the day prior, they checked her lungs too. Everything was normal. The garbage bag procedure was new for all of us at the barn. 

Cierra handled breathing
into the bag very well

Nemo always get's the most done, poor guy. Shots, teeth, ultrasound and flushing for his unique calcium build up problem. We also found out he has to repeat the whole allergy shot series again, forever. I swore the vet said it was a once a month maintenance shot after the initial series, but I was wrong. He explained the reasoning. Every year it's a brand new pollen season, so the calculated shots are the best way to keep symptoms down. Nemo was SO incredibly miserable last year, it is worth it. I will be glad when Nemo lives with us again, so we can give him the shots ourselves. The intricate ever changing schedule is asking a lot of someone else. We are fortunate he lives at a place where other people love him too.

Nemo & Brad by the scary door

My rides with Koda continue going well. We are back to riding in the indoor. He is being such a good boy under saddle. Koda is Koda and will always try shenanigans on the ground, all minor. The other day he was standing in the arena while I scooped poop before getting in the saddle (his brother is a never ending poop machine) and one rein flopped to the ground. Koda picked the rein up in his mouth and was trying to put it back on the rail, or direct himself with it - not sure. He is no dummy. Typical silliness, always making us laugh!

We are working on a little bit of everything, including some loping. His lope in frame is like riding on a cloud! My favorite gait, with a willing partner. We don't lope endless circles, don't need to. Just enough, is good enough for us.

Koda in no hurry to rejoin his herd

Some other fast changing news: our house build started this week! Brad & our son staked the house out (again) on Saturday. Brad prepped the site, and then we met with the excavator to answer any questions. While they talked building stuff, I snuck off for a quick walk through the pines. Something I haven't had a chance to do for a long time. 

heading out of the woods
and seeing our barn for the first time in the distance,
made me pause...

The very next day our house site was turned into a giant sand box. 

for perspective,
see Brad standing in the photo

They finished digging the house today, and tonight my guys along with a handful of awesome employees will do the next step - set the footings. I sure hope the wind dies down!

Our house site will continue changing rapidly over the next week, before it slows down again. I won't bore you with a gazillion step-by-step house building photos, but you can bet I'll be taking them!! I may or may not be biased, but I find the process fascinating and fun to shoot. I'll share a few updates, but if you don't hear from me for a while you will know why!

Hope all is well in your neck of the woods! Before you know it, we will all be riding outside!!

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.