Spiders

I hope I did not jinx Houston by posting about his previous injury last week.  Friday when I arrived at the barn after work I found my sweet horse with a hock 3 times its normal size and could barely walk.

We did the usual treatment: cold hose, stable bandage, bute and phone call to the vet.  The vet couldn't come out until the next morning so Houston spent a nice relaxing night in his stall with the fan blowing on him. 

5 x-rays & 4 hours later Houston was diagnosed with a spider bite.  Thank goodness for no joint activity or poison.  Just antibiotics and some rest.  Hopefully in 5 days he will be back to normal.  In the mean time I will be de-cob webbing his entire living space in the stable.

Injured

Shortly after beginning our Training Level season I decided it might be a good idea as Houston grew older and started to show more stiffness to have his hocks injected.  Boy was that a BAD idea.  Houston felt so wonderful that he went out into the pasture the next day and pulled his stifle.  He was completely lame.

After calling the vet and having x-rays, tests and tons of stall rest I was told he probably wouldn't recover.  That was a challenge to me as an owner.  I did EVERYTHING to a T that I was ordered to do by the vet.  Houston was hand walked, stalled and treated like a king.

We had monthly vet checks and after 4 months the vet looked at me in amazement and said "he's better, and I didn't think it would happen".  I grinned from ear-to-ear.  Houston and I went from Training Level eventing to walking in the arena mounted for 10 minutes a day, 20 minutes a day, trotting in straight lines only for half the arena for MONTHS to build back all the muscle we had lost very slowly.

During Houston's unfortunate injury he managed to become a cover horse for a local magazine.  This picture was taken while waiting for our monthly vet visit.

Fire Pit

Sorry to get out of order in the Houston Chronicles.  I couldn't resist.  Houston & I  recently both moved to new homes as we continue our adult lives.  Houston has been at this home before while I was in college so it was a reunion for him.  Sunday a very scary Fire Pit appeared next to the riding arena.  Apparently this was an unforeseen object that Houston had never encountered prior.  Houston is a horse that hates for things to move or not be in the same place he thinks they should be or were the day before.  We sniffed the fire pit, walked around it, even watched Jason pick the lid up and move it around.  Nothing calmed the fears that were associated with this huge black object.

We experienced lots of side passes and random leaps into the air during Sunday's ride thanks to the pit.  I decided we would face the pit again last night but a lovely man at the farm went out and removed the threat when I mentioned Houston's dislike for it.  Houston was so thankful for the removal of the threating object that he happily went on the bit and behaved the entire time. Although he did give several glances around to assure the pit had not returned.

Wild Man

Houston & I were finally ready for our first Training Level event after being together for almost 4 years.  It takes a while to re-train a race horse and train me from the ground up. 

Our first Training posed new questions.  Dressage was more complicated and since this was not our forte it was at the top of the worry list.  Cross-Country was bigger, longer and faster- not that big of a worry since Houston thrived on Cross-Country.  And stadium was simply bigger with a few more questions, again not that big of a worry.

The morning of the event I decided Houston needed to look the part of a Training Level horse.  I braided his mane and tried to make him look super fancy.  Do you know what doesn't work on an extremely long framed, thinner boned horse with a long neck and face??  Braiding their mane!  Poor Houston looked like a mule.  We have never braided since, it didn't suit him and he was embarrassed.  Dressage went fair, we didn't get much of a lengthening- but we tried.

When Cross-Country rolled around I was prepared to make time and have an excellent run.  With Houston being an ex-racer, we have always had some issues with the start box(this small white fenced in area where you stand anxiously awaiting the count down until you can start your course).  I try not to enter the box until we are at least on 8 of the countdown from 10.  I've always made Houston walk or trot out of the start box to make sure he's paying attention to me and not in pure race mode.  Since the speed is faster for Training I decided he could canter out.  Big mistake!  We flew around our course in no-time.  Had zero problems, except getting Houston to stop when we got back to the finish line.  My trainer was very unhappy as we finished almost a minute ahead of the optimal time (this was considered dangerous).  I never felt unsafe, Houston adjusted himself for each jump and was balanced the entire time. 

Needless to say we did not place thanks to all the penalty points we received from our race track like Cross-Country course.  But we did get some amazing pictures to remember it by.

Nationals

After passing on our first qualifying rally for PC Nationals we took our next opportunity and traveled to The Virginia Horse Park to compete in Show-Jumping.  Packing for rally is hard enough, but packing for 4 days of National competition is frightful.  Imagine packaging for a week at the beach- and add 2 more people because that's how much stuff Houston has.

The first morning of competition we had jog outs at 7:30 am.  Houston was in rare form, frisky, and I thought my heart would jump out of my chest as 4 judges and a vet watched Houston trot by to be "approved" sound for competition. We passed and were clear for the day.

Our team was in the Horse II level (3'3"-3'6").   In all my years of having horses I was never concerned with dandruff in my horse's tail, until Pony Club.  Did you know that putting Listerine in your horse's tail will rid it of dandruff?  I used baby oil to cover it up until I learned this nifty little trick from a fellow team member.

We passed formal inspections with flying colors and had to saddle up for warm-ups immediately after.  Of course it was 90+ degrees, no breeze and we were required to wear our velvet helmets and coats the first day.  I unfortunately have a history of over heating and was nervous about having zero ventilation while riding.  We warmed up well and made it through our first course effortlessly.

The ring schedules were back-to-back so there was only one horse in between us and our next course.  EMT's were patrolling the rings to make sure riders were safe and not getting dehydrated.  As I entered the arena for my second round I felt light headed and weak, but what choice did I have but to keep going? 

Houston is the most amazing horse ever. Period.  He completed his course with grace and even kept me from falling off around the corners as I began to over heat and have trouble staying in the center of the saddle.  After we exited the arena the EMT came over right as I was starting to see spots.  They took me to the medical center where my blood pressure was WAY too low and they tried to hydrate me before I passed out.  I remember seeing Houston walking around the medical center looking panicked because I had left him with my trainer.

Second day of competition went much better since they decided to wave coats and velvet helmats- due to the many people suffering from heat exhaustion.

When award time rolled around Houston and I were named 10th out of 40+ competitiors with the best equtiation (judging is based on how well the riders position looks on course).  Our team finished 8th in our division, which was a big accomplishment for a first time team.

Houston's Highlights

I've always been entranced with the beauty of horses and their majestic nature.   I tried to capture a few of "Houston's Highlights".

Mixing it Up

Since Houston and I come from different backgrounds and the fact that his Thoroughbred mind often needs variety, I did my best to mix up our routine.  Our daily routine often consisted of some sort of dressage work, often lounging with side riens, and working on suppleness and bending.  Sometimes I would throw in a jump just to give him some added energy and make life more interesting- jumping in a Dressage saddle is an art with an ex-racer.

I also tried to chose events that were fun and different for both of us.  As a member of the Yadkin Valley Hounds Pony Club we often received a list of events that they were sponsoring.  One came up in the Summer that was a fun Hunter Trial, a hunter/jumper show but in an open field, which to Houston felt like Cross-Country.  He excelled in his divison and even won his jumping classes.  He wasn't quiet sure why I wasn't asking him to go on the bit during the flat classes, but he enjoyed the extra freedom.  Some might think that was confusing for Houston in his training as an eventer, but anything to help his mind settled and give him more exposure to the show world was well worth it.