Musings

Fall is arriving and the bugs are slowly disappearing. The rain is needed but results in muddy pastures and dirty horses. It has been an interesting year thus far. Winter was marred by personal loss and terrifying state events. Summer was hampered some by smoke and extreme heat. The smoke was tough on Sweetie though we have had success getting her cough under control with a round of Dex. Foxy has been unsound for over a month and it seems, after many tests and various treatments, her palliative care regimen may be at the end of it's effectiveness. She has bone reabsorption in her foot due to a healed fracture that ended her eventing career before she joined our herd. Soundness and pain management has been excellent for six years since her bone reabsorption diagnosis so we are extremely thankful for that. Extra tough moments are ahead. It's not a fun part of caring for horses however it is an incredible blessing to be able make the choice for them to go to the rainbow bridge peacefully. It is a dignity that we are unable to give our family and friends when their lives have neared the end.

We've added two herd members this year. Rip is an elderly grade pony gelding that after Acorn Hill EAAT sunsetted. He has stepped in for Sweetie at times and has a big fan in a newer participant who finds his demeanor calming and just the right challenge to her skillset. Cody, a 15.2 hand paint, arrived a week ago and is settling in nicely. He's still solo in the pasture so he is pretty connected to the mares who share his fence line currently. He has worked in 3 one-on-one lessons already! There is something peaceful about bringing in a 28 year old semi-retired show gelding - he knows his job and is fairly unfazed by life changes.

We haven't published newsletters due to the expense of the service when you have a decent amount of contacts. We are hoping to get them going again in the new year. We are currently partnering with some cool folks on a software solution - stay tuned for the details.

A blog is a new thought so we'll see where it goes. Thanks for reading.

May you have the day you deserve! And if your effort fell short today, try harder tomorrow.