Wednesday, January 9, 2019

What's Up Wednesday

It's kind of hard to believe that a week ago I was still in Florida. Funny how you just roll right back into real life, isn't it?
So Thursday, I boarded the plane to come back to reality.
It was cloudy and drizzly in Florida because Florida was sad to see me go. But I was ready to get back home to all the four legged kids. I miss them when I'm away!
I scheduled Eros to have a training ride on Thursday, but requested he flat only since he'd had the week off. I knew I would land with enough time to ride, but I also wanted to spend some time with the boys at home and needed to get the short kids. I figured it would be easier to have him ridden that day, and it would appease the BO by our paying for a ride. Win-win. One would think.
Unfortunately, I'm privy to some information that suggest Eros may have jumped during his training ride. After a week off. But I decided not to address that until I rode him. If no harm done, then it's not worth raising a stink about it. Well. I got on Friday and he was not sound. I played dumb though and just said "you only flatted him, right?" Well after a ten minute delay in response she said oh yeah, just flatted and he was awesome!
Fishy. But I can't absolutely prove he jumped, so I dunno. Maybe she's telling the truth? Either way, my horse is unsound. I am NOT happy. She said in person that they did just flat but she really made him work. Which made me question why? He had a week off! Just sit on him and let him move around. Ugh. Anyway, I've been on him everyday, mostly tack walking with a tiny bit of trot to see if there's improvement. There hasn't been, so I'll have to touch base with the vet I guess. So frustrating. I really wish people would do what's best for the horses and not what's best for their wallets and egos. Hopefully he's just sore and this passes quickly. But I can't pretend I'm not ridiculously frustrated. Eros and I were really clicking and things were going so well. And now, I'm back to walking horses. Every day. So much walking. How many equine must one have access to in order to ride with any regularity? The answer is not 3. I don't think it's 4 either. Maybe it's 5?
In other less cranky news, the old men are doing great. They've both put on some weight (I think... it might just be hair) and are looking good. They're also shedding like crazy.

We are VERY overdue for some mane attention. Maybe we'll get to that this weekend. They're really starting to look feral.
Saturday it rained pretty much the entire day, but Sunday was nice (other than some crazy wind) and even fairly warm in the 40's. I decided to throw Rio on a lunge line to see how he's looking.
Not bad, right? Hey, maybe this one will end up rideable some day soon? He looked quite good to the left, but still off to the right. I'm not sure if it's mechanical at this point though? The epm left him with a bit of a curve to the body, which had gotten a little worse after his last flare up. I'm not actually planning anything for him work wise, but we'll see how he looks when spring arrives. It would be nice to at least sit on him and wander the yard this summer. But if not, that's ok too. He can do whatever makes him happy!
That's about all that's really going on here. Walking everyone, lots of grooming, and also a fair amount of pug snuggling.

Any thoughts on this Eros situation? Curious how others might handle things. Right now, I think I'll wait to see what the vet has to say, and then form a plan from there. I'm not sure it's worth addressing, but for future would just not let anyone on him while I'm gone. I dunno. Tell me your thoughts!

26 comments:

  1. ugh that sucks. you do NOT need three basically lame horses ;(

    I also worry that what if he was OFF Before the training ride and they just went ahead and rode him anyway! ICK

    Thanks for making me happy my guys are in the field out front. Boarding can suck sometime. Hopefully Eros bounces right back! And is just sore!!

    Glad the pugs are back at home with you! :)

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    1. That's also a good point. I agree, in many ways, it's a LOT easier to have them at home!

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    2. Ugh yeah I remember one time in highschool I was asked to ride a horse while someone was on vacation I got on and the horse was just slightly off so I got off and I had my trainer call them and the horse was rested until they got home.

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    3. That would be a proper way to handle that situation!

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  2. I really, really hate when people lie, and I really, really, really hate when I can't trust the people I'm paying a small fortune to not lie to me. Definitely no more unsupervised training rides!

    I once watched the trainer I was paying get on another horse and literally walk around for maybe 25 min and then get off. This horse was in partial training and ridden regularly. I couldn't help but wonder what kind of rides my horse was getting. Ugh!

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    1. Agree. As I said, I only suspect that she's not be truthful, I don't know for absolute certain.
      I probably would have preferred she got on and walked for 25 minutes! Lol! But yeah, if you're expecting a training ride and get a tack walk, that's not right at all.

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  3. That whole situation just doesn't smell right. I hope Eros is back to normal soon. I'd go with your gut on what to do, I'm sure some of what to do depends on your options.

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    1. That's exactly it. I don't know anything for sure because I wasn't there. But something went wrong somewhere.
      I think I'll have to let it lie without any real proof of anything. If he's going to need lengthy time off, I'll just bring him home though. No point shelling out boarding money when he can stall rest at my place for cheaper!

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  4. I'm sorry about Eros. That sucks and would make me seriously question what's going on.

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  5. If you have solid evidence (ie, someone willing to agree with you and say they saw them jump) that the trainer disregarded your instructions on flatting, I would personally lay into them. My horse, my baby, MY RULES. Plus, you are paying them to do a training ride. That doesn't mean whatever they want to do, that means what you ask. Hopefully he isn't super injured and recovers quickly.

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    1. I don't have that. Everyone there is very loyal to the BO, and I'm just the new girl. There is a security camera in the ring, so I possibly could ask to see that, but I'm not sure I want to go there.
      I'm hoping it's just a little strain or something and he's back to work soon. Hopefully the vet will be out in a few days.

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  6. Yikes. Add that to the list of things I don't miss about boarding! Hopefully it's nothing serious and he bounces back quickly, and hopefully trainer doesn't pull shenanigans in the future :(

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    1. Right? Just a reminder that when I do get my own horse, it stays at my house!

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  7. Three lame horses? Uggggghhhh keep us posted on what the vet says.
    The pugs are just the cutest!

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    1. Well to be fair, Rio is 22, so he's more just old than lame really... And Jampy foundered last spring, so he may actually be sound soon. But yeah, at the end of the day, 3 lame horses.
      Thanks! I think the pugs are pretty adorable too :)

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  8. I’m not envious of your situation. Without having concrete evidence to stand on that she jumped without permission, it would be hard for me to say something. I’m also very much NOT a confrontational person. I would be a little tempted to inquire more about what exercises they worked on (presumably on the flat) to try and see if there may have been something that could have contributed to the current lameness.

    I had a trainer do a flat ride on my previous horse while I was at work. She had mentioned that she worked her really hard and the next day my mare was off (very uncharacteristic for her). I mentioned she was off and left it at that, so... guess I took the chicken way out :)

    Hope Eros is back to work soon!

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    1. Yeah, I can create great confrontations in my head, but I'm not the best at executing them! Especially in this instance where I don't have real proof and would kind of be throwing someone else under the bus if I mentioned what I think I know.
      She did say she made him work really hard on the flat, getting him back on his hind end, blah blah blah. So even if she didn't jump him, that's still too much for a horse that had a week of just turnout.
      Did your mare get sound pretty quickly after? Or did it take some time? I'm hopeful he's just really sore, but it's been 6 days since that ride...

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    2. Stacie how bout an abscess (those appear out of nowhere ask me how I know, TATE)....hopefully you figure it out soon. And yes no reason to work him hard like that. Poor Eros. Hope he is better soon!

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    3. Anything is possible! But he's not horribly lame like you'd see with an abscess. More just not quite right, you know? I think it's up high. Who knows though, it could be that. Which would be great, because those you can fix pretty quickly!

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  9. Sneaky but, maybe you could muse to a fellow boarder how you would like to see the trainer jump Eros some time. Maybe that would leave a space for someone to say something?

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  10. Can you just say that someone told you he was jumped and refuse to name names or would it be obvious who told you? Do you have another boarding and training option to pursue? This isn't your first issue with them and this is not a good one. I'm very confrontational though so that's just me.

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    1. I wasn't actually told. It's just something I glanced at on the internet that suggests he was jumped. It would be obvious where it came from though.
      There aren't too many options around here. The care here normally is very good, and the turnout is absolutely the best of anywhere. If he's going to need time off, I'll bring him home though.

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  11. Uhm... that's really NOT COOL re: the training ride and soundness issues. Man, I board but it's not as regimented of a training program and for that I'm so, so glad. I don't deal with that kind of BS. Sorry that you do!

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    1. It's not even a regimented training program, it's just greedy. (If I'm being honest...)
      It's a tricky situation since it's not fully my horse. And the facility itself is the best around. I just hate having so little say in what gets done with my horse, especially when clearly, it's not in his best interest.

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