12.11.13

I rode a few more times than I posted.  Harley and I had some amazingly good dressage rides, and as the weather grew very cold for here, I was surprised to find him even more nimble than normal.  His stretches were great, his general work was willing and forward.  More, his jumps were steady, and consistent.  Enough so that I'm anxious to add an extra X to our line at home.

Then, like always, about 6 steps backwards. 

First, the neighbor I share a fence with is replacing that fence.  They started last Thursday, bulldozing the fence line.  This means I have to put one of the two horses in the pipe-fenced paddock.  I'd love to put them out together, but there's just not enough grass for that, and I don't have the ability to put a round bale of grass hay out for them.  This means Harley spent a few days locked up, and now Romeo is in "paddock jail". 

Then, the weather grew brutal.  Rainy, drizzly, windy, and highs in the low 40s.  Lows at and just below freezing.  Cold, and incredibly brutal for here. 

Finally, just because that all above wasn't quite enough, I caught a chest cold/head cold.  Current routine medication I'm on made this little cold even worse, and quite fast.  Last Friday, while the bulldozer was working away, I longed Harley to "get the jail boogers out", anticipating a show on Sunday.  He was amazingly quiet, only spooking once when the dozer sounded like gunfire as it crackled trees down.  Then, the sore throat turned into a cough, and with a big deep breath of cold wind, the cough hit me hard. 

I realized then I wasn't showing anywhere, let alone riding anywhere, for the next few days.  I scratched the show, unhappy about it. 

And that's where I've been since.  No rides, just watering, tossing hay and grain, and blankets on/off as the weather allows.  Incredibly sad not to be riding. 

Still, with zero fence rebuilt, and the "arena fence" still down, if there were to be a "bad moment" with Harley, I'd have nothing to contain him.  He'd be off like a flash, and I'd be chasing him over hundreds of acres of pasture next door.  I doubt the landowner would appreciate that. 

So we wait.  We work on patience, and we wait.  I've got a tentative lesson for next weekend, and I'm looking forward to it.  I'm nearly done with the antibiotics and can actually report today is the first day I feel an improvement.  'Bout time.  =)