Saturday, May 12, 2012

The Highs And The Lows

Awww geez...If it's not one freaking thing...it's another...

Let me just start with the last couple of days. On Thursday, Moon gave me quite a workout. He was ON FIRE! Man, oh man...he felt good. I'm starting to notice that the day after he gets his Adequan shot that he is just as frisky as a colt. I figured he would be quieter the next day. Nope...Friday he was rearing to go. I took him to the desert for his hill work and he was just powering up and down the hills. I was pretty excited. I figured if he felt this good, two days in a row...things must be back on track. I mulled it over for a bit and decided to take him to the barrel race with me the next day (It was still Friday afternoon when I decided this).

I was in a pretty chirpy mood right up until I watched Moon try to double barrel Spooks through the panel fence and got his hind legs hung up. He wheeled to kick Spooks (which he has NEVER done before) and BOTH hind legs went through the bars of the panel. If the pins that held the panel hadn't bent, he probably would have broken both hind legs.

I don't want to relive the gory details...but I will tell you...I thought I would be calling the vet to come put my broken-legged horse down. It was B.A.D!!!

Moon scraped a significant amount of hair and hide off...from stifle to fetlock on both of his hind legs, but mostly his left. He did strain the ligament that runs on the front-side of the hock, on the left side and worst of all, strained his left stifle.

It's going to be a while before he runs barrels now. Again. :( Maybe ever. As I was doctoring him tonight, I can hear his stifle popping. It's never done that before.

Christ...I was (and still am) just sick to my stomach.

I did not sleep well last night. I was so angry with myself. Angry with Moon. And pissed off in general that every damn time I get this horse right...something happens. I'm about whipped. Mentally...Emotionally...I just don't know how much more I have to give...for the sake of Moon.

Needless to say, when I got up Saturday morning...I wasn't really excited about going to the barrel race. I was physically sick to my stomach and emotionally drained.

If it hadn't been for Frosty, I probably would not have went. Bless Spooks' heart...he is such a good horse and he gives me his all. Sadly...'his all' is never going to make him a top-end horse. Believe me, I sure do appreciate the horse for how well he has done. But, I'm in it to win it. I want a 1D and a rodeo horse.

I have the feeling that Frosty is going to be that. Eventually. But he needs hauled and seasoned. Soooo...

I got everything ready and checked Moon's legs...thought they would be massively swelled, but was pleasantly surprised that there was no swelling and only one hot spot...right in front of the hock. He was not lame and I did not hear his stifle popping. I thought maybe we escaped better than I could have ever dreamed (this was in the morning...it was the evening, after I got home that I heard the popping in the stifle). That kind of lightened my mood a bit...I loaded Spooks and Frosty and away we went.

It looked to be a very small barrel race...so after getting the boys ready, I decided it was a small enough crowd that Frosty could handle it without having to be ponied first.

He did wonderfully. So hard to believe that all of last year I was taking my life in my hands to even attempt to ride him in an arena with other horses.

I exhibitioned him twice. He did not do quite as well as he did last weekend. He is still struggling to change his lead going from 1st to 2nd barrel. He doesn't always get it switched, which of course, makes it difficult for him to complete his 2nd turn. After the exhibitions I asked L what she thought and she said that she would like to see me push him a little harder. He's looking around too much and not really focusing on what he is supposed to be doing. I figured she was probably right. I have pushed Frosty much harder in practice and he can handle more speed.

I ran Spooks first and he did awesome. He took a full second off of his time from last weekend. He's back to where he was last year. He ran a 20.2.

I ran Frosty 2nd and due to some timer glitches and a stake being pulled...I kinda lost track of where they were. I was standing there yacking with another gal and she says, "I think they called your name." Oh crap. LOL...Yep...Everyone was staring at me. (blush) I gathered Frosty up and headed for the gate. One of my goals with Frosty is to get him running straight to 1st without circling...if he picks up the correct lead...we go. If not, I regather him, start a circle, get his lead and then go. He almost picked up his lead...I could feel him wanting to...but he didn't quite get it. So we circled. I waited until he was lined up and then asked him for some speed. He gave it to me. :-o His first barrel was so spot on and he came out of it really good. About 1/2 way across the arena, he started to feel a little lost. He switched his lead and then switched it out again. Kinda got bogged down behind the barrel until he got his inside lead picked up and then he left reasonably well. I think I must have stopped pushing him at that point because when we were approaching 3rd barrel, he was switching leads and ducking back and forth. Not quite sure where that pocket needs to be. It's kind of hard for me to lock onto a spot when he's doing that. I find myself looking down at his shoulder. :-/

He did take the 3rd barrel correctly, but didn't have any momentum and kind of wanted to keep turning it. I got his head straightened out and asked him to 'run' for home. Frosty isn't too sure about this 'running' thing though. Whenever I ask him to r.u.n., he lifts his head up, cocks it to the left and rolls that eye back to look at me...'Are you sure mom? I dunno...we are going kind of fast already.' LOL...He is a trip, this big, yellow dummy of mine. I reached down and slapped him in the shoulder with my hand a couple of times and that seemed to help get him focused on running again. I contemplated carrying a bat with me for this run, but decided at the last minute that might be too much. But I think he is going to need a little encouragement soon. It's a lot of work to keep him motivating.

Anyway, with all of that...Frosty took over 6 seconds off of his time from 2 weeks ago. He went from a 29 second pattern to a 23 second pattern. It's the same arena, so it's comparable-pattern size, ground conditions and all that. I was hoping he would at least be a 25, so for him to take those 2 extra seconds off made me very happy.

Obviously, Frosty was still way to slow to place, but Spooks picked up his 2nd check for the year. LMAO...That darned black horse has the luck of the Irish. Yea, I didn't realize Spooks had placed last weekend. Drove off without my $$.

This got long...but I've got a few thoughts on all of the boys...




13 comments:

Allenspark Lodge said...

Oh man, poor Moon.

I heard many years ago that a horse is born predestined to die at a certain time and place, and they spend their whole lives looking for it.

The more I know about horses, the more I believe it.

Glad your others are running well.

Bill

cdncowgirl said...

I literally gasped and covered my mouth when you said Moon was hung up in that panel... sick to my stomach.
Sure hope luck holds and he heals faster & better than what first appearances were suggesting.

Geez lady you should just go and start calling Spooks Irish lol Way to go "Irish"!

And yay for Frosty! Maybe not a cheque but a definite improvement.
A girl at our jackpot today had a similar situation, her younger horse was kinda all over the place her first run so she was given the advice to ask him for a bit more speed and it did improve his focus.

Laura said...

Oh man, not good about Moon. I really hope the injuries aren't too bad when the dust settles...

Good for you and Spooks for getting some $$ though and having some decent runs on Frosty. Hope things with those boys keep improving...

Anonymous said...

Boy, can I empathize with the recurring roadblocks with Moon; our leopard stallion has had the same kind of luck his entire life, starting with being a preemie!
~spotz58

Shirley said...

Bubble wrap. We all need to invest in that company. I had Rio sold until he got hung up in corral panels.....I sure hope Moon heals up well. I saw Beamer roll once right next to corral panels and get one leg through- scared the tar outa me but he was ok, just a little hair missing.
Gotta love Spooks, it sounds like he would be a perfect horse for some little girl to learn to compete on.

Crystal said...

Oh man, i feel for you, that Moon, he has it in him to win, he just doesnt know he has to quit getting hurt. Hope he heals up. But that really sucks just as hes feelin good something happens.

Spooks, what a guy, just go out there and win ya money,would be nicer if he was faster, but kinda nice to win money every time.

in2paints said...

I feel your pain about Moon... things were like that with Lily for a while. Just when you think you're in a good place, BAM! So sorry to hear about his accident, but I hope it doesn't turn out to be too bad.

At least your other two lifted your spirits a bit... sounds like you had two great runs. Congratulations!

Mikey said...

Ugh, Moon. What a dummy. Guess he was feeling exceptionally good. Dang the luck. But glad to hear the other two are running good. All in good time, things will come together.

kestrel said...

Glad you're okay, too! I've gotten hurt a couple of times trying to rescue a horse from a messy spot. It never seems to get any less scary either. Jeez Moon, quit kicking already!

Danielle Michelle said...

Ringo pulled his stifle last year - poor bugger would go to walk and it was a like a rubber band was needing to get pulled tight until it broke and then his hind leg would shoot up and forward. It was painful to watch. I thought it was about over for him- just when we were in a good point of getting him broke...But the good of it was that it healed fast and he could still be excercised at a trot to build that back up. I was told to keep backing to a minimum and not to let him run full out as that stretches the stifle out and if there has been damage causes it to hang up and 'pop'. Since the first few days last year after the injury I haven't seen any problems with it.

Keep an eye on Moon, but since he's in good shape you probably won't have any lasting issues! As long as he puts his full weight on the leg - keep him legged up by trotting him and build those legaments tighter. And don't back him for awhile.

Good luck.

BrownEyed Cowgirl said...

Excellent advice DM...But we are on our 3rd or 4th rehab of Moon's stifles now. It's already a problem.

I wanted to get a few runs on him, see if I couldn't nurse him along this summer and consider having his left stifle worked on this fall. I am coming to believe that he has stretched one or more of those ligaments and will have to have something done to correct that. I don't know if there is actual damage to the joint or not. The popping has stopped, so I my fingers crossed that does not reappear.

Funder said...

Oh good lord. Really, Moon? REALLY?! So glad the other two saved the day for you. Spooks is a sleeper! ;)

SunnySD said...

Dang! Seconds on the bubble-wrap comment. Good grief, but they do pick their moments, don't they? At least you have back-ups to saddle and can still get some runs in! Hope the recuperation process is smooth and Moon comes out of it okay.