Alfalfa Strike

Awareness of the outside world. CDC, National Wastewater System: State and Territory Trends. Hat tip Your Local Epidemiologist: A Summer Covid-19 Wave, Jetelina, Jul 18. 2024

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Both horses have turned their noses up at the current load of 80/20 alfalfa/timothy hay. Yes, you read that right. 80% alfalfa and it’s not good enough for them. (We don’t feed straight alfalfa because $$ and it’s too hard to handle.)

Anyway.

It’s perfectly nice hay, recently purchased. They’ve been on this meal plan since early 2023. It’s not the idea. It’s this particular load. We’ve tried several servings from the same semi. It’s the back bales in the recent hay photo.

[Hay Stall Redo]

Nice looking hay, right? The front bales are 20/80 alfalfa/timothy. We mix & match as we go. Or, at least, we used to.

Milton will eat the 80/20. Eventually. Under protest. Rodney doesn’t so much as disturb squareness of the flake.

Massive eyeroll. 🙄

Gourmet chocolate is nice, but we don’t feel that this batch is quite up to our standards.

However.

We are reluctant to play chicken with their diet. Milton because of his tum. Rodney because he’s a skinny senior citizen.

So, we are waiting for the new load to come in.

🙄 🙄 🙄

Update [Hay Update]

Onwards!
Katherine

The Covered Ring and the Case of the Mysterious Malady

Awareness of the horse world. Show conflict. Two local shows this weekend, one ASB, one H/J, both of which I have attended in the past. Neither of which I am at this year. I expect to be a joy and delight all day.

Awareness of the horse world, for people who are not me, nor have to be around me. TODAY. Tevis Cup: Ride Day Links.

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A while back I was sick. Ridiculously, down-for-the-count, crawl-under-the-covers sick.

I was coughing, so of course I thought I had Covid.

My innards were objecting, so of course I thought I was having another diverticulitis attack.

No other symptoms. Nothing gross spewing out of my body. The cough was dry. The innards were registering a complaint but not ejecting ballast.

No aches.

No blood, no bruising, no other odd changes of color.

No fever.

With those symptoms, or lack thereof, the ER was not interested in seeing me.

So, I slept all of Saturday. Felt somewhat more human on Sunday. Better by Monday. The weekend was a write-off.

A few weeks later, same thing, but milder.

Which was when I figured out what it was.

On the Friday before the first bout, I got roped into leading beginner lessons at Stepping Stone Farm. Around and around in the covered ring. Three sets.

On the Friday before the second bout, I got talked into it again, but only one set.

The culprit?

Dust.

Years and years of dry dust and pulverized horse poop. Atomized by generations of hooves.

I was coughing, because I had inhaled so much dust.

My innards were annoyed because I had swallowed so much dust.

The second bout was not as bad because less dust.

As soon as I had an explanation, I felt better. I also drank large amounts of Gatorade and took a solemn vow never to do THAT again.

I have ridden in that ring for years. However, when one is on a horse, one is up in the air, above the half wall. When one is leading, one is down below the wall, trapped in the bowl with the dust, mired in dust, surrounded by dust being kicked up fore and aft.

Does this mean I am a ridiculously delicate cupcake princess with the resilience of a daffodil? No argument from me. I’m still not doing that again. Not a weekend I want to repeat.

Onwards!
Katherine

Additional Requirement For My Theoretical New Horse

Horses of the outside world. Iron Dames Equestrian.

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Remember I talked about getting a sport Saddlebred? [Finding A Horse To Match The Hat] & [Squad Goals, Another Class For My Imaginary Horse]

Short version. A horse who can run & jump, plus being a registered Saddlebred so I can do performance divisions at local ASB shows.

After spending the week watching virtual Lexington, no surprise, I wanna goooo! [It’s That Time of Year Again, Vicarious Lexington]

So, now my holodeck horse needs to be juuust nice enough of a Saddlebred to take me to Lexington Junior League horse show without embarrassing me or my barn. I don’t require making a habit of it, but riding into the Rolex arena just once would be nice.

Okay, it looks like the eventers get to jump in the big ring. AEC: Schedule of Events. I’ll take that. How about both?

Been There, Done That refers to these as, “opportunities to dance in the dust of the Caesars.” More Blackpool [Louisville 2016]

Onwards!
Katherine

Delay Of Game

Awareness of the outside world. đź“… World Emoji Day.

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Minor mishap with cart.

Milton kicked out and damaged the jog cart.

Rider is fine. Horse is fine, with a few booboos. Jog cart, not so much.

Milton let us – for a Milton definition of “let” – help him and the quick releases did their quick release thing.

A bump in the road.

Milton’s triumphant return to CDE will take a while longer.

Onwards!
Katherine

Stat by Stat, Virtual Tevis 2024

Awareness of the outside world. A glimmer is the opposite of a trigger. Hat tip to K.

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Results Recap

Virtual Tevis Cup 2024, 100 Miles in 100 Days, 10 April to 21 July.

Rodney, 100 Miles, 10 April to 24 June.

Milton, 100 Miles, 10 April to 1 July.

Commentary

Perfect attendance! From start to finish Milton went out every day!

Each outing was a one-mile, so we went out 100 times. Rodney only walked. Milton did some trotting while hitched. We went out almost every morning. On the weekends, we would go out again in the afternoon. Riding and hitching was in the afternoons at the beginning, then switched to mornings once the heat landed.

Precipitation cooperated. One morning it rained hard enough that we went out in the afternoon. A few mornings, we walked in a heavy mist. One day was close enough to actual rain that the horses could not believe they were having to work! (gentle hand-walk) in! a! downpour! (light rain).

Milton: ride 18 miles, hand-walk 70 miles, drive 12 miles.

As I said elsewhere, Milton was one of the few entries to ride and hand-walk AND drive. He ended up with more rides than Rodney from one day when I was tired the afternoon of a show and chose to hand-walk, and one day when Rodney had a mild eye irritation that kept me out of the saddle but did not prevent him from walking his mile.

Rodney: ride 16 miles, hand-walk 84 miles.

Rodney missed days for three reasons. One, when I had to be out of town for family stuff. Well, he missed Virtual Tevis miles, but he still went for walks with Milton. Two, lost shoe. Three, one day when Milton hitched in the morning and we chose not to come back in the afternoon. If we had been defending a streak, we could have done something. He finished before Milton by doing more afternoon walks during the week. His 84 rides were not 84 miles of riding, since we did a lap or two of hand-walk to settle before starting the ride.

I was amazed at how fast the miles mounted when we did double sessions on the weekends, and how much it dropped off once it became too hot to work in the afternoons.

Virtual Tevis Posts [Archives]

Onwards!
Katherine