Happy Tuesday to you all!
Well... where to start. First I should probably explain to those of you who were keeping an eye on scores over the weekend why nothing was showing up for Rif. Wednesday we had bit of a hurdle thrown at us. I've been fighting against scratches (mild infection) on Rif's leg the past while and last week I had the vet out to look and she put her on some mild antibiotics to hopefully kick it. Well wednesday we found out that was not enough. Her scratches blew up and so I knew we needed to put a stop on things and get it under control. Nobody thought it was that bad at all but it's amazing how quickly things can flare up. We had to leave wednesday to the show so we took her with us because at that point we weren't sure what was best and still had some phone calls to the vet to make to find out what to do.
Because of the level of show I was showing in international drug testing can randomly occur and I knew we needed to get Rif on some meds. I felt it was best to have the vet treat her and deal with the situation instead of showing her on a swollen leg and risk stressing it unnecessarily. It was hard because she has been feeling amazing and I knew this was going to be our show but this was one of those weekends where the welfare of your horse becomes way more important than test scores. So the story continues and we had a vet come out wednesday night and he gave her some heavy antibiotics and other meds to bring the swelling down that she remained on throughout the weekend and now she is in great shape. I was able to ride her lightly over the weekend to keep her moving and boy did she feel amazing still! It was so hard, I had to keep telling myself to keep it easy because she just felt and apparently looked stunning. Since working with Debbie and having Sabine there watching we have really turned a corner and started clicking! I know this weekend was bit of a curveball for us but I'm not going to let that discourage me. I'm looking at it as another way of getting to know her and finding out how to prevent this from happening in the future. One step at a time :)
So now about the cute chestnut.. water trucks and tractors are not his friends.. at all. That was reconfirmed on Friday when I had to warm up with rings being harrowed and watered all around us. We did not fare so well.. squealing and jumping around began in the warm-up and you can just imagine how that turned out in the ring. We were rather tense and got stuck in that 60% again. Saturday we had a bit of tension left over but he was so much more rideable and we almost had both our lines of changes =) Sunday was the freestyle and I was so happy with him! We scored 65.8% and he definitely gave me hope that he can maybe do it ;)
So I have to say going through this experience this past weekend truly reminded me of why I am doing this. Because I just love being with the horses and joy I get from riding them even though it doesn't always go as planned. Showing is more than ribbons and medals. It's about what you get from it and no matter what, you have to always put your horse first. There will always be people better than you and you have to keep your head out of the crap that goes on and stay true to the person you know who you are. Everything happens for a reason and it's trusting that all works out in God's plan and timing.
So that's my little pow wow from the weekend.. sorry to ramble on ;) I will try to get some pictures up in the next few days!
Hope all is well!
Moni
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