D got his goat

Doesn't that sounds funny? I really wanted to say she got his goat, but that really doesn't make any sense. Last Sunday Demetrias got Gracie. She is about 2 months and hasn't been introduced to her entire role as of yet but she is settling in well. The teens at the barn are helping to acclimate her and all of us are playing w/her. I am picking everyone's brains on how best to teach her to lead. The best suggestion seems to be food. :) Rachel taught a pig to lead this way and so I feel its plausible.
Last night D and I had our first lesson with Kim in several months and ya know what? It went alright. I really hit a wall about a week ago. Now that he is essentially okay I have "time" to process what it is exactly we're doing and the horse I have been essentially saddled with. Now that I'm not worrying about every move he makes I can't believe everything we went through the past year and while D doesn't require my attention every day he does need to be worked.
Now that my schedule has chilled a bit and the weather isn't quite so horrific we're back into a routine which often involved longing so that he can get his energy out. Just like a kid if he has too much energy he can't really focus which makes for a frustrating and sometimes dangerous ride for me. So, my horse gets really sweaty running. "like a racehorse" on the longe line several times a week. This energy out allows a successful ride to happen despite how inadequate I feel (finally admitted to Kim). Sigh....
We worked on a circle, so I am in pain because anyone who knows, knows that circle work is HARD. Its just a circle, yes but have you ever tried to do a really great circle? Its challenging. However, for the first time ever I was able to put my legs in front and behind the girth (like you're supposed to) but stay up and actually feel my horse respond to it. When his hips unlocked- I FELT it.
Are we ready for a 4th level dressage test- NOPE, not even close, but my essentially blind horse is moving forward with an ease that I thought we lost 2 months ago. We have a lot of work ahead but as Kim said, "This is the good part, he has a lot of life a head of him, don't panic when its the easy/good part." I have an amazing trainer!!

Happy Birthday!

Demetrias turned 11 years old last Friday, January 28. Life has been quite hectic which I know is not new but as such, this is the first I've been able to update. I was in Kiawah presenting at a conference so the day passed as any other for him. :) I however, have been reflecting on his last year of life. It has been a long one.
In March Demetrias ran into a stick or something creating a large cut by his eye which was in need of stitches, which brought the vet out, which led to the chronic uveitis discovery...
Last year was filled with: hand- walking, night turn outs, fly masks, A LOT of medicine, so many people helping to care for my horse, a lot of tears, learning to be an expert with a syringe, learning a lot about eye medicines, a trip to NC State, trailering, questions, questions and more questions, switching to a hackamore, being content at the walk, a second trip to NC State, leaving, trusting, longing, carrots, dialogue when riding, figuring out how to keep a horse out on a circle when you are his anchor, saying goodbye to ever jumping, new perspective, carrots, dialogue, TRUST.
I got on D's back today after a decent longing session to get some of his vinegar out. He made it through the longing w/out having a whinnying fit. On him the focus was a calm and rounded up neck at the walk. Haven't trotted under saddle for several weeks. :( I love my horse but I haven't the foggiest idea what I'm doing and this week, that's hard...
But, this week is nearly over.

When Snow Falls...

When South Carolina gets snow the world shuts down. Being from Ohio this is always quite incredible to me however, they don't have the ability to clear roads so I am grateful as well. After 2 days cooped up in the house I ventured out into the snow and headed for the stables. D was quite happy in his stall with his blanket on but was glad to get out and walk in it. His thought of snow is that it is there for him to eat (what isn't?) and should be enjoyed most thoroughly.
That first day I just took him around a few times because it was about time for him to eat but the crunching of the ice over the surface of the snow didn't bother him in the least. He's originally from KY so he's dealt with snow before but many things appear to scare him now that he can't see them as well if at all. I sort of wondered if the whiteness helped...
The second day I took him out we spent more time walking (me slipping) and then he eventually figured that me pulling the ice off the snow for him to eat was entirely more effective then his pawing and coming up w/just the arena sand.
The majority of the snow melted away with in the next few days leaving us with a whole lot of MUD... I decided to get on him despite his lack of work this past week, well let's be serious the last 2 months between my schedule and the weather.
Kim had talked to us about setting goals for our rides in the past and I thought of that, that morning. The goal for that Saturday- a decent forward walk w/a relaxed neck despite all the activity of the morning and the funky footing. :) We managed and I found myself feeling not like a scaredy cat rider. I KNOW I am not I am making good choices for my horse. But when there is so much working at just the walk and trot after having been at a higher level my mind tends to deceive me at times.
Yes, D and I were getting slightly more advanced before all this hit... well this is now and so we shift... my horse is requiring me to slow down and re-visit long ago mastered behavior that is now needing to be re-validated. He knows he is mine and as our farrier commented the other day "he's kept his head in and minded his business until you got here." When I am there he is looking, not necessarily needing me, just wondering what I'm up to. He is very aware of the fact that me being there doesn't automatically mean work for him which I guess is good.
I am his person and he is a very happy horse despite not being able to see a whole heck of a lot and so we step back and start over with the cards we've been dealt.
As they say you don't get to pick the cards you're dealt but you do get to pick how you play them (or something like that).

Lessons I'm learning

Riding a horse that is essentially blind lends itself to a lot of learning. I don't think I am anywhere near being done learning but here are a few of the things I am learning:

TRUST!!!
This is huge. If I am on the ground w/D he is so much braver maybe because we're on the same ground and so if I say things are okay he believe me more or maybe its because it takes the pressure off of him needing to behave since I am on his back. I am trying to understand his thought process. If I were blind and being asked to do things with the sighted person on top of me and essentially behind me, how would I behave?

D has always been easy to longe( work from the ground on a long line in a circle). Even when he is acting up bucking and kicking he rarely pulls and stays in his circle. Not so much anymore. He has a hard time staying away from me and in order to guide him I keep pretty tight contact so that I can half halt him and everything. He is so busy paying attention to things happening around him but is still being worked in a circle so that when we stop he looks drunk because he works on a slant. This struggle makes a lot more sense to me. If I couldn't see I would want to be right next to the voice guiding me but instead I am pushing him away. I can't explain that I still have him and my voice and hands can guide at a distance which means I have to show him which gets hard if he won't move away from me. He has worked on the longe a lot and so eventually habit and training kick in.

Coming in and out of his stall has started to become difficult but its because he is trying to figure out what to do. Rather than waiting for me to tell him to "step up" he has lately been jumping the gun and then messes himself and often trips or even falls which of course he (and I) don't like. Plus, if you've been by D you know that he sighs audibly at me like I was the one who didn't listen. This becomes complicated because I am trying to do everything exactly the same so that he can start making the decisions himself just like a blind person uses their cane, however, he doesn't have a cane and he isn't quite independent of me yet. In many ways he never will be.

Sunday afternoons used to involve him having some time loose in the jump arena where he could graze and roll as I finished up work for the day. That is no longer fun for him. As I was taking Ayla to the pasture he heard me and attempted to follow but not along the fence line his plan was to walk out and follow (not real sure how that would've gone). Thankfully he listened to my voice telling him to stop because of the "gate" and then Catherine grabbed him and put him back in cross-ties. Lesson learned- D would prefer company his solo life has greatly decreased.

So, those are a few lessons learned. I will have to polish this up for Kim :) but here are a few of my initial thoughts.
TRUST!!

The adventure continues...

Demetrias' leg is finally beginning to heal but looks pretty gross still. Its right where he bends his leg so it constantly opens. Riding has been extremely tough as of late.
Since we don't know a lot about chronic uveitis and I am not a doctor I am just guesstimating here. I feel like D's vision has changed as in he has less. He has always been willing to move forward but the last few weeks he has been questioning where I am placing him. He is very alert and pays attention to nearly everyone except for me which makes riding rather hazardous.
Due to his desire to listen to everything he is extremely crooked. His front and back end are going to different ways.
So, lessons have scaled back considerably, right now the focus is on getting him to bend again and to slow and speed up with my seat. He is perfectly happy to not work but at the same time does seem to want to work when we get moving. He wants to trust and learn but you can tell that all his instincts are having an argument.
Today was extremely windy but I tacked up anyways knowing we wouldn't accomplish much. I put his christmas present from Kim on too, a quarter sheet, figured if the flapping didn't bother him it was something else for him to get used to.
He handled the flapping and jumps falling really well but we stayed at a walk. His neck was decently relaxed today and so we continue w/our baby steps.

Erin Photos and His Wound...

This is what happens when you work full time and take 3 grad classes...

I made the ridiculous decision, not on purpose, to take 3 grad classes while working full-time still. Let's just say life has been hectic. D is essentially fine but its been a bumpy ride. We've had decent rides and lessons w/Kim along with really ridiculous rides. November 2 I took a pretty huge crash. I was attempting to avoid a jump standard and ran out of real estate. Let's just say that hurt a bit...
Due to the holidays, travels, my fall or his fight w/a fence (he lost) our rides have been sporadic at best and I am really looking forward to time and getting him back into a really solid routine. He is happy and painless (as far as I can tell) and getting rather fat. :)
So, where does this leave us? Basically in a holding pattern. Its been cold and he is benefitting from his new blanket since he goes out at night. I have been battling my brain because riding him has been really hard lately. He is crooked and doesn't pay attention and so rounding him up and using his energy productively gets to be challenging.
We are now using a hackamore which has helped a lot. Its not necessarily eye related but since his nose is so long I think his breathing has benefitted as well as my hands since he doesn't have anything to lean on anymore.
This is a super random post and I apologize in advance for any confusion. :)
November 14 we had a photo shoot with the amazing Erin Drago- I'll post some photos later on. That was a really fun experience because I am usually the photographer at the barn, well at a lot of places and prefer to be behind the camera but then I don't have pictures especially of me and my horse and so now, thanks to Erin, I have several. She spent 3 hours learning all about Demetrias and life as a horse owner- pretty cool.
We also had a visit from 2 sisters. Anne came right after Thanksgiving and Jodi came in December. He thinks they are both just here to give him treats and hasn't been cooperative when it comes to them being able to ride but its been fun to share such a huge part of my life.
Two summers ago before all the eye madness began Jodi cantered (on the longe) for the first time. He was so good. :)
Anne got to experience the other side of horse ownership when D decided to get a huge wound on his leg- disgusting!! It is still healing 3 weeks later.
This has been a long couple of months. I still don't know a lot about what my horse is going through, but I'm trying. Modify and adjust is our motto.
Daily aspirin in his morning feed seems to be keeping his pain under control and the rides will get better... I hope!! :)
Enough of my rambling for now...