Rebuilding

Well it's taken a while to drum up the courage to tell the story of the last few weeks. So Jersey Horse Park 2 weekends ago was a mess. Dressage was awesome again and we were in 1st on a 31. Warming up for stadium was a joke...first of all they decided to drag and water the ring in the middle of the warmup and jammed everything up. Then there was some of the worst riding I've ever seen. There were poles and standards flying all over the ring...horses stopping everywhere. Then there was this one horse that was totally not ready to be going Training...waaay too green of a horse AND rider...she was basically riding in the fetal position....Seth said he was afraid to even be in the ring. Legacy seemed unphased by it and we had an ok warmup. Well we head into the ring and he just was jumping awful and took down the first 2 rails...hard. Then we came around the corner to jump 3 and I gun him for the long stride, he puts in another one, I end up halfway up his neck, he stops...I keep going forward and land on my head...also taking his bridle off with me. So that ended our day. More good news...

So on Monday down to the vet he went to get scoped for ulcers, which was my latest theory. We get there and Chuck is scoping him and all of a sudden he starts chewing on something...after about a minute they pull the scope out and somehow it had gotten in his mouth and he had almost chewed through it...and his nose is bloody from when they pulled out this mangled wire. So no answers and he had been fasting for a day. So they call and get me into New Bolton. We get there and it takes about 15 minutes to scope him and get pictures and everything goes really smooth. The vet was terribly impersonal and really didn't say much. He said he saw slight ulceration, but usually doesn't diagnose ulcers. Ok still no answers and now I'm thinking that the horses last excuse for being an idiot is not valid. So finally on Wednesday I catch up with Chuck and he tells me he completely disagrees with the vet at New Bolton and sees severe ulceration and some sort of chronic buildup of kerotin which is causing his stomach to be a yellowish color. So he gives me the treatment plan for Gastrogard for the next 3 months, which thank goodness the insurance will be paying for. So I was really, really relieved that something is wrong with Legacy and perhaps we can work back up...I just wish I could get the last 2 months back. So I finally got the medicine yesterday and he's had 2 days of it. I rode tonight for the first time since the show and he seemed a lot less grouchy. He had been getting really cinchy with the girth and he wasn't as bad about that tonight. He also was having hissy fits when I'd try and canter to the left and he was better tonight as well...I didn't do too much, but when I did ask for a canter there was a slight flick of his ears but nowhere near as vindictive as he was. Maybe it's me trying to be positive because I don't want to lose my horse, but I'm hoping this works.

So not sure what the plan is here for the fall. I was supposed to run at Waredaca this weekend, but it's not worth risking another bad experience when I've just started the medicine. Unfortunately the organizer won't respond to me about a potential refund or using the $ for the October event, so I think I'm out the money, but it's much better than trying to force something. I need to now rebuild our trust in each other and I can't rush that. He's good enough that if this was the problem we'll be right back where we were in no time. I'm hoping I can do some schooling stuff at the beginning of September and get some confidence back and end at a few recognized in October. My only goal is having positive experiences for the next few months.

We've also been casually looking for another horse just as a backup plan. We are taking our time after the Elmer incident, but I figure it can't hurt to have another young project and it's not a bad thing if things work out with Legacy and I start another one in the pipeline. Seth could use the experience riding a more athletic horse too, so it won't go to waste.

I guess good news, but still a tough time until I get a final verdict. It certainly is a difficult sport when you're dealing with an animal that can't tell you what's wrong or if he's hurting. I know with Legacy's personality anytime anything is wrong with him it will come through in his attitude. It's a good thing in the sense we should know something's wrong, but it's very easy to just write it off as a crappy attitude and he's lost his will. I really hope that's not the case, but this is the last try for me and him. I can't keep going through the disappointment time after time. I still have my own goals and as much as I'd love for them to happen with Legacy, I still have to keep MY dream in check and not sacrifice it to try and make a horse that doesn't want to do it. I'm still not convinced Legacy doesn't want to do it though...he was so awesome at Fairhill Prelim and he really seemed to attack the challenge...so only time will tell if we can get back there.