Getting ready for Walter!

Thursday we didn't ride.

Friday we rode and he was good but lazy.

Saturday I got up early to ride and found a whip.  He was being a jerk, so I longed him and he spend 20 minutes going nuts.

Sunday we didn't ride.

Yesterday we rode.  He started off so darn lazy and yucky, but he eventually warmed up and got going forward.  Early in the ride he randomly spooked, but I yelled at him and we kept going with no further incidents.

Awww, he's so cute!

I'm hopeless. And exciting news!

I rode River on Monday.  (I know!!  What's wrong with me??)  He felt fine, but afterward I decided to longe him quick just to see how he looked.  I was like FML, he's moving short on his right front, I hate horses.

Tuesday morning I put him on the longe again and he looked the same.  Took video and texted it to my vet with a request to please shoot River and/or me.  She called me and was like "why should I shoot you, what's wrong with him?  He's fine."  So apparently if I think River is sound, that means he's lame; if I think he's lame, he's sound.

Rode him again last night and he was fine.  Fun idea:  If you want to freak out your mother, who already worries about you riding (especially after breaking a leg in a riding accident), call her before getting on your horse saying "I'm riding, if you don't hear from me in half an hour, call to make sure I'm alive."  (Normally I'd text the barn owner with a request to look for my lifeless body after X amount of time, but she wasn't home.)  He did spook once when a horse rattled his corner feeder suddenly, but we survived.

Now you might be wondering why I'm riding him.  After all, he's only been off since February, why the hurry to get him back in work?  Well....

I'm riding with Walter again next week!!!!!  Yay!!!  Lucky for me, the clinic got changed to a Thursday (my day off) and there was an opening.  Last time I rode my Old Man, but this time I really want to take River.  I have to check about trailering, but I'm sure we can make it work.  Thankfully Walter is very kind and won't be like "you're doing walk-trot and you've had this horse for HOW long?" while trying not to laugh.  Which, let's face it, is a pretty reasonable reaction.

I attempted to take a mounted selfie last night... this was the best attempt....

Poor Riv's eye looks like it's about to pop out of his skull.

So then we did an unmounted selfie.

Either his head is too big or my arm is too short.  Oh well.  We tried.

I can see!!

I've had glasses for almost 23 years.  I first started wearing them in first grade.  A few weeks ago I went for an evaluation to for LASIK...

My prescription was -11.25 in one eye and -9.50 in the other.  "Perfect" vision is 20/20, but 20/30 or 20/40 is fine too.  I couldn't read 20/800.  The people at the eye place commented that I'd be disabled without glasses.  The funny thing is, it didn't really seem that bad to me.  I haven't been able to see normally for most of my life, so it was my normal.  I would have people with normal vision try on my glasses, and pretty often the person would immediately start to get a headache and/or get dizzy.

I wasn't really expecting to be able to get LASIK, but I figured I'd do the evaluation so I'd know.  Well, as it turned out, I could get LASIK.  Surprise!

The surgery was yesterday.  I drove myself to my followup appointment this morning.  My right eye was almost 20/20 and my left was 20/30 or 20/40.  It'll be a few days at least before my eyes heal and my vision settles, so hopefully I'll end up 20/20 in both eyes

If you've been blessed with good eyes, you can't even begin to imagine what it's like being able to see.

I'm going to have to be really careful in the barn for a while, what with all the dust and stuff in the air... I got some very stylish safety goggles, lol.

If you've considered LASIK, go for it! 

For me, the procedure sucked big time.  If I had 3 eyes, I would not have made it through.  By the end of the second eye, I was holding on to consciousness for dear life.  It doesn't hurt at all, but when they make the flap, it's about 20 seconds of intense pressure on the eye.  The actual laser part is fine, although it smells rather like dehorning goats (note:  the smell is NOT from the laser on the eye, it's from the gasses used in the laser.. or something like that).

When it was done, I stayed flat on the table for a couple minutes, then a couple of people helped me back to my little room so I could lay on the couch.  After maybe 10 minutes and some cold compresses and water, I was all better.

Vision was blurry (but better than pre-surgery) for most of the day, and my eyes tended to feel gritty and/or burning... not unbearably so, just unpleasant.

As much as I hated having it done, I would do it again without hesitation.  And FWIW, eyes creep me out.  They always have.  So if you aren't weird about your eyes, you probably won't be bothered by the surgery as much as I was.

We're alive.

But nothing more interesting to report...  I've been busy and stressed, so Riv hasn't gotten much (read:  any) attention.

Cute pics from last week...

Last week a couple of the barn girls wanted to groom River.  Sure, why not?

He rather enjoyed it, I think.

He's rockin' a pretty new halter!

Yeah, I was turning him out and couldn't be bothered to get a lead rope..  But pretty pink and polka dots!!

Awwww

He's so cute!

How to keep your horse from being stolen

The Mare is 100% theft-proof for a number of reasons.  Some of those reasons, such as her witchy personality, chestnut Thoroughbred mare attitude, and ridiculously crooked front legs are things the horse either has or doesn't.

But never fear!  If you are unfortunate enough to have a sweet tempered, willing, beautifully conformed horse, there are still things you can do to reduce the likelihood of theft.

Here are a few of the acquired theft deterrents The Mare possesses.

1.  Dented skull



Nothing too obvious, but it's definitely there, and you can't hide or simulate a dented skull!

2.  Corneal scar

Scar from apparent flap of skin on side of face optional.

3.  Skin tag/extra nipple

So there you are, 3 easy ways to keep your horse from being stolen!

(I'm not entirely sure how any of these injuries happened.  The Mare's previous owner told me, but as previous owner is a pathological liar, I don't really trust anything I was told.)