So I fell off the face of the earth...

I haven't posted in more than a month...but I'm not dead! And I have been riding...7 out of every 8 days...really! Work has just been so incredibly busy that I don't have time to post much at all...be it here, on NCHN, or on CoTH. Between work and the barn I hardly even get to see my husband! But it will get better after July -- the new medical interns start in July, and as a brand-new-big-bad-second-year resident I've been having to do a lot of hand-holding, teaching, and supporting as the new interns make the transition from med student to "real doctor".

But, on to the horses...yes horses with an "s"...which brings me to the most exciting recent riding news -- Huey has returned to work! Huey is the now-20-year-old OTTB that I first started riding when I moved up to Maryland. He's a grand old man -- ex-** horse who knows his stuff...but if he doesn't like you, he won't do squat for you regardless of how correct your aids are :P We had a great partnership going from August 07-March 08 when he had a suspensory tear (actually 2 tears on ultrasound) and has been on stall rest or pasture rest ever since. An ultrasound in May showed good progress, and the vet thought we could start back to work in September...but our ultrasound last week showed amazing progress and he's jogging sound on pavement in hand...so we were cleared to go back to work under saddle. We put some shoes on him wednesday, and Thursday he went back to work. We're on the slow plan -- starting with 10min at the walk (with some hills thrown in), increasing 1-2min per day with the goal of being at 40-45min walking by the end of the month. Then we'll start to trot and the work will go faster...as the vet is very optamistic that Huey will see his first x-rail in September! This horse's heart is in the jumping...so it's fabulous news that he'll likely be able to not only go back to jumping, but to compete again.

So yesterday, we walked for 12 whole minutes...and it was fabulous (though the 10 min walk the day before made me so happy I thought I'd start crying in the saddle). We're taking this opportunity to really work on good basics -- proper bend, ability to stretch out or be more collected, improving the transitions, etc. It's amazing even after 2 rides how I can see what I've learned from Surf Guitar will make a huge difference with my riding of Huey. Surfie is HUGE...with a long neck and very long back...which makes him very very hard to put together and get the hind end going. Huey is much more compact (though still big at 16.3h) and much easier to put together now that I've learned how to ask for it with Surfie and keep being firm in my asking until I get it, without taking no for an answer. I'm amazed at how Huey responds much more quickly, and when I ask him to come together in the same way I ask Surfie -- bam, I have a hind end pushing forward into the bridle and a lovely round neck that is not attempting to perform it's best giraffe impression :)

Surfie has been off this week...we had a bout of Lymphangitis in a hind leg that cleared up and we went to a show last weekend (double clear!) but has now flared up again...so he's getting Gentacin, SMZs, and lots of sweating of that hind leg :P He's sound on it, but we're giving him through the weekend, as we don't show again until 8/3/08. By the way, we made the move up to Training level :) and are going to spend the summer bouncing back and forth between Novice and Training (depending on the venue) while I become comfortable with the new heights and questions asked at Training. 

I'm a lucky girl right now...even with Surfie being off...2 schoolmasters (both very different rides) who are the way schoolmasters should be -- not push button packers, but knowledgeable older gentlemen who will reward correct aids with correct work. Here's hoping for continued soundness and many more years of education from the big red horse and the even-bigger bay smurf-horse :) 

For those of you who haven't met huey, this was huey and I at our first horse trial -- Waredaca fall 07, Novice level...at the ripe old age of 19: