#ImportantShowQuestions

Now that Paddy appears to be sound and ready to work, we're looking toward the local year-end championship show that we've qualified for at Training level. Nothing exciting, it's not even recognized, but formal attire is required, and so is braiding.

For the record, Paddy has the world's THICKEST mane. I've been happily neglecting it since sometime over the summer, so it's about 8-10 inches long. Also, I suck at braiding.

So here's the first question: Do I fake some braids for the show, then let his mane continue to grow out over the winter with the goal of doing a double running braid for future shows? Haffie association rules allow them to be shown with a long mane, and the USDF seems to allow breed standard for manes (as long as they are braided in some way). Or do I suck it up, pull it to a normal length, and do regular button braids for the rest of his life?

Braids are nice...

But the froof is hard to beat!

I'm also in the process of getting Paddy a lifetime registration with the USDF, because I entertain fantasies of showing at rated shows. To register him with the USDF, I have to choose a name to show him under. His actual "official" registered Haflinger name is Arno in Action. And while Arno in Action sounds fancier, to me, he's Paddington Bear. I contacted the Haffie association and I can register him with whatever name I want for USDF, as long as I include his Haffie registration number and registered Haffie name on the USDF registration paperwork. If he's mentioned in the Haffie publication, he'll be listed as "Arno in Action (shown as Paddington Bear)". If he's mentioned anywhere else, he'll be listed as "Paddington Bear".

So, do I register him as Arno in Action, or as Paddington Bear? Big decision time!

The lame game

As I mentioned last week, Paddy came up lame on Tuesday the 21st. We’d had a great workout on Monday, then he spent Monday evening carting around a Western saddle for 3 hours for the video shoot. When I went to ride him Tuesday, he was definitely short on the right hind. I didn’t find any heat or swelling anywhere, no scrapes or cuts, and his feet looked fine. He wasn’t broken-legged abscess lame, just looked very uncomfortable across his hips. My first thought was that the Western saddle had tweaked something, so I gave him some bute and stuffed him in a stall overnight.

Wednesday he wasn’t any better, nor did he seem improved by Thursday. That’s about the limit for me seeing my horse in pain, so I made an appointment with the vet, sadly cancelled our rides for the dressage show, and  went through all the “what ifs” in my head. Let’s be honest – we are just now really coming back strong from the soft tissue injury earlier this year, and the thought of going through rehab again was pretty crushing.

Unfortunately we had to wait until Tuesday to see my favorite vet. In the meantime, I had a massage therapist out (something I’d been meaning to do anyway), and she found that he was very tight all over, except for the saddle area. Well, at least the saddle fits him? It was super interesting to see how he reacted to the massage – on the entire left side of his neck, he was tense and cranky. He even kicked a few times, which is something he NEVER does. The right side of his neck apparently felt better, since he took a nap while she did that. He was clearly sore over his hips and did a lot of face-rubbing as a release. There was very little yawning or licking, but the therapist said that wasn’t uncommon, he just wasn’t sure what to do with everything and the kicking and face-rubbing was his way of expressing himself. It’s funny how individual they all are!

Aaaaahhhhhmasssaaaagggggzzzz

After the massage, he apparently felt good enough to “spook” at a chicken and gallop around during his quiet turnout time (up to then he had been content to walk around and graze). By the time the vet saw him on Tuesday, he was markedly better, but still not 100%. She immediately pinpointed that he was sore on BOTH hind legs, the right moreso than the left. They did a thorough lameness exam, including flexions. He flexed very mildly positive on both hocks, and also on his right stifle. However, the vet felt that since there was no fluid or swelling on the stifle, and since he was getting better, that the stifle issue was more likely to be muscular than a joint issue. The hocks concerned her way more.

Drunk Haffie is a cheap date

So yes, I injected both hocks. I know some of you won’t agree with that decision, but I’ve been down this road with several horses and I am comfortable with it. I am also starting him on loading doses of both Legend and Adequan, in hopes that those will help his joints even more. I’ve tried (very expensive) feed-through joint options in the past, and really haven’t had much luck with them – but I’m sure everyone’s mileage varies on that. This is my vet’s recommendation for his best chance for long-term joint health, with the goal being very few actual joint injections and maximum joint support with other options.

I lurve my vet 'cause she lurves my horses.

The best news is that we had a light ride on Saturday and then a full ride on Sunday, and he was AWESOME! His stifle didn’t seem to bother him at all, so I think the vet’s assessment that it was a muscle problem (possibly caused by wearing the Western saddle) was probably accurate. We’ve got another visit from the massage therapist this Thursday, and I’ve got stretches to work on before each ride to help him stay limber. I’m also considering a BoT sheet for him to wear before rides… anybody (Lysette, I’m looking at you!) use those, and have any recommendations?

I’m totally relieved to have my horse back, and I’m glad for this little wake-up call that my Paddington needs a little more maintenance to help him be his best. I’m more than prepared to make sure he gets whatever he needs!

Paddy plays a Western horse on TV

Early last week, we helped out with a shoot for a fake political ad. The video team has been working hard since then, and the video is now public. So, here you go! A little silliness for your Friday.

Protect your server farm with adorable Paddingtons!

In which I try my hand at being a groom

This last weekend, I had signed up for yet another schooling dressage show. We had big plans, even - we were going to move up to first level. The canter was coming along, the leg yields... oh, they were nice! Sure, I knew we would blow a few things, but I was excited about not having to ride yet another 20 meter circle.

And then last Tuesday, Paddy came up lame on the right hind. He wasn't better Wednesday, after stall rest and bute, and I made the call to scratch from the show. Hubby was out of town (of course), so he couldn't ride Brego in my place, so I conned MC into taking offered MC our two ride times. She's been taking lessons on Brego when hubby can't make it, and since I've ridden Brego exactly once during tryout weekend, it made way more sense for her to ride him. She decided to go, which meant that I got to play groom for both her and Fuzzypony, who was taking Taran.

It's been a looong time since I've groomed for anyone. In fact, I'm completely spoiled, because MC and Fuzzypony often groom for me. If you've never had someone help you out, it's kind of life-changing. There's someone to make sure your horse is spotless (even if you just toweled him yourself), someone to check your girth one last time, someone to wipe your boots, hold your water and your tests ('cause you need to go over them at the last minute), and someone to call tests or take pictures or celebrate or commiserate. And this time I got to repay the favor, at least a little.

Water for competitor, towel for boots, camera... not pictured - paper copies of dressage tests (they're in my pocket). I kind of wanted a carryall or something!

You know what the most amazing thing about grooming was? I WASN'T STRESSED. I got to tell my friends to relax and get themselves ready while I tacked their horses.  I made sure they had their gloves and whips, polished their boots after mounting, and got to be there ringside to cheer and provide a tip or two during warmup (we were trainer-less for this show). I also got to take pictures and video during the tests, which made me even MORE grateful for all the pics everyone has ever taken of me.

Oh, and all you pro photographers out there? I'm giving you more money. Taking good pics is HAAAARD - I don't know how you guys do it!

And finally, I got to cheer them on and congratulate them on some SUPER NICE tests. MC got a 69.25% on Intro C, which was not only good enough for first place but also landed her HIGH POINT AMATEUR for the entire show!!!! She also got a very respectable second place with a 59 and change on Training 1. Fuzzypony got a 61.4 on Tr-3, which qualified her for the championships (WOOOT!) and a 58.something on her first ever First-1.

MC sporting her ribbons

It was also super fun to sit on the sidelines and chat with other competitors. Everyone wanted to know about the big handsome black horse, so I filled them in a bit. I actually got three offers to buy Brego, including one lady who told her husband to "get out the checkbook," even though I told her he wasn't for sale at any price. Paddy may have a rival for biggest fan club!

All in all, a great show, and I really enjoyed playing groom for a change. Plus, couldn't be more proud of the Wyvern Oaks crew!

This kind of talent takes years of practice to perfect

Cash usually gets tired of wearing his fly mask partway through the day and scrapes it off somewhere. But the artful arranging of a flymask on his favorite scratching tree?  That takes talent. 

?!?!?!

Paddy hones his acting skills

One of the fun things about where I work is the completely ridiculous YouTube videos we make to advertise. This is one of my favorites:

All our talent comes from in-house - the guy in this video actually sits two desks away from me and is awesome to work with in real life.

A couple months ago, the video team approached me about using our horses in a shoot. They cast it, scripted it, and earlier this week we shot the video.

The talent gets bathed and primped by MC. She and Fuzzypony were on hand the whole time and helped get everything ready and wrangle the critters. We definitely could not have done this without them, so thanks to both of you!

Mmmmmdapples!!!

The video itself is a fake political ad. The premise is that you should vote for Beau Hayfield, who is awesome at IT security. He's just a good ol' boy working on his "server farm"... which is where Wyvern Oaks and Paddy come in. 

And obviously, you need a server rack on a server farm.

Brego (the shadow on the left) was like "WHAT THE EVERLOVING FFFF IS THAT?!?!?"

Server on the server farm. Har. Har. Har.

The awesome video crew.

More awesome video crew, with Paddy and other horses (bribed by hay) in the background.

Gotta lasso that server!

Every farm needs a dog! Thea (the yellow lab, trained and handled by MC) played her part perfectly.

In between takes. It was funny - I ended up resetting the hay bales for this take because everyone else thought they were "kinda heavy" :)

Paddy was super good for the entire three hour shoot. He stood patiently wearing a Western saddle for most of that time, letting a non-horse-savvy guy lead him and sit on him. In between takes I would give him a treat, so he was always looking right at me, ears pricked, during the takes (I stood behind the camera so he was looking at it). At one point they wanted to get a close-up of him swinging his head around and looking into the distance, so we rattled a bucket of feed. Of course he did it perfectly on the first take - the entire crew laughed about that! He also patiently picked his foot up and set it down about 20 times so they could get a shot of him "stomping" his foot down. SUCH a good boy!

And here's what I spent most of the shoot doing - trying to stay out of the frame while making sure Paddy did what they wanted. You can see me squatting up against the wall, holding Paddy's head in just the right position.

It was interesting to wrangle animals on a set, especially since I wasn't the one actually in the shoot. It was fun, but certainly not something I'd want to do for a living! I don't think Paddy minded it though - he got about a pound of treats in the course of three hours of filming!

I'll post the video when it comes out - should be very soon!

Epic Day Foxhunting

First off, thanks everyone for your well-wishes! Hubby and I spent the weekend on the couch with our delicious antibiotics and are both feeling nearly 100%.

Since we were obviously not up to hunting this weekend, these pics are actually from LAST weekend (how do I get so behind, anyway?). We had a super awesome day out with the hounds - fast hunt, perfect weather (if you like good Irish weather), and great company, although we didn't have any Tally Ho's.

Getting ready to head out. Another perfect day - cool, breezy, with just a hint of rain. Hubby is adjusting Brego's breastplate.

All the horses were pretty amped up for the first few gallops - we played bumper cars with some of the less experienced mounts, but everyone stayed on board. Paddy also learned that some mares do not appreciate geldings in close proximity, lol!

Paddy watches the hounds work this copse of trees. The tiny grey dot is the huntsmistress.

We ended up going first flight since there really was no second flight. Since first flight jumps 3' coops to get from one field to another, and I haven't jumped Paddy since his injury this summer, I took him around through the gates. This meant we ended up traveling significantly more distance that the rest of the horses. Good thing that a) the Haffie can keep up with the TBs and b) I can actually gallop in a dressage saddle!!!

Nice butt(s)!

Hubby eventually decided to try one of the coops, with a bonus overhanging branch. Brego was a star, as usual.

Hubby had to duck for this one!

The boys were quite steamy after our hard gallops, and once we were back at the trailer realized that Brego doesn't yet have a fleece of his own. He had to borrow Paddy's.

Brego is not really a size 75. 

We've really come to love foxhunting season - it's so much fun to just let the horses open up. It's also REALLY nice to have two solid citizens when you're hunting. Such good boys!