Oh, Now THAT Will Be A Safe Home!

Half asleep today and the phone rings. "Honey, are you busy? I need you to look something up on the internet for me." Nope, it wasn't my husband. It was a friend's husband. The second the word 'honey' left his mouth I knew he needed something. I do the same to him but that is irrelevant. Seems the friend's DH was in need of a wildlife rehabilitator. Apparently little Mr. Redneck Country Boy With Too Much Time And A Gun On His Hands thought it a good idea to take aim and fire at what he thought was a squirrels' nest waaaay up in a tree. Nevermind that he has no idea of what a squirrels' nest looks like. What he shot instead was a hawk. Shooting hawks is illegal in Texas. I graciously offered to call the authorities and turn him in but he took the wind out of my sails when he informed me that he had already told on himself. Damned the bad luck! What he thought was a juvenile Red Tailed Hawk was later identified by the wildlife rehabber as an adult male Red Shouldered Hawk. The friend's DH clipped his wing but the bird should be just fine. The husband, on the other hand, might be in need of a rehabilitator of his own after what happened next.

On his way back home he called me to tell me that he got his bird off to the rehabber and guess what she gave him? For reasons I will never wrap my mind around, this rehabber saw fit to give 2 fertile turkey eggs to this man that just brought her a wounded bird THAT HE SHOT so he could hatch them. At first he asked if I would hatch them as I have an incubator. No way, Jose! Those are YOUR problems! He will be borrowing the incubator and hatching his own eggs. It wasn't but mere seconds from hanging up with him that his wife called me. And she was hot. She is so very not amused that he is bringing home eggs to hatch. She and I did the chicken hatching and rearing thing for a while. We got tired of keeping the coyotes fat and sassy. We are so over the raising of fowl yet he dares to bring TURKEY eggs home! I hope those birds grow up fast and relocate lest someone go squirrel hunting again!

Glory Days

I miss this. I miss the conditioning rides that made me so sore I walked funny the next day. I miss getting in shape so that I didn't hurt the next day. I miss the miles, the trails, the conversation, the rush, the sync with my horse. I miss the much anticipated shower and crashing in bed only to awake to my husband bringing me coffee in bed the next day because I was spent from riding my horse and getting a completion. I miss hoping for my first 50.

It seems that life altered my wanna be endurance career starting with my soulmate horse getting injured days before a ride. A long rehab lay ahead. Things just progressed. I had hoped to do BlueBonnet in a few days but I can't. I can't because I am fat. I can't because my back hurts. I can't because I freeze every time I am on my horse and a leaf rustles. I can't because I am terrified to ride. Yet still I want to do just that. I want to ride and sweat and be at one with my horse as she hits her big trot and eats the trail up, working for me and me alone. Our bodies and minds one.

I am trying to get back there. I rode Shaqerriae yesterday for an hour and a half. A bit in a field and mostly in the arena. I trotted and trotted and today I am sore. I am sure she is too. My doctor put me on some medication that is allowing me to be a bit more physically active. I am trying to find my way back to endurance riding. Or if that is not to be, then at least riding.

The photo above was taken at the last year of Frigid Digit. The horse I am atop is LL Cruzin Altitude. I was riding him for Di. Well, no I wasn't. To say that I rode "Stilts" would be a lie. I hung on, gritted my teeth, closed my eyes and prayed that I would still be with him as we crossed the finish line. Stilts did not require a rider when it came to endurance. A rider was merely a passenger that was not to interfere with his game plan. That game plan was to go 90mph over and through whoever and whatever was in his way. I don't think I was ever happier to get off of a horse's back than I was Stilts' the day of this ride. I also don't think I miss past horses quite as bad as I do Stilts. Di sold him not long after this ride. My husband offered to buy him for me but I knew he was too much horse for me. I regret letting him slip through my fingers.

Bad Blogger

As is the case with most things in my life that don't require bathing, feeding, cage cleaning, nose or butt wiping, etc this blog has been neglected. Truth be told my psyche has been screwing with me. Maybe I am better.

What have I been up to? Well, just a couple of days after the trip to OK with Jan, the boys and I got recruited by the DH to hot shot equipment for a warehouse his company was closing down. TWO TRIPS WE MADE! I even had the extreme displeasure of running a cathead to pull a reluctant forklift onto a trailer. Scary stuff. I highly advise against it. Since we were in Louisiana, I wanted so bad to go see Billy from Vexcon. I think DH was afraid I would kidnap him and bring him home so that detour was overruled.

I got Shaqerriae off to Di's for easy access so that I could get back to riding again. Weather, nerves and back pain prevented me from getting to where I want to be but at least Di got me to the point that I am not bursting into tears while I am sitting still on my horse. She will never know how much she really did help me. Shaqerriae is back home and I am supposed to ride her tomorrow with Sabrina.

Now the sucky news. Went to the spine specialist yesterday. Vertebrae fractures have healed nicely. But oh, what do we have here? Seems I either tore the ring around a disc or ripped the ligaments apart when I had my horse wreck. This is why I am having so much pain. Evidently I had too much swelling at the time of the accident for the xrays to show it up then. I will have to go in for an MRI to see what is what. Meantime the doctor suggested I leave the horses alone for now. We will see. I do know the anti-inflammatory meds he prescribed are killing me. This definitely puts off any serious riding for a while.

I guess that is enough to bore anybody with for one reading. No pictures. Things have just been too crazy. Now, let's see if I can become a more responsible blogger!