Sad Goodbye to Major

This morning I had to say goodbye to my sweet gelding, Major.  With no clear diagnosis despite many tests and after a month of fighting dramatic weight loss, muscle wasting, and severe neurological symptoms that didn't respond to any treatment, we put him down this morning at eighteen years old.  I was standing next to him just before we gave him his final injection, and he curled his neck around me and let me hug his face.  He nuzzled me as he cradled me in his neck, as if to say it was all okay, he was ready to rest.  Major was truly an Iron Horse, working hard and being successful in every aspect of his life.  Or as the vet put it today, he may have been more of a tungsten horse, since he was probably tougher than iron.  Major started life in Kentucky and raced on the tracks there until he was nine, winning huge sums of money over the years.  He retired sound from racing.  Then he went on to be a successful jumper, then an eventer, and after I retired him from eventing he became a phenomenal dressage mount, a quiet trail horse, and my pony horse for starting youngsters.  In his last year or two he even taught some lessons to my more advanced riders, and finally even to a ten year old rider.  He was SO careful with her and gentle for handling and riding.  It's an impressive resume for any horse, and he really exemplified what a thoroughbred is capable of.

When I met him for the first time at a jumping clinic at CSU he was owned by a friend of mine.  I saw his athleticism and how hot he was and instantly became one of his fans.  A few years later I had the opportunity to purchase him and I very eagerly did so!  I discovered his specific preferences for cushy, padded tack including bridles, saddle pads, and girths.  He also demanded the very softest of brushes and curry combs for his sensitive self.  I evented him through training level, and then when some mild arthritis in his hocks started to bother him at age sixteen I retired him from jumping.  He took me to clinics with two olympic coaches, one for jumping (Daniel Stewart) and one for dressage (Jane Savoie).  He helped me start several young horses under saddle, ponying them with me around the arena, pastures, and trails.  He was a steady, confident trail horse and we logged many miles around northern colorado.  He was my "go to" when I needed a finished horse to take youngsters out on the trails, and he was the horse to whom I turned when I wanted to improve my own riding skills.  Everywhere we went people commented on what an amazing mover he was, and how athletic he was.  He was always a gentleman under saddle, with the height, conformation, and presence to make anyone take pause to appreciate him.  It didn't matter if he was in a jumping saddle, a dressage saddle, or an aussie saddle, he always worked hard and did his job well.  Even when we would have a wild round over fences or in a dressage test I felt privileged and honored to have him in my barn, and he always made me remember why I prefer off-track thoroughbreds as my own horses.  I love him dearly and I'll miss him terribly, but I will always feel like I received a gift from God when I put him in my trailer that first sunny afternoon. 

Mahzi Update

Mahzi went to the vet yesterday for her meet and greet with the vet and staff, and she did quite well.  After meeting her the vet was careful to ask about my living situation.  I described our lifestyle of running and working and training and being busy all day, and the vet looked quite relieved, saying that she didn't think a dog like Mahzi was going to do well in, say, a two bedroom apartment, but this situation sounds perfect for her.

Smiling Mahzi

Tack Room Before & After

I almost have the new tack room all unpacked.  As I go through the process of organizing and assembling things I find myself wondering HOW I fit all this into the tiny tack room at the old place.  I also hearken back to my days as "the mobile tack room" when all my equipment was in the covered bed of my little Ford Ranger truck as I traveled from ranch to ranch working horses for clients before I had my own place.  Here are some comparison photos of the old place:

It's a little like playing "Where's Waldo?", but can you spot both cats, Z and Sabbath?

Here's Sabbath!

The new place has a tack room that is easily five times the size of the old tack room.  I've stuffed it pretty full, but I love having a place for everything and room to hang stuff, and I've acquired some additional cabinets and trunks for storage.

Mahzi's Adventures

Mahzi the new dog is fitting in fabulously.  She's been running with me and the horses on the back 40, she rode in the truck with me and Miles and my working student to move a horse from Loveland to Livermore, and to add a fun afternoon to her list of "must do" she and Miles cornered a rabbit in a wood pile near the arena today.  They spent 3 hours barking and jumping around and trying to get that rabbit to come out and play.  When I called them for dinner they came running, but said they never did get that rabbit. Guess they'll try again tomorrow.

Full or Empty Saturday?

This week I got about 20 tons of hay delivered (that is 40,000 lbs for those not well versed in tonnage).  Fortunately my fabulous hay guy brought his loader and was able to unload the semi-trailer full of big round bales and then stack them neatly for me.  Then yesterday my go-to tractor guy came out to our place and moved the footing in the indoor arena for me, so now I essentially have a 100' x 200' arena with sand footing 3-4" deep all around, folks! No more of the hard pack on one half and 8" deep on the other!  Half of the arena is covered, half of it is outdoor.  Last night I went with my working student in training (she's 10) to Cheyenne to an absolutely gigantic store to purchase some panels of privacy fencing.  We got it loaded in my trailer and brought it home.  The north side of the outdoor arena needed some kind of wind-break fencing to keep my newly moved sand from blowing away in case we have significant wind.

So this morning I got up and looked at my planner, and discovering that I was not at the horse show I'd considered, I realized I had an empty day ahead of me!  So I worked horses, taught a jumping lesson in our newly leveled sand arena, rode the back forty to school the running walk on the gaited horse, then put up about 45' of privacy fence for blocking the wind to make sure the sand footing stays where it's supposed to.  Now I'm tired. That's what happens when I wake up and say, "I don't have a horse show today and there's nothing scheduled!"  I might need to reconsider what it means to have an "empty day".