The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread 11

[HairOfTheDog]

The FreeRepublic Saddle Club - (very out of date) Who's Who *pics*

This is a horse chat thread where we share ideas, ask for input from other horsemen, and talk about our riding and horse-keeping. We have a lot of different kinds of riders and horses, and a lot to share. In the previous threads we have had a great time talking through lessons, training, horse lamenesses, illnesses and pregnancies... and always sharing pictures and stories.

I always have a link to this thread on my profile page, so if you have something to say and can't find the thread in latest posts… look for it there and wake the thread up!

I also have a ping list for horse threads that are of interest, and MissTargets will now be pinging everyone most mornings. Let MissTargets and/or me know if you would like to be on the ping list. As FreeRepublic is a political site, our politics and other issues will probably blend in…. There are many issues for horsemen that touch politics… land use, animal rights/abuse cases that make the news…. Legislation that might affect horse owners.

So... like the previous threads, this is intended as fun place to come and share stories, pictures, questions and chit-chat, unguided and unmoderated and that we come together here as friends. There are lots of ways of doing things and we all have our quirks, tricks and specialties that are neat to learn about.

Previous threads:

The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - thread ONE
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - Thread TWO!
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - Thread THREE!
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread FOUR
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread FIVE
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread SIX
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread SEVEN
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread EIGHT
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread NINE
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread TEN

New folk and occasional posters, jump right in and introduce yourselves, tell us about your horses, and post pictures if you've got them!

[Beaker]

Hello everyone.
I decided not to call about the horse... mostly because I really don't want to deal with that woman. Perhaps I'm being stupid, but eh...

Sad week this week. One of the cats died, he was an old guy, at LEAST 17 if not older when he went. Found him in a coma on the bed, and had the vet come and put him down. It was the same house call vet that I worked for. TODAY another one of the cats is missing. I hope that nothing got him and he's just off in the woods having a good time. Two cats in one week would NOT be a good thing.

I'm itching to go to the barn, I worked late yesterday so I was going to take off early tomorrow, but it's supposed to rain... I hope the weather holds out this weekend. It's iffy at best. Don't know if I told anyone, but my trainer is trying to talk me into leasing one of the horses. She's black and 14.3. I don't know much about her, because I've never ridden her, but I think that I might test drive her and see if I like her.

[AnAmericanMother]

A test drive can't hurt.

Are most of your horses that small? My mare is 16 even, and she's about average in the hunter-jumper world.

[HairOfTheDog]

Sorry about your old kitty. Sounds like a good way for him to go, even if it’s still hard on you.

[FrogInABlender]

Hi there! I haven’t been on in a week because my mother had a bad fall last Thursday evening and really cracked her head and has been in the hospital ever since. She’s been falling more and more lately and her doctor has decided that she can no longer stay by herself and since she’s been getting confused in the hospital, I’ve been scrambling around trying to get Power of Attorney and Healthcare Proxy papers drawn up and signed and sitters lined up and all that. Today is the first time I’ve been at work for any length of time to be able to talk to y’all so I just wanted to let you know what was going on and that you may not be hearing from me as much until things kinda settle down.

[HairOfTheDog]

Oh dear... Sorry about your mom’s troubles. Sounds like a very hard time. Is she going to remain home, just with help, or is there some other plan coming together?

I was beginning to wonder where you were... Will be thinking about you and you and your mom will be in my prayers.

[FrogInABlender]

I’m sorry to hear about the kitty Beaker, but I’m glad that he had a peaceful end. I sure hope the other one shows up. I would just be crushed if I lost two of mine like that.

That’s irritating about the horse you were going to lease showing back up in the for-sale ads. Just letting it go is probably the thing to do, but I would probably have called her up and asked her if the sale fell through or something because you saw it in the paper, just to see what she’d say and to watch her squirm. I guess that makes me passive-aggressive too. ;o)

[FrogInABlender]

...Is she going to remain home, just with help, or is there some other plan coming together?...

She's gotten really weak just laying in the hospital, but she's gotten better, so we hope to get her into re-hab in the next day or so. She'll stay there for 3 weeks or so and then if she's able, we hope to convince her to go into an assisted living facility. If not, I'll have to hire round-the-clock sitters for her, and at $7500 a month, that's just not feasible for more than a year or two. She's not wanting to hear about any of this, and neither would I if I were in her shoes, but her doctor has called Social Services and they're going to make SURE she does SOMETHING.

I really don't want her to have to go into a nursing home, but that's what would have to happen if we use up all her money on sitters, so I really hope that she starts to listen to reason about the assisted living. I've looked at one that would be close to where I work and it was nice, but it looked more like living in a big hotel room so I'm going to look at some others that may be more home-like. So just keep us in your prayers that we find a solution that we can all live with.

[Beaker]

Are most of your horses that small?
No, most are 15 hands or above. Oliver is 14.3, Stella the one I'm going to test drive is 14.3, and we have a welsh pony, but that's it. 16 hands is pushing it for me, I'm about 5' tall with my shoes on if I stand up straight ;-) so Stella and the smaller horses are actually a pretty good fit. Anything 16h and above, I feel like an ant on an elephant, and I look downright silly. My trainer has a 17 hand warmblood, and I can walk right under his neck without having to bend over. Everyone wants to compete on the 16 hand horses it seems, but my first dressage trainer who I'm doing the clinic with in June is a USDF gold and silver medalist, and she competes with welsh cobbs. Go figure :-) She had enormous success with a welsh cob who was under 15 hands.

[AnAmericanMother]

Well, I'm 5'6", but I'm VERY short in the leg, especially the lower leg (knee to ankle). So I can get away with riding ponies. I don't look "perched" on a 16 hh Tbred, because for one thing she's very narrow, and for another I'm riding now with a much longer stirrup, even jumping.

But I've gotten used to the longer stride rhythm of a tall horse, might take some adjustment to ride a pony . . .

[2Jedismom]

Well, we tried to go fishing at Bixhoma and actually got in about an hour’s worth before crying uncle due to the cold. But we lasted longer than a couple of old guys out there and they were wearing jackets. We just had on sweatshirts.

Anyway...Matthew caught about a half a dozen little tiny sunfish...I caught one, Joshua caught a couple. None were big enough to keep.

I was looking up info on Google about Bixhoma and it kinda freaked me out...

:-/

[AnAmericanMother]

Oh, gosh - that's a real shame.

Hang in there and get as much good (free) advice from folks with knowledge of the situation as you can.

[HairOfTheDog]

Fair enough.... will do. My grandmother ended up afraid to be alone, afraid she would fall, and she really ended up liking the assisted living place she had for the social aspect as well as security, that someone would be there to help if needed.

Hope you find something she’ll want to do.

[FrogInABlender]

Yeah, all of this has been a real learning experience for me, and not a very fun one. I’ve learned way more than I ever wanted to know about elder law and the hoops you have to jump through to handle someone’s affairs for them when they aren’t capable of handling them themselves. She’s fortunate in that she’s got a fair amount of savings and a good investment broker. She had already had her house set up in a living trust with my sister and I as the owners, so they can’t take her house if it ever comes to that. And she had already had her attorney draw up the Power of Attorney and Advance Directive forms and all I had to do was go get them and get her to sign them in front of some witnesses and a notary. But it’s still stressing me out just thinking about all the turmoil that she’s fixing to go through about her living situation. I try to remind myself to just take one day at a time, but I tend to obcess about things so it’s hard to do. But I’m hanging in there and putting it in God’s hands and I’m sure it’ll all work out ok in the end.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I was wondering about you this morning. Very sorry to hear about your mother. Hoping her recovery is quick.

Becky

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Celia and I made it about an hour and a half out on the horses, before she decided she was ready to quit. I didn't want to start, but once I started I was doing OK. I was surprised when she said she was ready to head back.

Anyway, well that's cool you caught some fish...we have fished in that lake several times when the kids were little and never even got a nibble. We caught more out of our little creek.

I've taken JP fishing a couple of times this spring. It's fun:)

Becky

[Beaker]

But I've gotten used to the longer stride rhythm of a tall horse, might take some adjustment to ride a pony . . .

It's usually unsettling for the first 10 minutes, but after that it's not a problem. (I usually go from ponies to horses)What you miss on a pony is the NECK more than anything else. (grin) I went from Oliver who's 14.3 to Tammy who's 15.2 on Sunday, and it took some getting used to. (3 inches DOES make a difference) :-) I felt like I was on a mountain, and her neck felt like a giraffe's. lol.

[Beaker]

Gosh frog, I just read about your mother. I’m so sorry. I’m sending good thoughts in your direction!

[Beaker]

There are some assisted living facilities that have actual apartments on the premises, but they bring you your meals and have nurses that make sure that you take your meds, help you bathe, etc.

[AnAmericanMother]

I have exactly the opposite problem. My mare has a very long neck, and if my trainer wants me to ride down one of the ponies I feel like there's nothing in front of me and I'm sitting on the edge of the world . . .

We're WAYYY off in the distance, but you can see how long her neck is . . .

[AnAmericanMother]

Try not to worry too much. It sounds like you and your mom have prepared MUCH better than most folks do. There will be bumps in the road, and a feeling of uncertainty while you make decisions.

But there are lots of assisted living facilities with different levels of care to choose from. More than there were when we made the decision with my grandfather. A friend told me that now they have places with varying levels of care in the same facility - so that you can move from convalescent care to minimal assistance to moderate assistance or whatever you need, without having to go through all the hassle of moving.