One Year Later

I seem to have a great deal of “One Year Later” posts.  Last one was about losing Ozzy.  That one is sad.  This one is not!

Tomorrow is one year to the day that I brought My Little Freak home.  I am still convinced that the money I spent on board, training and care does not come CLOSE to what I would have had to pay a therapist   Woody makes me happy.  I’m his person and it’s amazing. 

And while this post is about Woods, I’m not CERTAIN that March 19th isn’t also Ozzy’s birthday.  I’m looking into it, but I’d have to play those numbers if that is indeed the case.

He’s also consistent.  I think it was a year ago that I reported Woody, in the way of a great deal of OTTBs (But not all!) brewed himself up a lovely abscess.  Well, he TOO has come full circle.  You know why?  Because I had plans.  Any eventer knows that our equine timesucks live for NOTHING like they live for plan sabotage.

Woody, for the past 2+ weeks has been harboring the most annoying abscess ever.  OK, I realize I’m sure many people will argue with me, but I’m sticking to my guns.  It’s the MOST annoying one because it’s the one I’m dealing with RIGHT NOW!

 He’s JUST sound enough that you think you COULD ride him… but you can’t.  It’s in his right front toe and it gives me the middle finger on a daily basis.  I have lots of quality time with it with all the soaking and the wrapping and the hey-hey.

I have no pictures, but I do have a lesson for the masses.  I will tell you now, the lesson is LISTEN to your inner voice.

Monday I was letting Woods prance around in the outdoor, cause he had been in for his Phantom Menace Abscess for a couple of days.  (He was 95% sound before soaking, noticeably lame after, BTW).

Anyhoo, after he sproinged around for a bit, I went up put his halter on him and started to put on his blanket.*  Woody is a pretty chill dude, I mean I wouldn’t call him calm, but he’ll stand on the cross ties all day long (sucking his tongue) he walks on a lose rein during work, blah blah blah.  That said, he is sensitive, and decidedly NOT a soldier.  I KNOW this.

Well, when I went to snap the tail cord on his blanket, he saw the lead rope laying on the ground… the long lead rope… that was attached to his halter.  And by lead rope, I apparently mean the rare White Maryland Equus-Cadaverous Black Mamba.

That horse Ran.

and ran

and ran.

All the time with the lead rope flapping between his hind legs.

Now I will admit that this is yet another time when I thought of Ozzy.  He would have run for 20 1 strides, said “Well, this is stupid, and I’m not conserving my energy which is normally how I roll.”  He then would have stopped.

This is NOT something Woody suffers from.  I finally said, “Well, If I do nothing, he’s going to break a leg.  If I do something, I MIGHT break a leg.”  It was a no brainier. 

So I stood in front of him, and FINALLY on the 4th pass of me standing on the rail with my arms outstretched like the letter T, he FLEW past me, slammed on the breaks, snorted and gave me the “SAVE ME!!!” face.

He is now, and I’m not making this up, afraid of his lead rope.

*I realize I’m an jerk for putting his blanket on in the ring.  And before I made the (bad) decision to do so I said to myself “Self, you could carry the blanket into his stall with him and put it on there, that might be a safer idea.”

The other lesson, for me?  Lisa, you’re a grown-ass woman.  Your inner voice is ALWAYS right, how about the second half of your life you start to listen to it.

So there it is.  Woods has been here for a year and I’m in love.  I can’t WAIT to get back started this spring season…but I will… cause that’s what we do