Rest in peace, my dear friend.

Homemade Sin died on February 19, 2012 from an unknown neurologic disease.   

I will write more about it all when I have more energy.

5K? OK!

Odd, right? Crazy, maybe.  Definitely.  Yeah, this is weird.  I want to run a 5K.  

Back in November before Fred's twitch derailed our short term plans, I decided I had to get in shape.  As it turns out, I'm having a bit of a revolution.  Or growth spurt, in lifetime terms.

I like going to the gym in the morning to start the day.  It wasn't easy to make that change.  Now I notice a difference if I don't go to the gym.  I'm probably fitter now than I was in high school.  

Last week I decided I better transition from the treadmill, which I do 2 to 3 miles on 5-6 days a week, to outside.  Eventually I have to run outside if I want to do a 5K race, right?  There's a perfect sidewalk by the hotel that if you go to the end and back it's one mile.  I told myself to go run one mile and prove that I could.  Well, I did and then I ran another one.  ODD!  It gets weirder, the next day I ran 3.3 miles outside.  Proving myself wrong was strangely satisfying.  Now that I know I can do it, I want to find a run to do after we get back from Aiken.  All along I remember my motivation is that I'm doing this so that when Fred can go around a XC course again I will be ready!

Another part of my revolution is learning.  I'm reading a lot about what's good for my health.  Nothing outrageous, just some simple ideas and practices we should all follow and I should have adapted a long time ago.  Little changes and choices everyday DO make a difference.  Nothing is instant and eat your peas/broccoli/green beans. 

The other thing I'm reading about is horse related (surprise!)  Horse people understand horse people.  Non-horse people don't understand us.  How could we spend so much money on the big furry thing? How can we spend so much time with them? Why is it they so important to us?  What I don't understand of horse people is how do we do it all? How do we work, ride, and live?  It's so much to balance!  And I don't think you can ever really balance it all out.  I'm also trying to learn how to be the best at what I'm trying to balance.  I'll never be a great rider, but why not try to be my best?  I want to be a contributor at work.  I want to have a social life which results in great stories.  Apparently I want a lot.  Winning lotto tickets also goes on the want list.  



Here's something I didn't expect out of my revolution.  Exercising gives me the energy to balance.  Odd coincidence? I'd like more energy and I still have to say no to things.  I can now wake up on Thursday morning, go to the gym, work until 4, drive home to PA, and then ride one or two horses without sleeping in the next day.  


I'll keep working out and find a 5K.  There are more books on my Kindle list.  And when Fred is ready to get out there to run and jump, I'll be ready for him. 

I couldn't live without my iPhone Calendar.

Busy I have been!  I thought the winter would give me some down time.  Apparently I have been very wrong.

January 29th marked a year of owning Fred.  What a silly horse!  I wouldn't give him up for anything.  He's been on phenobarb since the beginning of January for his twitch.  I've been allowed to put him back into work, too!  Last Friday we saw the twitch for a few minutes at dinner time.  It was gone as soon as it came though and it's the only time we've seen it.  The riding was going very well until he pulled a shoe off this weekend.  His return to full time work will be slower than I'd like and that's all my fault.  Having only 3-4 days a week to ride him limits what we can do.  If Fred can go three months twitch free, we can start the slow process of weaning him off the drugs.

How could you not love this face?

Yes, I did things that weren't completely barn related.  Sorta.  I made a trip to the Farm Show with Amanda for dinner one night.  I hadn't been there in two or three years.  I feasted.  No really, I did.  Beef sandwich, cheese cubes, sweet potato, and of course, a milk shake.  We walked around the place and saw the usual fun attractions.  


Another great weekend was when Jackie visited! We hadn't seen each other in a while.  Sadly, I had to leave her alone for a few hours while it snowed at I was at the barn.  We had a relaxing weekend just handing out and yet again, a feast was included.  The entire family sat down for an awesome seafood dinner.  Jackie is coming back in March for a dinner party!  That reminds me, I need to schedule a dress shopping date.

I didn't think I could convince Jackie to get in the saddle.  St. Patrick toted her around and she had a great time!  She even rocks the eventing helmet.

Saturday mornings have been packed full of riding lessons.  I'm really enjoying teaching and the feedback I get.  Everyone is making progress and I'm really excited for the riders. 


Work keeps me plenty busy.  We had a few Monday to Friday on site weeks.  We're working long hours and making a ton of progress.  

 Replacing our energy source.

There's a lot more everyday stuff to write about, but the most important thing going on right now is preparing for Aiken! We leave on Saturday, February 25 around 4am.  Lauren, Laura, and Alexa and I are making the trek to Sally's for a week.  We're a little over 2 weeks until departure!  The trailer is ready to go and the truck gets checked out this weekend.  The vet stops by Friday to do health certifications and coggins.  


Patrick and I are doing well together.  I feel very comfortable taking him to Aiken.  In fact, let's not lie, I'm thrilled and excited for this opportunity.  Patrick will teach me a lot.  If I can't take Fred, Patrick is working out to be the next best thing.  We had a great lesson with Sarah.  She helped me loosen him up a bit and we had a few snorts as a reward!  We jump around fairly easily together which is a big, big, BIG relief for me.  


I can't finish this post on a happy note unfortunately.  Linus, a wonderful family and barn dog, was lost on January 29.  He was a Bernese Mountain dog who had such a great life and lived to be 10 years old!  His kind soul always made you feel better.  In the almost five years I knew Linus, I never saw a child be afraid of him.  You just knew Linus was a gentle giant.  No matter the weather, Linus always used the Berner ways to sit on your feet and keep you warm.  I always appreciated that Linus never moved when you stepped over him in the tack room.  He will be very much so missed as the big black blob, the watch dog in the back of the truck, and as the happy soul that could make you smile.  His family, both immediate and extended at the farm, miss him terribly.  

We miss you, big dog.  Linus didn't care how you looked.

Thank you, Coach.

The Penn State family lost our greatest leader on Sunday.  Joe Paterno was more than Penn State's football coach.  Coach Paterno strived to make an impact.  I count myself as a fortunate recipient of that impact. JoePa, as he was commonly known, dedicated his life to making Penn State a high quality school while coaching a strong football team.  It turns out, much to our honest surprise, that JoePa was human and made mistakes.  When we remember his legacy, let us also remember his mortality.  We are all mortal and so, as JoePa did, take time to contemplate and build your legacy. 

The Paterno family has asked that donations be made to the Special Olympics or THON.

 The classic coke-bottle glasses in memorial.  

Courtesy of Penn State Football on FB.

(This is a serious blog.  I'll do a much more relaxed one next.)

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is announcing she will step down from her position this week.  I know nothing of her political history, but I do know that she has strength few other people will ever experience.  Giffords was shot in the head a year ago at the Arizona Congress on Your Corner event.  She will return to the site and finish that event.  Thirteen people were wounded and six were killed last January.  I applaud Congresswoman Giffords for her fight to not only recover, but thrive in the future.

Holy Smokes, Holidays!

Yawn.  What a crazy last few weeks!  My Mama got on my case New Year's Day about not blogging recently.  She's right, I need to start typing.  I had two weeks at home and as you can probably tell, I avoided the laptop like the plague.  I use this machine every single day and sometimes I need a major separation from it. 

 Mom, Me, and MaMa

The boys.  Same spot about 3 years apart.

We can't talk about the holidays without discussing presents.  Let's be honest, I'm more about the commercial holiday.  Back on Black Friday, I bought myself an awesome chrome toolbox for the back of the diesel.  Then I moved all the equipment from the back seat of the truck to the toolbox and still had lots of room in it.  The only solution seemed to be a chat with Dad.  He told me to wait for Christmas. Holy smokes, be careful what you ask for!

The "starter" kit.

 This is all I really wanted.

I feel extra unstoppable in the Green Giant now!

Another crazy present story is that LClark and I took a trip on the Friday before Christmas Sunday to Park City Mall.  We were expecting to die and honestly, it wasn't so bad!  


In between the holidays we had the HVS party.  It was at the Lawn Fire Hall.  I thought it was a great success.  I had a great time watching the polo wrapping relay, pin the nose on the reindeer, and Pictionary.  And the food, YUM!  So very good.

 The Christmas Hulu Rat.  It's my Mom's...

 The kids took revenge on me for spinning them too much.

I spent almost everyday riding and at the gym so I slept through the New Year's celebration.  It was all part of my plan to start the New Year rested and relaxed.  Ok, so rested anyway.  Yeah, and about this gym thing.  I know some of you are tired of seeing my FB posts about it already.  But I also hope some of you will nag me if I start to slip.  I have big riding plans this year and my fitness must improve.  I'm running about 2.5 miles a day right now.  I didn't think I could do it, but I am and it feels GOOOOOOOOD!  Trust me, I think it's weird too.  Let's just go with it.

Fred is still out of commission.  The test results have come back as normal on all accounts.  Now we move on to a phenobarbital trial.  Phenobarbs are used to treat seizures.  We should know in a month or so if that addresses Fred's twitch.


Cindy has very generously let me ride Patrick over the last few weeks.  (THANK YOU!)  He was amazing to ride almost 5 years ago when I started at HVS and now that I've learned a little since then, I think he and I are having some fun.  

 Jean, Crabby Paddy, Me, and Gadget

Lauren G and I stopped by Watermark Farm during our time off.  Ellie and her mother Anne have an amazing herd of horses.  They gave Lauren and I an amazing opportunity by letting us ride Oz (Wizard WF) and Lauren also rode Liam (Don William WF).  Oz is a 5 year old stallion and moves like nothing I have ever ridden before.  Liam is a 4 year old gelding who is probably around 17.2!  It was cool and such a treat.  Check out Ellie's website and drool over the horses.  Go on, you know you want to.

 Lauren and Liam

After our trip to Watermark Farm, I went to Cindy's first lesson with Kim Walnes.  I'm not gonna lie, my head hurt from an information overload.  Kim taught everyone in attendance many things.  You probably want more details, but I'm not kidding, it was a lot of good stuff and I'm not sure that I can start without covering everything.  I'm glad I was on the ground for the first lesson because I would be overwhelmed in the saddle. There will be more opportunities to audit her lessons and I encourage riders to attend at least once.


Ok, so that wraps up the holidays in an express manner.  I'll have to talk about the new year in the next post, and Fred :( , but that will have to wait until later this week.

Maybe I'm making them crazy.

Apparently 2011 is the year of undiagnosed neurological diseases for my horses.  In the middle of November, Sarah noticed that Fred's nose and neck were twitching simultaneously.  Two days later, Fred was not himself during a jump school.  A week later he had an abscess and the twitching was very intense.  A week after that Dr. Kent came to look at Fred.  She did a full exam of his body and x-rays of his withers.  Dr. Kent couldn't find anything abnormal.  

The twitch is only between Fred's left shoulder to his nose.  We can't determine one trigger point.  It waxes and wanes without any clear influence.  It is involuntary and hasn't changed his normal routine at all.  Fred seems fine to ride on the flat however jumping is not comfortable for him.  I've only been on him once in the last few weeks.  The video is from the day he came in with the abscess and was very uncomfortable.  Stress does seem to play a role in the intensity.  An interesting fact is that the facial nerves are not directly connected to the neck and chest so it is odd that the twitch is simultaneous.  Also, after observing him, you'll notice that the twitch builds.  If his chest is twitching, everything else is.  

After massages and body work and time off, I took the vets' recommendation and we made an appointment with the neuro specialist at New Bolton.  Dr. Johnson was great.  Fred had a gait exam, blood work, endoscopy for his pharynx and larynx, and a spinal tap.  Yep, two horses and two spinal taps in one year.  We're awaiting results, which should be in early next week.  The outcome could be either Lymes or seizures.  I don't like either option, but both are treatable and we should be able to return to work this year.  I must also say that I was very impressed with how well Fred handled the commotion.  He was a trooper yesterday!

The Wal-Mart countdown says 5 shopping days until Christmas!

To get you in the mood:

And my favorite compilation by the group:

DRADLE!  I had Christmas down in Africa...