What. A. Day! We were super happy to wake up this morning and find that Mother Nature had kindly agreed to follow what the weathermen had predicted and it was a much, much warmer start to the day. I think it was around 20 (after -10, it was amazing!). Rather cloudy and gloomy though and some sleet would fall here and there making the walking around as I filled the water tanks once again, a bit more treacherous. But, I never once fell, and not only that…only ONE water tank overflowed!! And only just a little. And that was only because I was on the other side of the property removing the hose from another tank that was full. So…for me…BIG WIN!!! Lol.

Of course the regular chores got done and soon enough, it was pedicure time for those that are for the most part (or completely) unhandled. Yikes….

Our barn manager though and one of our trainers were here though to cover it all and I was able to make (what has now become) my monthly trip to ride my horse. And you know what? I seriously have got to find a way to make time to ride more often than that. I feel like every time I get in the saddle that I don’t even remember how to ride. Shoulder in? How do I do that again? Quarter line leg yield? Whatchu talkin about?? Thankfully my Mare Bear is super patient with me as I get the feel for it again, but you know what the worst part is?? The aftermath. The pain. OH the pain! I will be walking quite funky for a few days once again as my body adjusts to dressage riding again. It will go away and I’ll be fine (but, it sure goes away faster when I can ride a day or two later again! Lol). We shall see. The weather next week doesn’t look overly welcoming, but who knows. Maybe Mother Nature will decide to prove the weathermen wrong in a good way for once?!

Once again though, I was leaving. When there was this monumental task to take on today. It feels so weird to be able to do that. I should cancel my ride, I kept telling myself. I should be here for this. And I was, for the first one. But, then it was time to change my clothes and leave. Do I go? Will everything be ok without me here?? What if something goes wrong? Who will be here to deal with it??

The answer, of course, was obvious. This is just very hard for me to get used to. For 5 years this was solely my responsibility. But, I tell you what. This team that has been developed. This AMAZING team of people taking time out of their own lives and devoting themselves as much as they can to our mission here, is…I don’t know…I don’t even have the words…. Not only was everything fine as they “battled” getting much needed trims done on every horse here that had never been trimmed in their lives and were almost completely unhandled, but they all got done. And to see the pictures and video of what transpired in my absence once again, was incredible.

As expected, the horses were giant turds about the whole situation. Except Poncho. Recently gelded Poncho acted almost as if he has his feet trimmed all the time. Kristoff got a bit dramatic. The younger ones were mouthy. Gunner (who has had this done before) just wanted to join the club and be a turd. And Haven. Well, she’s kinda well-known for hating having her feet trimmed. Drafts. What do ya do?! Lol. There were very good moments, and there were very…very…very…bad moments. Sadly, today made it clear to us that one particular horse is not willing (or possibly even able) to be a good citizen. This has been thought about and watched and discussed for a while now, and today it was proved that we will not be able to get through to this one. As much as we want to. As much as we keep saying “maybe if we try this”, deep down, we all know the answer: to keep trying, is going to end up in someone getting hurt…or worse…. This is a horse that is clearly willing to die or kill, before it will give in. And our hearts are sad. We have tried and tried and tried. There is no longer anything we can do, but to let this horse move on to greener pastures where people will not be in the way…. 🙁

So, while it was a good day, it does end with a bad result. We will hold on to the happiness we all felt at seeing the others learn that people are good, even when they are trimming their feet, and we will look forward to the progress that each of them will make. We already have visions of their future and it is so bright. One of them…even had a person on their back for the first time ever!

And that is what we will hang on to. That is what gets us by day to day. We can’t save them all…that is for sure. And we can’t get through to them all either. But, they are still saved. They are still saved from starvation. Abuse. Neglect. And slaughter. Watching this horse today, with the minimal, almost non-existent pressure on it, I kept picturing this horse on a trailer to the border…and in the slaughter shoot…and so help me God…I could never put this horse (or any for that matter) through that. The ending will be quiet. Peaceful. With minimal stress.

Now, believe it or not, I am crying, so I will sign off for the day and will see you tomorrow…God willing.