Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Crack a smile and cut your mouth


This horse Sovereign. What am I going to do with him? Earlier this summer the tip of his left ear was missing! Lopped right off and bloody. Needless to say, I was freaking out. I sprayed the Holy Water (Vetericyn) daily and it healed perfectly and the long hairs make it look fairly even with the other ear. We called him Van Gogh for a few days, poor honey. Now, the same size chunk is missing out of his lower lip. The lip is a difficult place to treat with spray.

In the photo above he is showing me his hoof. There is a matching notch out of that too. The farrier thinks that an abscess might have blown through although he was never off at all. His feet are all shiny from the wet grass.


I'm beginning to realize that most of the trouble comes from one impish younger sibling. Pie steers clear of all their hijinks, but the brothers nip and bite in gelding play incessantly. In addition, Little Foggy has wormed his way up the pecking order to where he can now steal apples from anyone without retribution. I've seen him mouth Sovey's ears and tug on his lips. All my searching for an errant nail and the whole time the problem was much bigger. Sovey is a rough, tough cream puff of an alligator who will bite humans in an instant but so gentle with his ear-nipping, lip-ripping baby brother.

Pie, by contrast, is rarely injured. Occasionally I have to put Neosporin on a cut, but not often. Yesterday the rotund boy took me on a long bareback ride through a neighborhood to the local cemetery. He is positively amazing in there. There are colorful, flapping flags and balloons and all kinds of horse-scary items, yet he keeps his cool. 

And in thrilling news - to me at least!!!!!!!!!!!! Pie and I were captured on Google Maps!!!!!! Last year I remember riding out by the road and I saw a car go by who looked to be Bing or Google. It was a tiny white vehicle, traveling super fast by us, but there were cameras way up high on all sides of it. Well, this morning I found the photos they took that day! Pie was good for the first second, but then he started to shy. In the second photo, below, you can see me leaning forward to reassure him. I only put up two pictures but there really is a whole series. I am so happy about this!!!!


Hopefully if you click the images they will enlarge.


The funniest part of this story is that later that day I mentioned it to Brian and he said that he thought he might have been photographed at our house three miles away. Sure enough, I found the photo of him in the van pulling out of our driveway! 

I am not sure why these photos of me riding Pie are a big deal to me, but they are. There are many things that I could be excited and proud about in my life but this series of candid photos are right at the top. I think it is the fact that I ride every single day and, arbitrarily, Pie and I were caught in the moment doing what we do. We have 40 acres and yet, there we were, right when the camera went zooming past. I know Brian wishes he was caught running. How lucky am I to have been captured at that split second doing what I love most in the world? Answer: VERY!!!

11 comments:

  1. Poor guy. They do play hard though and injuries are bound to happen. I have it all the time with Grady and Sami.

    Very neat that you were photographed and are on Google Maps. Love it!

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    1. Love the names Grady and Sami - especially as herdmate friends! So adorable!

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  2. Have you ever tried the hydro-gel version of Holy Water? It sticks on places that the water-ier type won't, so you don't waste it on the ground, seeing as how the price is astronomical. Nonetheless - I love the stuff!

    Val is on google maps (from the sky) snoozling (what else), but they didn't catch us working. Don't you find it just the tiniest bit creepy? In general, not your riding shots memorialized - that's cool. Maybe it's just me. I feel like I'm spying if I zoom in. ;D

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    1. "Creepy" is the word of the day! Same response on my Instagram feed when discussing the Google Maps photo. Brian and I talked about it all morning. He thinks it is totally creepy. I am not sure why it doesn't bother me. I LOVE street view but not because I am at all interested in the people or what people are doing. I love to see neighborhoods, businesses, architecture designs and landscaping. I totally get ideas without moving from my chair. Pasture ideas for our horses came to me from Google and Bing map views of Lexington and Paris, Kentucky.

      Sometimes I hear about or see photographs of a supposedly perfect location or idyllic town. Google Maps helps me see if it really is so cool, or if it is just the way the photo was cropped. Most of the time the aerial view and street view helps me to realize that the grass isn't actually greener elsewhere.

      And, I travel over all my old favorite footpaths in England from my chair. I can "walk" through and around Saffron Walden at six in the morning before I have to get Maizie on the bus. It is so great for cartographer types like me!

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    2. Also - forgot - I've heard the gel is great - gotta try it - thanks!

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  3. That IS so so so cool!!! I'm off to check google maps at Laz's barn!!

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    1. Let me know if you see Lazaroo and his buddies!

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  4. Hah! Holy Water--isn't that the truth! The stuff works wonders and, like you, I need it all too often when everyone is playing a bit too hard. :)

    That's cool about Google catching you in their photography!

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    1. lmel - yes, isn't Vetericyn the best for all those reindeer games injuries!

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  5. I haven't had time to read your posts lately, but I'm back and am reminded of how much inspiration I get from reading your posts and your writing on Found in the Fog. As an OTTB rider, fellow runner, and past horseshow competitor, I identify with so much of your experience. But the main thing that makes me happy is to see someone else who sees animals the way I do, not as tools or accessories to humans, but as individuals with wants and needs deserving of respect. You clearly put into words many ideas about training, fitness, and handling that I've always agreed with, but wasn't as good at explaining to others. So your writing helps me when I'm communicating these ideas to my clients (I'm an equine vet). Well, I'm off to go ride my beautiful OTTB, Kat, out by the river, and because of you, I'm leaving my iPhone behind. :)

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    1. Hi Sunshine-
      Kat is lucky to have you and so are your clients! Wow...an equine vet with running knowledge...that is a dream combination.

      I hope your ride by the river was perfect. Thank you for the inspirational comment. It is nice to know there are other people who share my beliefs about animals and put kindness toward them into practice.

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