Finally: a picture!

Albeit not a riding one; I'm still waiting for those to be emailed to me. At least you can see what we look like. I think we're a cute "couple" if I may say so myself. :-)

Update on JJ

Let me start off by saying I feel totally guilty for "neglecting" JJ for the last month and a half. It wasn't because I wanted to: the weather has been horrible. First snow, which is a big deal in this county (I've often commented how maddening it is that Washington doesn't know about salting the roads, then a more savvy woman told me how bad it is for the environment... I drive a 2WD: I think I'll weigh my risks, thank you very much!) Just when we were recovering from the snow, it flooded. The weather is only just starting to look decent, knock on wood. 

So anyway. I took advantage of the break in the weather by paying JJ a visit. Whether I'm anthropomorphizing here I don't know, but I could almost tell that JJ was like *grumpy old man voice* "What the hell took you so long? And where are my TREATS???!" :-D While I was grooming him, he gave me a "hug" (JJ hug=sticks his head around and tucks it in the crook of my arm.) Then I tacked him up with the aim to lunge him a bit to see how he went, and then ride a bit at a walk. For those who don't know, JJ fell the last time I rode him. He's been having soundness problems and I think the last chiropractor QUACK screwed him up even more. Anyway, he was pretty stiff from the get-go, but basically ok to the left. To the right, however, I could immediately see that the inside hind, the one that has been problematic for him, was off. He broke into a trot, then a canter--as horses tend to do when they haven't been worked for weeks--and the soreness was even more obvious. By the time he was a few strides into the canter he decided to stop on his own accord.....poor thing. I wondered if I should even get on him at all, but his owner encouraged me to just walk around. So I did a few circles in each direction, noting that his back is vert stiff--more so than the first time I rode him. It will be a slow and painstaking process getting him to stretch into the bridle again. We were just getting to that point when he started showing signs of soreness. I don't ever remember it being this bad, though. As positive as I strive to be, it is somewhat disheartening that we've put in so much effort only to go nowhere. I wish more than anything else that we could get him the chiropractic help he needs. I know he will never be a "superstar", but people have told me he'll never be sound for anything, and I want to be able to prove them wrong. All I want is a solid, sound w/t/c. If we can do more than that, great. But I'm not going to push him. If he tells me he's done, I'm going to respect that. Judging from his attitude today, though, I know that he is far from done. In fact, he tried so hard in spite of the way he was feeling, that I think it's almost cruel to not give him something to do. Even if it's just hand walking for now--practicing correct circles on the ground as a friend encouraged me to try--that's what we'll work on. Barring another weather-related catastrophe that keeps me from commuting, I'm not going to let another month go by. 

A note on the chiropractor situation. JJ's owner (and I) want to get him to the chiropractor who saw him two years ago, but he's an hour and a half away and wants to book ten horses before he'll come up to Bellingham. My first reaction was to dismiss the idea; what are the chances there are nine more horses in the county who need adjustments? But seeing as I've had great success buying, selling, and connecting with the community via Craigslist in the past, I figured it's worth posting an ad just to see what I can get. I could also put up flyers in the local feed stores. Plan B is to haul JJ to the chiropractor, but that would involve $80 in gas and a day off of work for JJ's owner. The total costs would amount to over $300. The far distant third option is to get a local vet who just got her chiro certificate to work on JJ, but to me that would be just as much of a gamble as the lady from Canada. We'll have to see how this one goes--stay tuned for an update.