Well Um...It's Wednesday.

Yup. That's the news I've got for you. It's Wednesday.

I headed out to visit Moon, catching a glimpse of someone trail riding down the highway and my heart plummeted to my feet. : ( Wish that was me and Moon.

Regardless, seeing Mr. Moon, even if it was just to stand out in the sunshine and groom him, was enough to raise my spirits. I love that horse, ridden or just loved on. Cleaned him all up, rebraided his tail, checked all his hooves over and shined him up.

Then I brought him inside (this was about an hour later!), put an ice-pack on his spine to see if we can work on that sore back of his, and proceeded to give him a full massage.

I did the tail pull and heard a big "crack" from his back. Ditto on his right shoulder when I stretched it out. When I was massage his left shoulder he was making all kinds of funny faces, contorting his neck and gapping his mouth. Everywhere else he was pretty uninterested in the whole thing. Other then the fact that the lack of riding aka. physiotherapy has left him stiff through the neck. He really struggled to bend his neck left and right without taking steps. Oye. I'm sure he's losing finesse daily.

I tried trotting him out but couldn't get him to really go, plus the alley was too short. The arena had a lesson and I didn't want to interupt just to prove to myself he's still sore. So I loved a bit more on him and put him back in his field (which is pretty muddy at the moment).

I gathered up all my winter blankets for a good washing and sewing job this weekend, since I won't be riding the Moon. I might head out for a trail ride on Saturday with a borrowed horse, which at least will fulfil that craving.

W is gonna see if she can get ahold of a hoof tester, and I'm still trying to get ahold of Moon's farrier. It just rings and rings and rings...

That's the news. No news at all. The only cute bit was when my favorite cat leapt onto Moon's back, curled up and fell asleep, being carried around the puddles without getting his little feline toes wet. Buggers.

The only other thing I've been thinking about is how so many horses on the blogs right now have some sort of sustained injury. And a lot have mentioned that if their horse can't do what they want, they'd put them up for sale. Largely because they can't afford two horses, the one they love that doesn't fulfil their competition dream, and one that can.

Makes me wonder what I'd do if Moon wasn't able to do more then walk.

...okay, I don't even wonder.

He wouldn't go anywhere. I'd keep him, love on him, and let him rest in a nice field until our property is ready and then move him home for permanent retirement. Only THEN would I start searching for my next partner. And if that meant not riding for a year, two, or six, that's fine. NO ONE is ever owning my Moonpie, unless I'm deceased. And even then there's a short list! : P Which is a reminder of course, to everyone, to discuss with your family what you'd want to happen to your horse should something happen to you. Let's face it. Many folks aren't going to shell out the time or money to keep a horse they don't know or desire to ride. And it's very hard to find good homes for horses these days.

Suppose Moon and I are both lucky to have one another. And I'm very fortunate to have the ability to provide a retirement home in the next couple of years, and he's lucky to be in a situation where he'll never be rehomed. Though let's all hope he's not ready for retirement for many more years.