Best Laid Plans...

I had a poison ivy followup on Tuesday morning and realized that the temperature is SUPER ideal for riding at 7am, even if you still have poison ivy and are going back on steroids and have to stay cool. LOLOLOL.

So I decided that I was going to ride today early in the morning. And then, as I was lying in a tent, itching away because the benadryl just wasn't cutting it, and Kaylee wanted me to join her sleeping in the tent..., I realized I could not only ride, but I could go do a conditioning ride at the Polly Ann Trail because Gwyn had new shoes (as of Saturday) and I had reapplied Hoof Armor to her hinds so we could really move out on the rockier parts.

Are you ready to laugh with me? Why do I bother planning stuff?

Anyway, I couldn't sleep in the tent, so at 2 am I gave up and retreated to the house where benadryl finally took me to a restful sleep. Alarms went off at 6:30 and I got up and reapplied my 'STOP ITCHING NOW GODDAMMIT' stuff.

Then, dressed in my icefil tights, with my cool new cooling towels from Amazon, a water bottle and a protein shake, I went to tack Gwyn up.

Side note:  These cooling towels are the fucking bomb. They are lightweight, narrow enough to be used as a scarf and reusable. You just get them wet, wring them out, and 'snap' them in the air and they're instantly cold. They've been a blessing staying cool in our 90F temperatures. $16 for four on Amazon. 

My face is still red and a bit swollen, but this was after getting a steroid shot at the doctor yesterday so it's actually looking way better. Under my boobs? Not so much. 

They come in pretty colors! I got purple, pink, blue and silver/gray. 

My thought was since I didn't have the trailer divider back in yet after getting hay, that I would get her saddle on at home, load her, and then all I'd have to do is stick her trail bridle on and we could go immediately. I caught her easily enough, tacked her up and went to load only to realize that one hoof looked... different.

Damn horse pulled a shoe off last night. It's a BRAND NEW SHOE. She just got them Saturday! We applied SO much stuff that's supposed to help it stick. I grumbled, and then grumbled more because she was being an idiot about loading and decided we were going for at least a ride in the trailer because I would like for trailering already saddled to be a non issue and trailering in the open trailer to also be a non issue.

So I drove to the trail head and had my protein shake while really paranoid that Gwyn was going to jump over my head out the escape door. I'm thinking I should figure out a way to make the chest bumper cross this door too for these moments.

I drove back home, nice and slow because she was loose and I know she likes to ride backwards when she can and fucking expertly parked my trailer first try. Like of course I did. I unloaded Gwyn and she was a sweaty, foamy mess.

So I gave her a pyrethrin shampoo bath and went to scour the pasture for a single shoe.

No luck on that front, sadly. I did text the farrier, and he'll be back out tomorrow to put a shoe back on. Hopefully I can find the one she pulled. It's a clean pull too. No damage to her hoof that I could see so somewhere, in my resting summer pasture that they were JUST PUT OUT ON, is a shoe with all the nails in it. Grrrr. 

Jerk Mare was even wearing bell boots.

We've got two baby deer that come to visit.

Some of my poison ivy. 

The only good news so far, is that despite being on steroids, I am still losing weight. I'm down 23 pounds as of this morning!