Attitude

"Our mood changes more often than our fortune"

How can I even begin to catch you up on the details of the past month of my life? It started out like any other month, full of work and not enough time for my beautiful equine partner. And just like every other month, it started out with me hopelessly battling a fungal infection on Rydel's legs. the fungus comes and goes with the changing weather and I have never been able to get the upper hand. This month I decided to try treating it with a combo of triple anti-bac ointment, and anti-fungal cream. After the first few days I was seeing great improvement, only to come out the next morning and to my complete horror find Rydel's leg swollen and bloody! After further inspection, I found a few more spots on her stifle that were oozing a yellow liquid. Mortified, I cold-hosed her leg and cleaned her wounds, vowing to call the vet if things weren't better in the morning. Well, the next morning things had only gotten worse, Rydel's leg was as swollen as ever, she had a fever, and was dragging her foot as she walked. After completely and utterly freaking out the vet assured me, Rydel's ailment, known as Equine Cellulitis is fairly common and her leg would go back to normal with treatment. 

After weeks of cold-hosing, compression wrapping, administering Bute, and antibiotics daily, Rydel is finally back to normal and able to slowly start increasing her activity level. Yesterday was the first time we actually played together since the Cellulitis and we had an absolute blast! You see, during her treatment my mission was to get her better, I had the same routine everyday and I did not take the time to focus on our relationship and I was definitely not tuned into how she was feeling about all of this. By the end of her treatment, Rydel was literally "screaming" at me with her body language. She was so agitated and unhappy and I felt awful and discouraged at the same time, it was not a healthy combination. 

Parelli teaches us that the attitude with which we approach the horse is so crucially important. It can mean the difference between a fantastic day and a horrible one and that is so true for Rydel and myself as well! Last night my mood was lighthearted and happy and I was not weighed down with the stress of worrying about her leg. We spent a lot of time just being together and then played "Stick to Me" online and at Liberty and I felt so connected to her! She tried so hard to stay with me and mimic my energy level. Then I got on bareback and bridleless and we just walked, followed the rail, and worked on our downward transitions and back ups. Such a simple task but it felt SO good. She is a super star horse!

With October right around the corner, I feel energized and ready for fall with Rydel. While, I certainly cannot control my fortune, I can control the attitude I have in response to it, and that can make a world of difference!