I is Giraffe! Hurry up people, dinner is soon

 Desire got worked on first and was, as ever, completely out of whack. D felt her from head to tail and sighed, “she’s a hot mess, isn’t she.” “Yes, a blazun haat mess for sure.” Hey, even in rueful moments I can’t resist a good dumb pedigree joke! Aside from her neck and TMJ, Desire’s right hip was out. Again. And without any riding for the last 4 months. D was alarmed at how easily Desire’s hip went back into place and told me to check it in 3 days as she was afraid the cartilage was deteriorated and the hip would be back out already. From speaking with her and a few other knowledgeable friends, aside from various veterinarian visits and countless hours spent reading and obsessing in my head, it seems best now to retire Desire to pasture pet with possible occasional light rides. She is pasture sound but on the circle you can see her hind end lameness from both bad hind hocks, and with a hip that continually pops out of place..well. It is what it is. She’s 17 years old, gorgeous, healthy, and looks good out in the big pasture. I knew this was coming but the hip thing just adds another problem to the mounting issues and I don’t have the heart (or the money) to keep banging away at trying to make her sound for something she clearly isn’t for anymore. She is in great health and hopefully has many years ahead of her; it seems like such a waste to retired her as she really loved and was good at endurance, always competitive and forward and happiest spooking gloriously down the trail with her tail flagged high. I’m really glad I at least have a large pasture for her to live out her days in, regardless of future soundness. Hmpph. If I think about it, it bums me out. So I look at Scrappy and dream of XPs. And look at Sheza and thank Desire for the gorgeous filly gift she gave us.

and she looks good in Bling. I think I ‘ll keep her  😉 

 As for Scrappy, once again I had a horse professional marveling, “How in the world did he do so well with this going on?” As with the wild dental needs, Scrappy’s neck was out on both sides, his TMJ was a little off, and *both* hips were out of place. Interestingly he was out of whack, but evenly so on both sides. My husband’s non-horse friend watched D work and was amazed, as I was, at the visible physical difference in Scrappy’s croup after she adjusted his hips (so I know that I wasn’t hallucinating it, since I didn’t get good before-after photos). D worked on both hips gradually, between working on other spots, and by the end of it his pointy croup was half as pointy and his butt muscles were jiggly and loose. She also got his short, straight little neck to go from solid to soft and jiggly. How’s that for a scientific replay, but you horse people know what I mean. It’s amazing because the manipulations are often subtle but the results are undeniable. Both horses were licking and chewing and pretty happy campers by the time D was done, and I put everyone away and fed in the lovely sunset.

 It was a gorgeous fall morning for a ride on our hilariously mismatched steeds, 14 hand Blaze and 16 hand Launi (he isn’t 15.3 DC, I don’t care what you say!! LOL), both Arabians or mostly so in Blaze’s case. Both geldings of great character and dearly beloved by their human partners, they carried us quite safely and non dramatically up the big hill and back around on a few hour tour where we got to just catch up with each other and enjoy the day.

 Boy, life is good in the autumn, on a good horse.