Re: New Horse

[Guest guest]

Hi :

He sounds wonderful - just my type - short and stocky.

Both of the horses I ride are short - one is 15 hands

and the other one 14.1 hands - and really stocky. I

love appys - they are so sturdy and usually have lots

of personality. I hope you and your husband really

enjoy him. I love them when they are all fuzzy during

the winter, but it's such work shedding them out lol.

Have never clipped mine.

I totally understand about the rush of good feeling

you are going through. Last week, I took three of our

horses and brushed them, used the shedding block on

two of them, and did all of their feet and applied

Thrush buster. I felt so good for taking care of them

properly - first time in a month or more than I have

felt up to doing it - and I plan to take care of the

other two this week if weather holds. I had so much

pain the next day, but the good feeling of having

accomplished something that was so important to my

animals health and bonding with them, lasted me for

many days afterwards. When I was taking care of them,

I felt like my old " normal " self, and it was great.

How is your RA doing lately? Are the medications

seeming to be helping you? Our weather has been on

and off cloudy and rainy, and I sure can tell when the

rain is coming - my joints start talking to me lol.

Take care - Kathe in CA

--- Randall <krandall@...> wrote:

> Well, we officially bought the new horse yesterday!

> He's a a cute,

> chunky Appaloosa. He's only about 15.2, but very

> big bodied and

> sturdy legs, so he's up to taking my husband on

> occasional trail rides.

>

> Some people may think I'm crazy doing this at this

> point, but it's

> such a morale boost. I came home from looking at

> him and swept out

> the barn. I still hurt all over, but I'm in a much

> better mood!

>

> I will have to get him clipped though... He looks

> like a wooly bear

> catepillar, and is shedding GOBS of hair. Guess

> it's off to the tack

> shop today to get him some clothes!

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

Kathe

" To ride a horse is to borrow freedom. "

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Hi Kathe,

--- In , Kathe Sabetzadeh <lv2ryd@...>

wrote:

>

> Hi :

>

> He sounds wonderful - just my type - short and stocky.

> Both of the horses I ride are short - one is 15 hands

> and the other one 14.1 hands - and really stocky. I

> love appys - they are so sturdy and usually have lots

> of personality. I hope you and your husband really

> enjoy him. I love them when they are all fuzzy during

> the winter, but it's such work shedding them out lol.

> Have never clipped mine.

You'd definitely like Dillon then... He looks like a spottted teady

bear. Even his EARS are furry.<g>

> I totally understand about the rush of good feeling

> you are going through. Last week, I took three of our

> horses and brushed them, used the shedding block on

> two of them, and did all of their feet and applied

> Thrush buster. I felt so good for taking care of them

> properly - first time in a month or more than I have

> felt up to doing it - and I plan to take care of the

> other two this week if weather holds. I had so much

> pain the next day, but the good feeling of having

> accomplished something that was so important to my

> animals health and bonding with them, lasted me for

> many days afterwards. When I was taking care of them,

> I felt like my old " normal " self, and it was great.

I know what you mean. I love just BEING in the barn. Of course,

yesterday, when I had time to be outsied, it was overcast and kind

of raw. Today, when I had SO much paperwork to slog through that I

couldn't get outside at all, it was GORGEOUS out. That's when it

will be much better having the horses back home. I could

have " stolen " an hour to do something with them, but there's no way

to get over to the barn, do something, and get home in less than 2

hours when their not on the property.

The other good news is that the girl who half-leased Oliver over the

winter is going to keep riding him a few days a week once he comes

home, and will help with barn work. I also put up a bunch of fliers

at the local agricultural high school (which my son attends) looking

for someone to do the same with Dillon. If I play my cards right, I

may have to do less work with two horses than I ever did before!

> How is your RA doing lately? Are the medications

> seeming to be helping you? Our weather has been on

> and off cloudy and rainy, and I sure can tell when the

> rain is coming - my joints start talking to me lol.

I wish I could say it was going great, but it's not. I have a good

day or two here and there, and then it's right back down again.

Wednesday, I felt good, and I even jumped Oliver. Then Friday they

sent me home from PT & OT, refusing to work on me because I was

flaring so badly. I actually probably shouldn't have even driven

over there, considering that I was on pain meds it was so bad... but

then again, I probably wasn't thinking quite straight with the pain

meds.<g>

Saturday I went to the Boston Ballet with my step mom, and

experienced new joys of RA. It hadn't occurred to me that sitting

in one position in a well-padded seat for the length of the

performance would be torture. I got up and walked during both

intermissions, but still had to take pain meds to make it through.

I also found out that you can't clap without hurting your hands.

I _think_ the Mtx is helping somewhat, but it's sure not great yet.

I suspect the fact that we're slowly decreasing my prednisone dose

isn't helping either. But I'd still rather keep backing that down,

so that we can see how well the other meds are working. The Dr.

also gave me a slightly lower dose, but longer acting version of

Diclofenac to try... THAT was a mistake.<g> Fortunately, she knew

it was an experiment, and also gave me a refill of the other kind,

so that I could play back and forth between the two.

The good news is that the Leucovorin is really helping with the Mtx

side effects. I took the Mtx in the afternoon, drank plenty of

water all day, the way someone here suggested, then took the

Leucovorin before I went to bed. (early and tired, but not feeling

sick) Saturday, I was more tired than usual, but not so bad that I

couldn't get through the day.

Do you know whether Mtx starts to " wear off " toward the end of the

week? It occurred to me that both of the last bad flares I've had

have been late in the week, and have gradually gotten better over

the weekend, after taking the Mtx on Friday. It could be

coincidence, but... And my rheumatologist is away for a month, so I

can't ask. I can call her partner if there is something urgent, but

I don't think this counts as urgent.

Feeling so crumby again at least got me motivated today, once I was

feeling a bit bettter though. I stopped at Linens'n'Things on the

way home from OT/PT and got a mattress topper, new D-E-E-P pocket

mattress pad and sheets for the bed to see if that keeps my hips a

bit more comfortable at night. My husband doesn't know I'm going to

put him to work helping me put it all together as soon as he gets

home tonight!<g>