Red Bull BAAAAAD!

I had my ass handed to me by a can of red bull yesterday.  I'm a little blown away by this simply because I have been drinking it for years.  Well, I had been.  Then I started the "no sugar" thing, and while I did not stick strictly to it, I have virtually cut soda of any kind out of my diet for several months now.

Yesterday I was headed to look at a saddle and having a hard time keeping my eyes open, so I sopped and grabbed an RB.  By time I got home I was sick and shaky and pretty much out of it for the rest of the day. Even feeding the horses took all my energy.  The crash from it was awful!

I have noticed an increase of what I call Hypoglycemic episodes lately. It is strictly a self diagnosis, but it is basically whenever I go too long with out eating (especially when it is hot) I get dizzy and weak and can't think straight.  If I push it too long, it takes me the rest of the day to get over it.  I was going to go get some blood work done, but insurance is gone now so it will have to wait for just a bit.

Moving on.....

Went to the local livestock auction Saturday.  I did not go for the horses, I went for the tack.  The tack was crap.  Well the only things that were decent went higher than I was willing to invest.  I did get 2 sets of nice Amish split reins, brand new for 17.50 a set.  That is what I have been using on Trax and I love them.  These will not go into resale inventory.  I got an old breast collar which needs some work, but the leather is quality, so it was worth the price I paid. Some new conchos and conditioning and it will be a nice addition to one of my saddles for sale.

I was not going to watch any of the horses but did, and I'll be honest it was hard.  I saw a couple of nice ones, but every single horse there was half starved, which doesn't make sense to me.  Maybe I'm ass backwards, but if I knew I had to send my horse to the sale barn and I wanted him to bring a fair price, I'd at least feed him before I went.   There was one that was totally lame, you know where he ended up. One pretty paint that I probably would have bid on if I were bidding.  Not because he was paint, but I just liked the way he was put together.  He went for $250.00 I don't think it was a kill buyer.

There was a very nice 18 year old sorrel gelding with some awesome training behind him, he went for $200.  I left after that.  I did see a very nice buckskin back in the pens, but I had to get out of there.

The look in the eyes of those horses was hard on me.  I've seen that look before...in my own eyes, as I looked at my reflection in the glass of a prison door as it closed in front me.  I know the feeling that goes along with that look, so to watch what was happening on this day and be helpless to do anything for any of those horses...it was too much.  I seriously doubt that I will go back.

Sassy is still doing pretty good.  She has had a couple too many days off, but will get her exercise today even if I just work her in the round pen.  I can tell when she gets time off, she gets "stove up" looking.

I rode Trax the other morning, he had a minor relapse.  I do mean minor too.  I brought back out my rope gate and asked him to stand nest to it. If it is on his left side, no problem. In fact if it is on his left he is more than happy to execute the task...to perfection.  When I asked him to stand with it on his right, he got jiggy. So we did that several times.  When I reached down and picked up the rope, I felt him tense so I set it down.  When we came back to it, I was able to pick it up but the minute I rubbed his shoulder with it, he bolted.

It's cool though, I knew it was coming.  I was ready for it and while it took me a minute to shut him down and bring him back, I only truly felt out of control for about 10 seconds.  It amazes me how quickly he can go from totally okay to totally gone in the blink of an eye. Mentally and physically G O N E.

Eventually I was able to go back to it, pick it up and set it back down again.  And we were still able to totally execute from the left, but I know where we need to focus that attention.  I guess I've always known, just need to remember to do it.

I rode Melody the next night.  She is sore.  Very sore.  So I need to explore more better options for her.  Another visit from the chiro, plus I have decided to invest in some Back on Track Hock boots.  I would like to get her a blanket as well, but it isn't in the budget right now.   I think what we have going on is one hock is fused and the other one isn't.  That combined with her hip issue is starting to get to her.  She gets better once she gets moving, but it sure takes her a while to get moving.

I got another call on boarding, this guy and his daughters rodeo, and have 3 horses.  I like people with multiple horses. Then another gal contacted me this morning.  So If they all come in, I will be maxed out already.  I could squeeze more in but I don't think I will.  The one thing I have going for me that a lot of my competitions don't have is the size of my pens.  If I keep cutting them down I will lose that. I don't want to be like everyone else.

I have changed farriers.....AGAIN.  I was so happy with my last one, except that he had a hard time showing up. Then Killian threw 2 shoes.  I never blame that on the farrier, because I know that it happens even to the best.  But it was how the refit was handled that bothered me.   It took 2 days before he finally showed up.  He gave me a time and I sat and waited for hours and hours. Finally about 8 pm I called and he didn't answer. Finally he called me back and said he never even got out of bed that day.  So he would be there the next day.  I waited again and finally had to go somewhere, he showed up at almost dark, threw the 2 shoes on while I was gone, but didn't touch the other feet.  It was one on the front and one on the back. Because Killian stood around for a week waiting for him to even get to town, the hooves were chipped and needed to be trimmed.  So he trimmed them and then put the same shoes back on.  No worries right?  Wrong.  His feet were 2 different lengths front and back. Then the next morning he lost a third shoe.

At that point I was done.  I called a different farrier, he was there that after noon, and came and reset all the shoes doing just as good a job, in half the time for $35.00 less!!!!!!    The previous guy was charging me $120.00 for a standard set of shoes.  That is the highest price in town.

So now I will stick with the new guy. Not only is he from my area, he does a good job, gets the job done quickly which is easier on the horse.  I would be a remiss if I didn't mention that this new guy is also quite good looking and while I would never hire a farrier just on his looks, we will sure call that a bonus!  LOL

Well now it is time for me to get back out and get to work. It is super humid today but I cannot let that slow me down.  I just picked up a nice roping saddle for a fair price yesterday and I already have someone interested in it, so I need to get out there and do what I do to get it ready to sell.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer....or whats left of it anyways!