Poetry in injury

The title is a not so indirect reference to the fact that little Caesar is still lame. Three weeks as of Thursday. It's hard work having a lame, shoeless horse--soaking, medicating (he has a bruise on his sole), wrapping, and, well, pampering are a far cry away from actually riding said horse; it's my favorite thing to do--ride Caesar, and without it, I feel a little aimless. And, apparently, a little stressed; I do a good job during the day of not ruminating over the issue, but at night, it gets the best of me. Almost every day over the past three weeks, I have woken up with significant jaw pain clearly from clenching my teeth (an old, awful habit). Yikes. Yes, I have a mouth guard. Yes, I know I should use it. Okay, okay.

But I'm aware enough to know that my horse soundness woes are nothing compared to the tragedies unfolding across the globe, and I don't want to sound ungrateful. I want, rather, to see the poetry in injury. A parent of one of my student's asked me the other day "Are you getting to ride more now that the weather is better?" "Well, I would, but my horse has a bruised sole." She chuckled and apologized and said "that's so poetic." Indeed a horse with a bruised soul would be quite poetic, but perhaps a bruised sole has some poetry as well. While I haven't been able to ride, I have been able to spend lots of time just hanging out with Caesar. And for as cranky and ear-pinning crabby as he can be, he actually relishes in the attention. He quickly became a pro with the whole medicating/soaking/wrapping routine and seemed to rather like the extra attention. He's come to enjoy being groomed and scratched and massaged without having to do any work (understandably so!). Maybe his soul was a bit bruised and what he really wanted was some more time with me just hanging out. Maybe, just maybe (it could happen!) :) I taught him a little trick whereby he gives me a hug by stretching his neck around my mid section. It's pretty darn cute. When I turned him out on Monday, he hugged me expecting a treat. When I offered nothing, he hugged me for a second time, and when I again offered nothing (I was treatless!) he resorted to bowing and tapping his hoof as if to say, "How about this? How do you like this?" Ha! I am a big fan of this horse's personality.

The good news is that he appears to be on the mend. He got his shoe back on on Monday and with it a heavy duty leather pad to protect his sole. He was much sounder after that but still a little off. He was a bit better today so I thought going for a little walk would not hurt. We only walked for about 20 minutes, but it was so great! And while Caesar's first few strides were a little iffy, he seemed almost 100% sound at the walk! I'll take that for now and hope tomorrow he is even better!

I completed my first project for class last week, and I was pleased with the results. The beaks were well received in the critique and I got some good feedback on some finishing touches that will really tidy up the pieces. Here they are:









In the above photos, the beaks look a bit out of context; eventually I will display them in such a way that will help complete the design (possibly mounting them on "legs" or framing them in a box...); here's a quick mock-up Mike did. Pretty funny!






Do you think I should name them?

My current project is a locket of sorts that will hold a diorama; I was very pleased with the design concept I developed, and I can only hope I can at least partially realize it! Stay tuned to find out more!

I also made a little get well gift for my dear friend, Abby, who is recuperating from a pretty severe fall off of her horse; in true Abby form she is doing so with style and grace so I thought a little piece of jewelry might help. I'll post it next week after she sees it, but I am hoping to make several other pieces like it. Simple and sweet and something many I hope folks, especially horse lovers, will like.

I am turning 29 this weekend; how did that happen? 29? Really? I discovered an odd food stain on my shirt today and asked myself " How do I have a food stain that does not match any of the food I ate today?" Ewww. Yet, somehow I think I always knew I would be grappling with questions like this even as I approached my 30th year. Some things never change! Mike and I will be going to Middleburg and Leesburg Saturday (my favorites!) and jump judging at the first steeplechase race of the season on Sunday with a family dinner in between. I am sure I've garner a few more food stains :)

Enjoy yourself wherever you are and thanks for reading!