The First Snow of 2014

https://witness.theguardian.com/assignment/54639d68e4b0f33efafdaa91/1240266

Hailing from the mud and darkness....

Slightly struggling at the moment with the mud and darkness. Busy workload is also keeping me, well, busy... A friend at the yard and I are lucky enough to have flexible work schedules, so we've decided to start riding in the mornings, to rise with the sun and get to see at least some daylight... This is nice as I can then work uninterruptedly until the early evening (yay...).

Now that the outside school is so boggy, I can't even remember the last time I have been doing any actual 'work' with Rainbow. We've been just hacking, hacking and hacking. It's been pleasant though – and found a 'new' route. A road that goes past the yard and which we usually just take a short section of and then go into the forest, has actually turned out to be a bit of a life-saver in this muddy weather. The road itself is a gravel sand road but now, after the wetness, it's in ideal condition for pounding on. The sharp stony bits it was covered in,  in the summer, making it unpleasant for Rainbow, have dispersed onto the sides (as cars have driven over it, over and over again), so it's now smooth and even – just ideal for trotting and even cantering. The road leads to some summer houses, which are empty this time of the year, so we haven't been 'bothered' by any cars on the road either. It's not very long but we do a section or two twice over, making it a good 2–4 km in total. Just what you need for a quick early-morning pre-workday hack!

Dry hacking has also been important to us this week, as last Friday, when I arrived at the yard in the morning, Rainbow greeted me with a swollen hind leg. First I wasn't sure what it was about but our yard manager instantly recognised it as lymphangitis – there was a cut on the side of the leg below fetlock, a bit above the hoof. She wasn't lame though and so I was advised to keep her moving and to clean the cut and apply a poultice on it overnight to draw out any bacteria and to 'dry' the wound... I think the cut had been caused by the boots she's been wearing occasionally on hacks and then the wet muddy paddock she's had to stand in, resulting in broken skin and infection.

I had to go to Agrimarket (a Finnish chain of agricultural supermarkets) to purchase some wraps and bandages, as I didn't have all the supplies at the ready. Rainbow seemed her cheery self, so I wasn't too worried. Although, it was all new to me having to wrap something on her or treat her for something... In the last 2 1/2 years of owning her, I have been very lucky, as she has never had any ailments. (*touching wood)

So when I got back to the yard with all my supplies I asked for help from my yard friends, to advise how to do the wrapping – everyone was so helpful it turned out to be five of us doing the poulticing, wrapping, bandaging and taping...! A team effort! Rainbow was good as gold, and in no time the English Patient was back in her stable, happily munching on hay wearing her poultice.

This is what we produced: 

After that, I had to go home and cheer myself up with this: 

(I have a new espresso machine and it makes cappuccinos too)

I ended up going to the yard twice each day over the weekend – in the morning to clean up the cut and apply some antiseptic zinc cream around it and all fetlocks, in fact. And, in the evenings, to clean off the mud and either apply the poultice (did this twice) or put some antiseptic gel on the cut. Other legs I always l left muddy and let the mud dry before brushing it off the next day – this is much better with uninfected legs, as adding more water to already wet muddy legs just usually makes mud fever, etc. much worse, as the open skin pores are more prone to 'suck in' all the bacteria, which then cause havoc.

Saturday, the next day after discovering the swollen leg, Rainbow was again happy normal horse and although there was swelling in the leg, it had gone down a bit. I took the poultice off and decided to take her for a dry hack. Our new friends, Laura and Elvis, came along too. They're quite new at the yard, and it's rather special to have another skewbald there... Actually they're quite rare here in Finland, so what are the changes of two being at the same yard?! I think Elvis is good boyfriend material for Rainbow – see how he looks at Rainbow in this picture!

Sunday, after cooking a proper English Sunday Roast for my parents, I somehow managed to get them to come to the yard with me and install some long-overdue folding saddle poles for me...! Horses truly are a whole-family hobby... Whether the family wants or not...

This is what my cats did on the cold, rainy Sunday. Percy took it easy on the bed while Kay hid in the sauna, lying on the heated floor...

But, not for long now – we are promised that the indoor school will be ready by Christmas. Have I told you our yard is getting a fancy new 60 x 22 m indoor school? Well, we are! It was the only 'compromise' I made with choosing our yard here in Finland, deciding that a place with an indoor school was out of our price range... This was quite a big deal for me, as I was used to having an indoor school in England... Anyway, you can imagine my delight when I heard they will be building a new indoor school, and it will be ready by the end of this year. 

This is a picture from today. The walls are going up already!