Over the past few years, Roo, my primary show horse, has struggled with lameness. After several rounds of trial and error, exams, and tests, we were able to pinpoint what appeared to be the main culprit - navicular. If you aren't familiar with navicular syndrome or problems, you can read more in this in-depth feature at TheHorse.com. There is no cure for navicular syndrome, just management options to help manage the horse's discomfort.
Fortunately, we're blessed in this area to work with several different vets and a patient farrier, and we've been able to try different things to help Roo stay comfortable and serviceably sound. And she still likes to work - she'll plow through a trail any day. But obviously this condition made her less reliable for the show ring.
Since Roo's diagnosis, I had been weighing options in my mind. Do I buy a new horse? Should I breed one of our mares and start fresh with a brand new foal? Traveling to horse shows and reaching new goals with my horses is my passion - so what does it look like now?
Fast forward to December 2022. For the first time in my life, I bought a horse.
No big deal, right? It was literally one of the more stressful things I've done. Growing up on the farm, my mother had raised and trained several horses, so we rode them and took them to shows. We literally learned how to work with and develop a horse from day one. This was a new adventure for me. (Stay tuned for another blog post on tips for what to do [and not do] when buying a horse!)
So in January, "Claire" joined our herd. She's a smart 6-year-old mare with a kind eye. We had plans to make our debut in the show ring this year, but life happened, and those plans did not. Claire has spent most of the year settling in and just being a horse, which is also perfectly fine.
This fall and winter, we'll both hit reset and start over. Hopefully we'll see you in the saddle on the show circuit Spring of 2024!