Off to See the Wizard

The knee?  It's healing well.  A wee bit tender now and then, but mobility is about 95%, I'd say.  I guess I never did share the photo, but suffice to say it never really did turn ugly.  Just big.  Someone finally talked me into going in and getting xrays, despite me saying that if I could walk on it, what could be wrong?  She told me plenty, and go.  So I did.  And do you know what they found?  Nothing.

Okay, not entirely nothing.  It was red and inflamed and infected, and they told me I'd be off my feet for several days, and that I was going to get a shot in me bum for several days as well until the inflammation went down.

Say WHAT????  I don't want no shot in me bum!  And I've got colts to ride.  I can stay off my feet just so long as me bum is in the saddle.  Alas, again, I lost the argument and me pants were dropped and I walked out feeling a lot more pain than when I'd come in.

Being the smart girl I am, I went to work on ways to reduce that inflammation sooner, rather than later, and that included a nice long soak in more than enough epsom salts.  Hey, if it's good enough for my horse's abcess, it's good enough for my knee, right?  

Then next afternoon I reluctantly returned to the dr's office, but was delighted to learn that since ALL the red had disappeared over night, I wouldn't be subjected to another needle.  Whew!  What a relief  because the first one still smarted!

In the meantime, there've been a few changes around here.  Maxine was traded to a young gal who was struggling with her own 2 year old mustang.  Sam's filly was a real spitfire, and Sam a full time student who struggled to stay consistent with her.  I approached her about a possible trade, knowing Maxine would be a much better fit.  Sam came and tried Max out, and indeed, it worked!  

The incoming filly was a grulla pinto from the Paisley Desert.  She was smarter than a whip, let me tell you, and extremely spunky.  She was a lot of fun to work with.  Before long, however, I had someone else interested in Dulce, and the pot got sweeter.

My friends, I would like to introduce you to Oz.  He's a 2 1/2 year old gelding who was bred on Palomino Butte HMA in Oregon, and foaled in the corrals in Burns.  He stands a whopping 15 hands and is so stout that people often think he's closer to 16 hands until the get close.

Oz had already been in a home for a year, so he's titled (meaning the adopted fulfilled the requirements of adoption and the BLM no longer owns him), and he came with incredible ground manners and skills!  I played with  him a few days, then began saddling him up.  He's pretty incredible!

 Oz competed in the Oregon Mountain Trail Challenge as a yearling and won his in hand class with over 30 competitors!  Of course, I had to bring him out to our 'course' in the back and send him over logs, the bridge, and through the water hazard, all of which he negotiated without skipping a beat.

I hauled Oz down to The Cowboy's place for a couple of weeks.  When The Cowboy saw him, his jaw dropped.  "Now THIS is a horse!" he said.  He likes this gelding.  Likes his hip and short cannon bones.  Likes his mind, too.  Pretty sure there was a Quarter Horse who climbed through a fence somewhere and bred a wild mustang mare.  How else can you explain the classic good looks of this colt?  Okay, Cowboy...whatever!

The Cowboy isn't the only one smitten with this handsome fellow...

Flirt thinks he's pretty keen, too!