Back to School-Back to Work!

 Hello Old Sports,

It's me. Hi. I'm not the problem, it's Spode.

I know! It's really me! Can you believe it? I haven't put hoof to laptop in ages. I've been living a life of luxury and there's no need to be typing your life away when you're chilling. 

So, it's been about a year. Spode and I are now going ten years plus together. She still can't get it through her head that I need more treats than what she gives me. And old sports, oh have I tried to make it clear. She gives me a teeny tiny handful of treats and she tries to walk away. I grab her shirt, grab my halter, lick the gate, bite the chain... how can she not see the signs of starvation!? She may be able to read between the lines and make inferences reading The Great Gatsby but she sure can't read THIS Gatsby. Sheesh. Ten years of the same message...

You know I'm not eating this gate just because it tastes good, right?

Anyway, aside from my endless struggle for more treats, life is pretty good! I'm still kicking it at Logoff and living with my roommate Sheen. Sheen and I don't always see eye to eye on our living arrangements as he thinks I'm a bit too bossy sometimes, but other times we are quite content to keep the flies off one another. He calls me a shelter hog but what can I say. Sometimes my own butt doesn't even fit in there! 

I do admit to being a big fan hog when it's hot out!

It's round bale season here so I'm thrilled with that. We're using a new strategy this season by nixing the metal feeder and just plopping the hay on the grass. Old sports, I know they tell us not to play with our food, but it is so much fun! I entertained myself by pushing the net all over the place. Right now it's too full again to move but give me a week and it'll be on the move again! Sheen and I have decided we're going to make a new sport out of it. We just need to decide on the rules. I'm thinking 10 points to whoever can successfully push it out of the paddock, and 20 points if you can get part of it over a fence rail. A perfect pony party game. 

It's just a tad too big to roll right now.

When I'm not snoozing, eating, or complaining about treat rations, I'm probably being fussed over by Spode. She's kept me pristine this summer and is currently working on ridding me of my summer coat so my winter hair can come in.

The tail takes a while to tame.

Always worth it in the end!

 I've been going on a fair amount of rides this summer, too, though I started feeling a bit snorty and coughing in late August so it's been a bit quieter now. I'm feeling more normal again but we need some rain to lessen the sand ring dust before Spode wants to start doing more with me. We've had some nice relaxed hacks though! Spode complains that I'm so slow but I just really like to take in my surroundings when we're out back. When I'm out with other horses I have to speed up a bit to keep them in my sight, but when it's just Spode and I, I go as slow as I can. 

Okay, okay. Old sports, I'll let you in on the real reason I go so slowly. If I go slower, I don't have to travel as far. If Spode plans to hack for an hour, you don't need to walk as many kilometres if you slow right down! You're welcome for the top tip, friends! I'm a horse who know how to work less, rest more!

Speaking of resting, I think that's more than enough typing for these hooves. My life of luxury and elite laziness cannot be overtaken by endless blogging again!

So, until later, old sports. 

Jay.  

Happy Anniversary, Gatsby!

Gatsby at his former home, the day I met him and decided to buy him!

Hello Old Sports, 

Wowie! Time sure does fly! It’s my anniversary with Spode today, can you believe it? I’m too busy eating all the food I could ask for, so Spode volunteered to write a guest post today. So I’m gonna keep snacking. Here’s what Spode has to say:

9 years ago ago today, I signed the papers and brought Gatsby home. Time with Gatsby has absolutely flown by, but when I stop and think about all we have done together, I really can’t believe we’ve fit all that into only 9 years! 

I can still remember the day I called up a farmer whose son had responded to my Kijiji ad looking for an untrained yearling draft cross. I was at CPHS, in fact, calling him in between volunteering in classes. He told me he might have a good horse for me, but he didn’t know how to email photos and gave me practically no information. He just told me I should come out and see him the next day. I had had a lot of responses to my ad searching for a grade untrained horse and had driven hours to see one just the weekend before, only to be disappointed. I wasn’t expecting much. 

When I pulled into the driveway of the farm in Richmond with my mum, it was obvious to her that I was in love at first sight. He was pushy, nosily looking for food, and came right up to the fence to greet us as we got out of the car. He didn’t really want to be touched though, was a little head shy, and tried to bite you if you touched his legs. We drove home and stopped at my old barn on the way to ask if I could board Gatsby, then called Prince, there. Then we scheduled his arrival and I booked a vet check…but I’m pretty sure Evangeline could have said anything and I still would have kept him! I was in too deep by that point! (Don’t ever come to me for horse purchasing advice-I’m too emotional!)

June 26th 2013, just after signing the bill of sale! 

So awkward looking back then!

Gatsby was a real learning curve, as my previous horse Zoodles whom I sadly lost earlier that year came to me as a seasoned, well trained former dressage school horse. Gatsby was a handful in comparison to say the least. He couldn’t be led when he first arrived, and he reared up and came down on my arm leaving me injured within the first week. There were several injuries in that first year, and my grandmother still talks about the time she came to watch me foolishly try to hitch him to a cart way too early in his training, and he came within centimetres of stepping on my head after he knocked me down flat. 

Nothing like a near death experience to tell you what an idiot you've been. And no, I never tried to hitch him to a cart again. 

Like I said, there have been a lot of injuries over 9 years! 

From teaching him to lead to getting on him for the first tie, to going to his first off property events: Gatsby and I have done a lot, and he has taught me a lot! As we get back into dressage after slowly recovering from lung issues, he’s still teaching me every day. 

First ever ride for Gatsby! It was so exciting!

He, of course, thought it was no big deal (I learned my lesson from the cart experience and took things slow!)

First canter!

First show!

This of course brings me to his many medical stories. He got his first bout of uveitis less than a year after I bought him, and then we had our adventures in ophthalmology and his life changing surgery that saved his eyesight. Little did I know it would just be the first of his many health issues, and many hospital and specialist visits around the world. 

That moment when the doctor who flew to Toronto from Florida tells you your horse is a good candidate for surgery! 

Gatsby's first time back in the paddock after recovering from eye surgery. He was feeling quite exuberant! 

Fast forward to 2016 and my little backyard, cattle farm horse was travelling first class on a flight to the U.K. for what I thought would be a permanent move. This horse has now been to more countries than I have as he hopped from European country to country when he flew there and back again in 2019. He’s even been on the Eurotunnel and the ferry from Dover. Gatsby the world traveller! It was never a question that he would be moving with me. I was all ready to move to the U.K., had a job lined up and everything planned out for living there, but my final step was calling up my vet Evangeline to ask if she thought it was safe for Gatsby to fly and it wouldn’t stress him out and cause uveitis. If she had said no, I never would have moved. 

He definitely enjoyed his three year holiday/adventure in the U.K!

In short, I have so many memories with this guy, both happy and heartbreaking, but through it all he has really remained the same horse I fell in love with when I pulled in the driveway 9 years ago and met my Prince. He’s pushy, he’s nosy, he’s opinionated and had never grown out of his equine ADHD, and he’s definitely still in your face 24/7, as all the barn staff who have ever met him can attest to. I wouldn’t have him any other way! 

Here’s to 9 years together, Gatsby, and may there be many, many more to come, Old Sport! 

Oops I did it again!

Hello old sports,

What can I say? I know. For a literary horse I write very little these days. I seem to be averaging one post a year lately. But you know, in the novel my namesake is not the author. We see everything through Nick Carraway’s eyes and he is like OBSESSED with the man. Now, let’s think for a minute here. Who follows ME around documenting my every move, checking out who I’m speaking to, who visits me, who attends my parties and plans my dates… that’s right! Spode is the Nick Carraway of my life and so if there’s anyone to blame, I’m pretty sure it’s her. If she’s that obsessed with me then surely SHE should be writing my life story, not me. For someone who claims to love books and has devoted her life to teaching kids about books she’s not being very true to her favourite book here. Just saying. She should have the blog, not me. 

But we all know how that would end. She would whine and say that she has no time and school work makes her too tired blah blah blah. So I’ll continue with my writing. Better get my hooves back in the game! She’s got her own laptop now so we don’t have to share. No excuses from me!

I could be eating my round bale right now, but instead I'm taking the time out of my busy schedule to write this, so you'd better appreciate this old sports!

So, where to begin since my last post? Well the issues I referred to in my last post are still a problem! I am still itchy, itchy, itchy in the, er, nether regions… trying to delicate here and retain my dignity but seriously the number of people who have seen some very not safe for work pictures of me and talked about my problems openly in front of all the other horses like they don’t even care that I’ll be teased by my friends is almost as annoying as the itching itself. Horse people are really not very lady-like. No sense of privacy and no shame.

Excuse me? Do you mind

Anyway, Spode and my favourite vet have been working hard to find a solution and in all honesty it’s not so bad right now. But Spode recently found out that the dermatologist specialist we consulted with before is coming to our area soon so once there’s a date set we’ll be taking a little road trip up to Prescott hospital. It’ll be like the good old days of travelling to Toronto and the Royal Vet College in the UK. Yeah, I know my way around an equine surgery hospital. Spode is hoping that this trip will result in some answers so I don’t itch forever. 

In other news, and this really should have been first, I have moved! Yes, I’ve left my long time home of Fox Hollow and have moved to Logoff Farms…just a few minutes down the road! When Spode told me we were moving I was getting myself ready for another long trailer ride and wasn’t even ready to come off when the trailer stopped after only 5 minutes. 

My new friend Sheen the day I arrived! 

I moved to Logoff at the start of December. I liked it at Fox Hollow a lot but Spode said she wanted somewhere a little less busy to spend her time with me since she wants a break from people after a day at school. So we moved! Spode used to ride a little pony named Lexi at Logoff when she was young and horseless so when a spot became available she thought it would be a good fit. It has been great so far, old sports! I feel like I’m now living the life of luxury that a horse named Gatsby deserves! 

First, they put up with my demands. I want access to the outside all the time and that’s what I got! Spode was quite stressed about me having to stay in at night during the winter because she knows I hate staying in a stall longer than I have to. Luckily it all worked out and I get to stay outside all day and all night, just the way I like. I also get fed twice a day now and am currently enjoying the grass and hay. Today I experienced the luxury of escaping the sun and bugs in my shelter, which comes fully equipped with a bug screen and a fan that turns on automatically when it’s really hot. Spode also says there are a lot of trails but we haven’t even checked these out yet! Coming soon!

I've got so many fans now that one of Spode's students made this stall sign for her! She says that means that they're a fan of "Ms Wolff" and not necessarily about me. But that doesn't make sense because it's all about me!

Never has this been more appropriate to my life and my new digs. 

Speaking of riding, WOW I have been working hard! I’m not considered semi-retired anymore, old sports, not by a long shot! It’s quite amazing when you think about it! My lungs were x-rayed and biopsied just a few years ago to reveal pulmonary fibrosis and it was a pretty dire outlook. But every year since I have gotten better and better and gone from fully retired to semi-retired, to full on working horse! Seriously old sports! I’m practically back to my pre-lung problem days! All the vets are amazed, Spode is thrilled, and I’m just enjoying the “wow what a lucky horse” comments. I’m the best. I know this. They don’t call me The Great Gatsby for nothing. The vet techs try and search my name at the clinic with just Gatsby sometimes and can’t find me in the system. I always have to remind them that they need the “Great”. You can’t have me without being Great! It just makes sense! 

We're back in action! Go team!

Anyway, I think I’d better leave it there for now old sports because if I write everything today I won’t want to write a second post a little later on! I promise you’re getting AT LEAST two posts this year! 

Until later, old sports. 

Jay. 

Oops. Sorry, old sports

Hello again. Yes, yes, I know. You must be thinking, what's my excuse this time?

Well, old sports, did you know that the humans are worried about this thing called a pandemic? And not the equine variety, either (although, if you have an equine-addicted human they are ALWAYS worried about the equine variety). My Spode has been talking about this for a year now (even I'm over this) and apparently it impacts her every day life. She tells me that this has meant she has been at home for extended periods of time. 

On the plus side, it's very fun to try and pull Spode's mask off of her face. 

I thought this would mean I would see MORE of Spode, since usually her excuse is that she is too busy teaching to relinquish her laptop to my hooves. But no! Turns out that when she is forced to stay at home she actually uses her laptop more than before! Utter nonsense (coincidentally, that's also what Spode says about the state of education whenever there is a big change announced). 

I swear to god, if I need to hear her rant one more time about this Lecce guy...

And before you say I'm not being supportive of Spode, just look what I agreed to do...

So, the laptop hasn't been left at the barn for me for quite a while. And last time I logged on I was still waiting to come to Canada (really, it's an embarrassment. Sorry, old sports). Well once I arrived home Spode was trying to get a job and so she wouldn't give me the laptop then, either. And then she said she had to take a course for "special education" (not a course for the education for special horses-what gives?!). This course took a few months so no laptop privileges for this horse. Apparently she is doing another teacher course this year, too, so maybe even less laptop time for these hooves. 

Still has time to make me into a fat horse cartoon though, doesn't she? This is the type of thing she's really using the laptop for. 

You get the picture. So many excuses, so little time. For a draft horse, I do not draft nearly enough. 

So what have I been up to?

Well, the usual: medical issues are my forte, old sports. Let's see... when I arrived back in Canada I was healthy for almost two whole months. Not bad! I still needed to see my favourite vet, of course, but only to catch up on my Canadian vaccines that I hadn't been getting over in the UK. I tell you, those horses in England are lucky. I got one vaccine a year over there: flu. That's it. Every other year they threw in some tetanus, too. Back here? So. Many. Shots. And because of my sensitive constitution I need to get each of those shots individually. It's a good thing I love my vet so much and she's lucky I don't bear a grudge to all those sticks. 

Anyway, after I got caught up on my vaccinations, I overheard Spode saying she would see the vet again next time it was time to vaccinate. Hahahaha! Old sports, has she learned nothing in the almost eight years we have been together? 6 months or more is way too long for me to go between vet visits. I quickly explained to her just a few weeks after this that she needed to kindly call the vet back for a rather....um... "sensitive" issue. 

Maybe she misses me too. My face is a magnet.

I apologize for the lack of dignity I will now share, old sports, but there's no avoiding it. In December 2019, I came down with a case of the itch. Where? Well, in a spot where one does not want to have an itch... It's all very embarrassing. What's even more embarrassing is not having hands to scratch. What's a horse to do when they have itchy parts? The only option is kicking, old sports. And let me tell you--it's terribly unpleasant to have to kick yourself in the sheath. What's worse is that the other horses tease me about it when they see that my legs are covered in sheath gunk. It's a sure sign that I've been itchy again. 

The taunting. The shame. But, on the plus side, my itchy problem has given me ample opportunity to see my favourite vet. There's not much she hasn't tried to relieve my discomfort. When we all ran out of ideas, we decided to consult a specialist, and we tried all his ideas too (I'll spare you the details and won't share the countless photos Spode had to share with the doctors. No one wants their private parts on the internet. Too late for me, unfortunately, but at least I can stop them from coming on this blog). No help so far. We're apparently going to try a different solution this week-our second dog medication. Are they confused? I'm not Clifford the Big Red Dog no matter what Spode says! 

I was certainly as big as Clifford. Pre-diet days. 

Anyway, the sheath issue unfortunately caused my much more dramatic health issue. We decided to try systemic steroids to help treat my itch as we had seen success with the times we used steroids in the past. 

Now I probably don't need to tell you, old sports, that I've had my fair share of steroids in my life. Prednisolone and I go way back. This time we tried Dexamethasone, and it worked a treat! Itching went away and I was starting to come off the steroids to see if it came back when I suddenly felt really, really  terrible. 

Spode came to get me from my field and I was in so much pain I couldn't go to see her. I kept calling to her until she came to me and then she was on the phone to the vet as soon as she asked me to take a few steps. My hooves were so painful! I couldn't stand on my front hooves properly. Our vet came out and diagnosed me with laminitis. I've heard her talk about this before and my vets in England talked about it too whenever they gave me steroids. It always sounded scary, and now I know why. It's awful, old sports. I would not wish it on anyone. It took months to recover and I was in so much pain that I was lying down just to get some relief. 

I've never wished I was a smaller horse until this happened.

Luckily, the turning point for me were these fancy wooden shoes I got. They felt really strange at first but it only took a few days before I realized I could walk again and didn't need to lie down anymore. They are amazing things! 

On the plus side, I have been heavily doted upon in these hard times.

Fast forward a few months and I am doing a lot better now. I'm back to regular shoes and Spode and the vet hope that I can go back to bare feet this summer if things continue to go smoothly in my recovery. 

Well, almost normal shoes

And now we wait for the laminitis ridge to disappear 

I'm hoping to do more exploring with Spode this summer as my lungs are doing very well at the moment and I had been happy to go on rides up until I came down with this terrible laminitis. Spode was really enjoying it too, of course. I'm out of full retirement and into "semi-retirement" which basically means no dressage schooling as bending my neck aggravates my lungs. Lots of quiet hacking suits me just fine!

For now, Spode has been keeping busy getting my fitness back after my months of stall rest. I had been enjoying it lots, bucking and being silly in the arena every chance I got. But for a week now I have felt very tired all of a sudden. I just don't feel much like myself. So, you guessed it, our vet was out again to make sure I'm okay. Hopefully I'm just adjusting to the changes but I had some blood tests just to make sure there's no problems as I have a history of getting tired before other symptoms start showing up of bigger issues. 

Just not feeling 100% myself. And that just won't do, old sports. 

Maybe after this I will give Spode a break. It's almost time for my many vaccinations, so no excuses needed to see my vet I guess. Spode might like a holiday from constantly worrying about me. I'm still deciding... 

My "looking for trouble" face. Looking for my next medical mystery! 

Until later, old sports.

Jay.