CT Scan and Horse Show
The scan yesterday went well (at least I assume so). It was a new machine and the radiologist (I assume that's what he was) was not in his usual office so he was slightly scattered trying to remember where everything he needed was and is probably part of the reason why instead of going in at 11 when my appointment was I didn't get in until after 12.
That contrast dye is weird stuff and, as prescribed, I've been drinking fluids like I don't think I ever have before to flush the crap out of my system. It must be working as the frequency of bathroom visits have increased dramatically.
Hopefully the results of the scan can be processed quickly and I'll be able to get in and have the cyst removed before the end of next week. It's getting rather annoying having to shift my head around in order to lay on my left side comfortably. Certain types of pressure are also rather uncomfortable, such as a shirt collar getting caught on the lobe. I'll be glad when it's gone and done with. I'll hope that I don't get another one ever. Of course with my family history it's doubtful that there won't be a recurrance, but I can hope.
After the scan yesterday Mom took me to lunch, which was rather nice. I was slightly starving as I wasn't allowed to eat or drink 4 hours before the scan and, well, by the time it was over with it'd been more than 6.
After lunch we hit the Verizon Wireless store (we're on Alltel and it's been bought out or merging or somesuch by Verizon) as Mom had to get something and I've been meaning to get a new phone as my current one has a crack in the hinge, which pops ominously when opened and closed. Since we're supposed to be getting new phones anyways as we switch over to Verizon I figured why not.
Of course my desire for a "Just Plain Phone" was rather squashed because they don't really make those anymore. My only requirement is that it stores numbers and can text. Not that I text a lot, but it's how I communicate with my riding instructor who is deaf. That desire thwarted I went to the other end and eyeballed the nearly indestructible phone. You know the one that can survive in 10' of water and be run over by a truck or something like that? It definitely wouldn't have been a bad choice considering what most of my phones have gone through (irrigation water, creeks, and other things...). I wouldn't use the push-to-talk option or most of the other features on the thing, but my other choice was the Blackberry Pearl flip phone. It's the complete opposite of my "just plain phone" desire, but if it's not one extreme it's the other, right?
Anyway, I'm being schooled by Chris on the phone's doodads and I've announced a couple times "I can see hours at a time vanishing into this thing." Of course, Chris was anti-cell phone before he got his phone (same as mine, Blackberry Pearl flip phone ... or rather, mine's the same as his). I don't think I like the calendar on it and will probably continue to use my faithful Palm, which in addition to its large screen, has the option of a stylus, which makes jumping around and selection options much easier. The Palm also has more options when scheduling things.
So far so good, though.
The Horse Show was on Saturday and once again Ola and I loaded up Kash and Panda and headed over. Panda did wonderfully. She was steady and much more relaxed. While she still eyeballed the people leaning on the rails she was more accepting of them and didn't get as worried about what they were doing.
Kash did better than last time, though he started out a little worse. He was actually rearing when Ola first rode him into the arena and she said he was very much trying to take off. Unfortunately there wasn't time before our first class to work him out of it so I went in solo again in the first walk-trot class.
Between classes Ola worked with Kash a bit on the lunge line and he did wonderfully, responsive, respectful and all that. However when she got on him he didn't do so beautifully. He'd be fine standing still, but when asked to move forward, according to Ola, that's where the issues started. I had her get on and instead of asking for him to move forward, as for a couple side or backwards steps. We managed a half dozen passable walking steps before stopping and calling it good. After a lunch and water break I ended up getting on him and working the boy. He was definitely distracted and a little tight. I just worked him around the grounds, walking him down to an open area next to one of the other arenas where they had some speed events going on. I spent most of the time just asking him to move off my legs. Yield left, yield right, shoulder here, hip there, just things to keep his mind working and redirecting the energy. I didn't worry about him trotting to fast, just keeping him moving and listening to my seat and leg. He softened up and started to quiet down (he had been whinnying to the other horses rather persistently.
Once I had him moving nicely in the walk and trot I returned to Ola and had her work with him. He returned to some tightness, mostly due to her nervousness and I helped her work through it. His usual trick of popping his shoulder out returned and I had to really emphasize the use of her leg in order to get him to move over. They got to the point where they were working pretty good together. Ola asked if I'd ride him first in the covered arena during the break before our class and I did. I had her ride Panda and offered that the two of them ride in the next class together if I couldn't get Kash sorted out.
I once again worked on getting him to relax and move off my leg. Managed to do some figures, but the other horses in the arena were quite distracting to him and the longer I rode the more he wanted to magnetize back towards the gate. Nearly caused two wrecks, one of which was around a rather hot and flighty saddleseat horse. I ended on a good note at the far end of the arena, hopped off, and walked him out the gate.
Ola and Panda were getting along famously and with a little extra coaching they went into the second class that we had signed up for. Kash and I stood outside and cheered them on. They did really well, though Panda did get a little fast in her trot at one point, but none too shabby. I would have felt rather bad had Ola not gotten a chance to at least ride in the show, thus I had her take Panda in.
Panda is a very honest horse and does what you ask so long as she understands. Kash is not necessarily deceitful, but he demands proper riding, especially when he is in a more excited frame of mind. I am glad that he did much better than the highly distracted, nearly unresponsive thing he was last time, but I was a little bummed that Ola missed out working him in a class. She did get to ride though, which is good and she had a good time and felt better for the whole experience (Kash's antics included).
I don't know when we'll try to go next, but the EVAHA curcuit is over with so I'll have to ask Kim if she knows of any nice, close low-grade shows on a Saturday.
And I need to eat lunch. One of these days I'll update more regularly so I'm not writing novels with each post...
That contrast dye is weird stuff and, as prescribed, I've been drinking fluids like I don't think I ever have before to flush the crap out of my system. It must be working as the frequency of bathroom visits have increased dramatically.
Hopefully the results of the scan can be processed quickly and I'll be able to get in and have the cyst removed before the end of next week. It's getting rather annoying having to shift my head around in order to lay on my left side comfortably. Certain types of pressure are also rather uncomfortable, such as a shirt collar getting caught on the lobe. I'll be glad when it's gone and done with. I'll hope that I don't get another one ever. Of course with my family history it's doubtful that there won't be a recurrance, but I can hope.
After the scan yesterday Mom took me to lunch, which was rather nice. I was slightly starving as I wasn't allowed to eat or drink 4 hours before the scan and, well, by the time it was over with it'd been more than 6.
After lunch we hit the Verizon Wireless store (we're on Alltel and it's been bought out or merging or somesuch by Verizon) as Mom had to get something and I've been meaning to get a new phone as my current one has a crack in the hinge, which pops ominously when opened and closed. Since we're supposed to be getting new phones anyways as we switch over to Verizon I figured why not.
Of course my desire for a "Just Plain Phone" was rather squashed because they don't really make those anymore. My only requirement is that it stores numbers and can text. Not that I text a lot, but it's how I communicate with my riding instructor who is deaf. That desire thwarted I went to the other end and eyeballed the nearly indestructible phone. You know the one that can survive in 10' of water and be run over by a truck or something like that? It definitely wouldn't have been a bad choice considering what most of my phones have gone through (irrigation water, creeks, and other things...). I wouldn't use the push-to-talk option or most of the other features on the thing, but my other choice was the Blackberry Pearl flip phone. It's the complete opposite of my "just plain phone" desire, but if it's not one extreme it's the other, right?
Anyway, I'm being schooled by Chris on the phone's doodads and I've announced a couple times "I can see hours at a time vanishing into this thing." Of course, Chris was anti-cell phone before he got his phone (same as mine, Blackberry Pearl flip phone ... or rather, mine's the same as his). I don't think I like the calendar on it and will probably continue to use my faithful Palm, which in addition to its large screen, has the option of a stylus, which makes jumping around and selection options much easier. The Palm also has more options when scheduling things.
So far so good, though.
The Horse Show was on Saturday and once again Ola and I loaded up Kash and Panda and headed over. Panda did wonderfully. She was steady and much more relaxed. While she still eyeballed the people leaning on the rails she was more accepting of them and didn't get as worried about what they were doing.
Kash did better than last time, though he started out a little worse. He was actually rearing when Ola first rode him into the arena and she said he was very much trying to take off. Unfortunately there wasn't time before our first class to work him out of it so I went in solo again in the first walk-trot class.
Between classes Ola worked with Kash a bit on the lunge line and he did wonderfully, responsive, respectful and all that. However when she got on him he didn't do so beautifully. He'd be fine standing still, but when asked to move forward, according to Ola, that's where the issues started. I had her get on and instead of asking for him to move forward, as for a couple side or backwards steps. We managed a half dozen passable walking steps before stopping and calling it good. After a lunch and water break I ended up getting on him and working the boy. He was definitely distracted and a little tight. I just worked him around the grounds, walking him down to an open area next to one of the other arenas where they had some speed events going on. I spent most of the time just asking him to move off my legs. Yield left, yield right, shoulder here, hip there, just things to keep his mind working and redirecting the energy. I didn't worry about him trotting to fast, just keeping him moving and listening to my seat and leg. He softened up and started to quiet down (he had been whinnying to the other horses rather persistently.
Once I had him moving nicely in the walk and trot I returned to Ola and had her work with him. He returned to some tightness, mostly due to her nervousness and I helped her work through it. His usual trick of popping his shoulder out returned and I had to really emphasize the use of her leg in order to get him to move over. They got to the point where they were working pretty good together. Ola asked if I'd ride him first in the covered arena during the break before our class and I did. I had her ride Panda and offered that the two of them ride in the next class together if I couldn't get Kash sorted out.
I once again worked on getting him to relax and move off my leg. Managed to do some figures, but the other horses in the arena were quite distracting to him and the longer I rode the more he wanted to magnetize back towards the gate. Nearly caused two wrecks, one of which was around a rather hot and flighty saddleseat horse. I ended on a good note at the far end of the arena, hopped off, and walked him out the gate.
Ola and Panda were getting along famously and with a little extra coaching they went into the second class that we had signed up for. Kash and I stood outside and cheered them on. They did really well, though Panda did get a little fast in her trot at one point, but none too shabby. I would have felt rather bad had Ola not gotten a chance to at least ride in the show, thus I had her take Panda in.
Panda is a very honest horse and does what you ask so long as she understands. Kash is not necessarily deceitful, but he demands proper riding, especially when he is in a more excited frame of mind. I am glad that he did much better than the highly distracted, nearly unresponsive thing he was last time, but I was a little bummed that Ola missed out working him in a class. She did get to ride though, which is good and she had a good time and felt better for the whole experience (Kash's antics included).
I don't know when we'll try to go next, but the EVAHA curcuit is over with so I'll have to ask Kim if she knows of any nice, close low-grade shows on a Saturday.
And I need to eat lunch. One of these days I'll update more regularly so I'm not writing novels with each post...