Oakfield Dressage

Amanda Tears her Carotid

or

Adventures in the Life of an Equestrienne

or

A Moral in Listening To Your Body

or

The Miracle of Modern Medicine

or

I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends (and a Neurosuregon)

Choose your title to the craziest horseshow weekend ever! (and there have been some crazy ones)

Weekend before last, while standing around coaching a student, I was blindsided by a runaway horse. He was bolting in a panic after dumping his rider must have mistaken me for a safe harbor 😉. He shoulder checked me pretty hard, I managed to stumble around and stay on my feet. I caught him, handed him off to his rider and went about the task of horse showing (as we do). I was pretty sore the next day, mainly the right side of my neck, shoulder and hip. The soreness lessened as the week went on. I did the usual stuff and then went to another show at Midsouth Dressage Academy the following weekend. Upon arriving on Friday to school the horses, I developed pain in my right jaw. I assumed I’d begun to develop TMJ or some other middle aged affliction, so I took some NSAIDS and soldiered on. The pain progressed up to my temple by the end of the day and was non responsive to drugs.

The following morning, the pain seemed less intense upon waking, but soon elevated to the previous day’s discomfort, plus some. I showed in the morning and was finished by mid day. After celebratin the rides with our group, tidying up the stabling area and tucking the horses in for the afternoon, I noticed my right eyelid was drooping and my right pupil was smaller than the left. I drove to the AirBNB where Brian was having a post-horseshow siesta. After seeing my eye, and putting it together with the headache, he became very concerned and decided to load me up and make the trip back to Jonesboro to be checked out at the St Bernard’s ER.

After a CT scan, they diagnosed a Carotid Artery Dissection. Meaning my carotid artery, where it enters the skull, had been torn. The artery had narrowed significantly (down to 20% flow) and I was at high risk of having a stroke.

Following an MRI, the Neurosurgeon on call took me back and did a diagnostic cerebral angiogram, followed by angioplasty and stenting of the vessel to open the flow.

Long story short (er) the hit in STL damaged the vessel which then likely continued to swell and deteriorate as the week went on. Without the diagnosis and treatment, it could have been catastrophically bad.

As it is, I’m off the horses for 3 months and on very limited activity for the next 30 days.

Every cloud has a silver lining, if you know me, you know I believe that.
I am able to take some time to reflect on the gift of life that I’ve been given. I’ve been surrounded by an outpouring of love and support by my friends (new and old) and family.

Not being able to ride this summer sucks, but being able to return to riding at all is an enormous blessing.

A reminder to live every day like the gift it is.

***************

On a completely different note, the one day of showing we had was extraordinary. Oso was high point open horse and Calan scored over 70% at 1st level, with a 9 for his walk. Both boys gave me everything they could.

The rest of the team also killed it with JT taking Top FEI score, MK and baby Remy scored their highest in Materiale, Wren and Tido put in a SOLID PSG and Jamie showed us how to take an insecure frightened horse ( with major spooking and a broken stirrup mid test) to over 71% the next day!

Some great moments from the schooling show at MDA.

Wren has been doing a fabulous job with Calan. They debuted 1st level test 3 and knocked it out of the park with a whopping 72+%.

Oso put in a calm 4th level test 3 scoring 67.7% with only a couple bobbles.

Bam Bam is working on finding his zen away from home. We had some great moments in the warm-up, but they sadly didn’t carry over to the show ring. He put in a mostly obedient, but somewhat tense 3rd-1 scoring 61+%. I believe in this boy and know that once he relaxes in the ring, he will shine.

Sharilyn riding her two beautiful Lusitanos. Obi and Tino.

Position Filled

Oakfield Dressage in Jonesboro, Arkansas, is looking to add a crucial member to its team. Duties include care of 4-8 horses on a daily basis, including feeding, turnout, and mucking.

HOUSING on property, 3 bedroom/1bath, is part of the compensation. Familys are welcome. Would be great for a couple or roommates.

Person must be HONEST, and RELIABLE, have horse experience, be extremely detail oriented, disciplined, able to follow instructions and a good communicator.

Small boutique training barn with quality show horses and efficient layout.

Tino and his mom enjoying the Florida sunshine. Thank you to JT and Wren for hosting us these past weeks. There is nothing better than sunshine, horses and friends all wrapped up together.

Today with Brett, Bam and I worked on finding the bounce in the trot. I’m grateful for Bam’s effort and Brett’s patience and persistence.

No pics of Calan working, but we worked on reaffirming a half halt in his BIG canter. We also worked all the lateral moves in the trot. Picture of Calan when I went to tack him up for his ride. It’s a testament to his temperament that he would make himself cozy after shipping somewhere only the second time. ❤️

Calanmai MOR was a rockstar on day 1 of the Brett Parbery clinic. This youngster has an old soul and is very calm and focused in new environments. Today we worked on balancing this massive canter. Then a little trot work, mostly asking for improved suppleness through the body with some lateral movements. Gold ⭐️ Star for this young man.

BamBam 💥 and I put in a big effort on the first day of the Brett Parbery clinic. We worked on straightness and calmness in the flying changes. I love riding this quick thinking horse. He keeps me on my toes and always tries so hard to do what I am asking. I’m very happy with how his balance has improved with his strength.

Teamwork makes the dream work.
Beauty shop barn aisle addition.