Non-Rider at the Trail Ride

Last Saturday, Oakmont Farm hosted a group trail ride for the boarders. As I have this crappy knee situation, I couldn't ride, but that didn't stop me from visiting with my girl, Kadance. I even talked my extremely patient husband into coming and taking some pictures.


Kadance is a very loving horse. She seeks out attention and loves to be rubbed on her throat. There is a particular spot on her throat that she loves more than any other. You can obviously tell by her expression when I rubbed it. If a horse could get its back leg going like a dog does when the sweet spot was scratched, she would have been kicking like crazy.

Physiology Grades Are Back on Track

The exam on nerve cell conduction....96%. Sweet!

So, How Bad Is It?

Today was the follow up appointment for my knee. Unfortunately, I have hurt myself more than I had suspected. During the past week, my knee has gotten to feel much better. Every now and then, I move it in a particular way that reminds me that I hurt myself. The message is loud and clear.

Stairs are not my friend and my knee does get tired quickly.

It's no wonder. The Doctor said I have done some damage to my MCL. Actually, he said I have torn my MCL, probably have done damage to my meniscus and probably have injured my ACL as well. Isn't that just nice.

Now, all I have to do is wait for an MRI for clarification of damage. How about this? If I have torn my MCL, meniscus and ACL , then I'll be having surgery. If I have torn my MCL and injured my meniscus, then maybe surgery, depending on the amount of damage. If I have only torn my MCL, then I'll be in the bionic brace for up to 6 months.

CRAP!

I really don't think I have done worrisome damage to my ACL. There is probably some damage to my meniscus, but I'm hoping there isn't. I have resigned myself to accepting that I have injured my MCL.

I know this because, there was a chart on the wall in the doctor's office that illustrated knee injury with a fellow swimming using the frog kick. So, I tried it. YIKES! It really hurt. No knee rotation for me.

The worst and most sad news about the whole situation is that I can't ride horses for a while. BooHoohoooo.

Eeewww, Crappy Score.

Well, I got back my physiology exam, which covered the cell membrane.

When I turned it in, I told the instructor that I had either done well or really bad. I hoped that I would at least come away with a B.

I did. I got an 88%. My overall grade is still an A.

The test today covered nerves. Hmmm. I'll be pleased with a B on that one.

Next week, muscles. Hopefully, I'll get back on the A-train with that one.

What Happened to Kelly?

When I visited my sister for the Daniel Stewart clinic, a conversation about the trials and tribulations of me came up. My sister suggested that I have a column on the Oakmont Farm website entitled "What Happened to Kelly?" Well, pooh, I thought. Yes, exciting things do happen to me and yes, they usually involve some sort of animal, but I don't think I need to have a column focusing my adventures.

I have my own personal blog.

So, this is what happened earlier this week.

I was at Oakmont practicing with Blue for the filming of the second portion of my Parelli Level 1 test. I decided to work on mounting while Blue stood still. I had done the saddling portion and began working on bareback mounting.

Okay, so there I was...one foot on the mounting block and the other foot on Blue's back. Things were okay for a few seconds, then she decided she would play "hide your heiny." Basically, she began to scoot her behind around and away from me. In my precarious position, I was slowly being "wishboned." Had she stopped after two or three steps, I would have been fine, but no. She took several steps and eventually, I fell.

As I was falling, I thought to myself, "I really don't want to land on the mounting block. That would really be a bad thing." I leaned away from the mounting block and ended up hitting the arena floor. My right knee connected with the ground and I heard a distinct crunching sound.

Let me say this...It really hurt. To add insult to my situation, Vanessa had just dumped a big bucket of water in the arena and naturally, I landed in the wet spot. So, there I am rolling around in wet arena dirt holding my knee and trying not to vomit. I didn't even care that I was getting really dirty, that's how bad it hurt.

Eventually, the nausea subsided and the pain calmed down. Blue just stood there looking at me with her head down. Clearly, she was asking me, "What are you doing down there?"

"Thanks alot, Blue," I said to her and made my first attempt to stand.

Yikes! It hurt, but I was able to stand and sort of walk, okay, hobble. I knew I had hurt myself and there would be no way I would be able to teach the two horseback riding lessons I had scheduled for later that afternoon.

With lessons cancelled, I drove home. Good thing I was driving the truck. It's an automatic.

At home, the pain just got worse.

During the night, I had to get up to pee. The pain was very intense and I was seriously struggling to walk. My nonsympathetic husband suggested that I crawl.

By 2:00 am, I knew I would not be attending school Wednesday morning. That really chaps my behind. But, there was no way around it. Off to the clinic.

At the clinic, my first examination yielded a trip to orthopedics. Orthopedics ordered an X-ray. X-rays revealed no broken bones, possible bruising. Further manipulation of the knee resulted in lots and lots of hurting. The initial diagnosis was a possible tear to the MCL, grade 2. Treatment options would consist of a hinged brace and crutches. Medications: Tylenol 3 and Ibuprofen. Follow up in a week to determine possible injury to the ACL.

Meanwhile, I have to keep my knee elevated and I can't ride Blue. No horseback riding. That means filming is out for the weekend. CRAP. I guess it's a good thing this test isn't on a deadline.

Today is Friday. My knee is much better and I really don't think surgery will be warranted. The brace is extremely helpful and the crutches are bothersome.

My husband, well, he keeps saying that he won't take care of me if I "Christopher Reeve" myself on this horse. He pointed out that my mother's condo is not wheelchair friendly.

Baby Steps

Yesterday was an AMAZING day. Not only did I get to give tours at Red Barn Farm, but I also went out to Oakmont. That's a great thing, but the most AMAZING thing happened while I was out at Oakmont.

I had intended to ride Blue, but she was to have a lesson later, so I was told to ride Flame. Well, on my way to get Flame, I changed my mind and decided to play with Kadance. I brought her into the arena and made a big decision.

I went way out on a limb and decided that I was going to ride her.

And...I did!

She was very calm about the whole experience. It was really no big deal to her at all. I was far more nervous and excited than she was. All she wanted to do was explore the new items in the arena.

I am thrilled! I rode my girl for the VERY FIRST TIME!!

Assorted Clinic Pictures

Here is Audrey and Red rocking around the jump course.

This is me riding around. At this moment, I am concentrating so hard. Stryder is simply doing his thing.

More riding.

Here I am about to do something that I have only done once before and that was about 2 minutes before this attempt. Luckily, I didn't fall off.

After all was said and done, there was time for relaxing. From left to right: me, Daniel Stewart, and Donna. If you look closely, you'll see an outline of a saddlebred on her shirt.

Audrey and Daniel Stewart. Notice he is signing her book for the third time. Pretty soon, she'll have to insert more pages. I wish she would just go train with him.

Audrey and Red Jumping

Audrey and Red Making a Sharp Turn

Riding Right in Oklahoma

This past weekend, I went to Oklahoma to visit my family and to participate in my second riding clinic with Daniel Stewart.

The clinic was great and Daniel Stewart is such a nice man. He always has encouraging things to say. This best part is that I know I am a very basic beginner and even though he is a coach for the Olympic Team, he still provided individual attention to me. No matter how poorly or how well a rider rides, he always points out a positive. In my case, he complemented my positive attitude. That's me -- Have a coke and a smile!

Anyway, I did learn bunches as did my friend, Donna. She boards and rides at Oakmont with me. She loves saddlebreds. I give her a hard time about those giraffe horses and she accepts that I like big butts. My girl's butt is significantly bigger that her horse's. Anyway....back to the topic.

So, there I was...way, way outside my comfort zone attempting to canter. I've only purposefully asked for a canter maybe three times. And that was about a week ago. So, Daniel Stewart told me to ask for a canter and I did. My sister's horse, Stryder, complied and we were off to the races, so to speak, right directly into the wall. Yikes. I bailed. Ka-Blam!

Dang it. I had really hoped NOT to fall off this time. Every time I have ridden Stryder, I have ended up in the dirt. Luckily, this time was less sever that the previous times. No major bruising and no concussion. Only a wrenched finger and a big time head ache.

All in all, I am tickled to have attended the clinic. It is such a privilege to get to work with a big time horse person. He'll be back in July "08. Even though we will be moving to Missouri around the exact same time, I am going to do my best to move mountains to be able to attend.

My niece, Audrey, did extremely well. That young lady has such a great relationship with her horse. She looked amazing. I asked her when she might be moving to Spain to train with Daniel Stewart full-time. She said she has no desire to do that. All she wants to do is ride and train. Keep it simple and love what your doing.

I can definitely understand that. Right now, my ultimate long term goal is to do a flying lead change. Short term, I just want to saddle my horse and ride her without an issue. She's been doing so well. Vanessa, her trainer, has made major improvements with Kadance. I have progressed from simply wanting to pick up her feet to completing basic ground games without a temper tantrum. By spring, I hope to be doing light saddle work.

On another note...this morning I woke up being able to correctly identify the precise location of all those muscles in my own body that I had to identify on the anatomy learning models for my exam last Friday. I know this based on how sore they are. Trust me when I say the sternocleidomastoid muscle gets a work out when you slam the back of your head to the ground when falling from a horse.

More Points for Me

This past Friday, I took two exams. The first one was in my Physiology class and covered metabolism. I thought I did pretty well. There was only one area where I was concerned. When I read the question, I actually said out loud, "What?" I wondered to myself where that question had come from because it certainly was not in my notes.

The second exam was in Anatomy and covered muscle systems; the function, structure and names of the muscles of the body. There were a couple of questions on the written portion that caused me to stop and think. The practical portion was cake and pie (piece of cake and easy as pie).

So, today scores came back. Physiology...95%. Anatomy...102%. Right now, I'm working on straight A's. Frankly, I rock!

Big Bull

Next to Oakmont farm, there is a pasture that is home to several bulls. The hang out doing nothing but eating, sleeping, pooping and peeing. No big deal, right? Well, I find them to be intimidating and I won't even approach the fence. These pictures are taken from the safety of my truck. I'm just too frightened to find out how they would react if I were to approach the fence.

Life Lessons

I got this as an email several days ago. I thought it was pretty dang accurate.

You have to click on it for a larger image.

Test Results

The test scores on the Physiology test covering homeostasis and biofeedback loops were revealed. I did well. Not as well as I would have liked, but a 94% is nothing to sneeze at.

Last Friday, we had a test covering DNA and RNA and the central dogma of biology. I can honestly say that I owe my score completely to my Microbiology instructor. I earned myself a BIG, FAT 100 PERCENT!
Yeah, that's right.

I am an overachieving study nerd...and PROUD of it!

Play Time With Kadance

At the barn where I keep my girl, Kadance, a Parelli instructor, Jenny Vaught, came to teach a 3-hour clinic.

She demonstrated that by holding your horse's tongue, it is possible to forgo using a twitch. Being able to reach inside my horse's mouth and grab her tongue with confidence was worth the price of admission.

We played the 7 games with our horses and learned a few new ones. As Kadance isn't ready to be ridden (she's too young), I opted to switch horses for the riding portion of the clinic. I rode Blue.

Blue is a competitive horse. When it came time for cantering, Blue was going to canter whether I wanted her to or not. As I am not ready for cantering yet, I practiced my Pushing Passenger when she "raced" the other horses in the cloverleaf.

When I found out that Jenny lives in Springfield, Missouri, I was delighted. I came home that evening and told my husband that I really wanted Springfield to be put at the top of our preference list for our next job assignment. He was willing, but protested, saying that he has never made a career choice based upon an animal, much less a horse. My husband is a patient man. I remind him every day that he loves me.

Initial results are in

As you know, I'm back in school. I've decided to apply to the nursing program at Kansas City Community College. To prepare for the actual application to the program, I have to complete a few courses that I didn't have with my bachelor degree. Even though I do have more science courses that a typical sociology degree seeker, I didn't have enough. So, I am currently taking Human Anatomy and Lab, Human Physiology and Microbiology.

The first exam in Physiology covered basic Chemistry principles; electrons, valence shells and types of bonding. I did well. I got a 95%. The second test was this past Friday. I think I did well. I'll put it like this, either I did very well or did extremely poorly. I'll find out tomorrow.

My first Anatomy exam was not as difficult as it could have been, but it still was challenging. I barely squeaked an A. I got a 90%. That combined with all of the pop quiz scores has brought my overall grad down to an 89%. Crap. Hopefully, with the coming exams, I can raise my average.
We did have an exam this past Friday. It was both written and hands-on. I think I did well. At least I know I did well on the practical part. The multiple choice part, well, I know I missed at least 2, more than likely, I missed more than that. I'll find out tomorrow.

My first Microbiology test was this past Wednesday. I did well. When I left the class, I knew I had missed two. It was confirmed on Friday. I only missed those two. I got a perfect 50 of 50 on the essay, short answer portion. YAY! I am very pleased with my 96%.

I'll have to transfer schools next summer when we moved to Missouri. I have come to learn that nursing programs mostly consider Anatomy, Physiology, Microbiology, Biology and Chemistry grades when accepting students. Well, my undergrad Chemistry grade from 1987/88 is only a C. I say "only." I busted my butt in that class. I'm thrilled with the C. That was from having taken it a second time, too. I had to have a year of Chemistry. I got a C then an F. When I took it again, I was lucky to get the C. Hopefully, my later undergrad grades and my new course grades will more than overcompensate for the less than stellar performance.

Study Nerd

I love school and school loves me. I'm as happy as can be. I love school and school loves me.

I figured I needed to make a permanent record that at the beginning of this semester, I was happy about school.

This semester I am taking Human Physiology and lab, Microbiology, and Human Anatomy and lab. I MUST study every single day. I have a test sometimes two each week. In Micro, there is a "pop" quiz every day. It's not very pop if you know you're getting one. Right now, I've gotten full points for each of them.

So far, the curriculum of each class are similar, in that we are reviewing basic chemistry. Each subject ventures off on its own, but the fundamental principles are the same.

Next week on Wednesday, I have an exam in Anatomy covering the different systems of the body (there are 11 of them), embryology, and tissues. Yep. It is a tremendous amount of information and we've only had three lectures. I'm a little worried. This exam could be EXTREMELY difficult. I have to remind myself that we have only had three lectures and that this is a 4-hour freshman level course. Anatomy is easily two semester course and embryology is a huge field in itself. Doctors specialize in each of the 11 body systems. As the MD who teaches the class has stressed that connective tissue is the most diverse and abundant tissue and that he spent 2 lectures covering it, I am going to focus most of my attention on that.

Then, next Friday, I have a test covering pages 24 - 44 in Physiology. Not a whole bunch of pages to worry about, but it is the basic chemistry portion of the chapter and doesn't even begin to touch on nucleotides (DNA and RNA). I just have to remember SPONCH. Sulfur, phosphorous, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon and hydrogen. Plus, everything about them; all of their neutrons, protons, electrons and how the chemically bond with one another and organic groups. Yep, there's a few hours of studying there, too.

Micro, so far, is interesting. Right now we are looking at taxonomy and cell formation of very, very, very small living things. It's pretty cool. Just for fun, my notebook is green and I write with a green pen. When I think bacteria, I think green gunk. It works for me.

God's Pop Quizes

Since the very first day we moved into our house, the toilet in the master bathroom has wobbled. Initially the problem was remedied with a shim. No more wobbles. Last week, the shim was no longer enough and the toilet was wobbling again, more than it had originally. So, my wonderful husband called the plumber.

The plumber came and went on this past Wednesday. Neither my husband nor I were home at the time, but our daughter was. She said the plumber lifted the toilet off the floor and claimed that we had termites and there was nothing he could do about the toilet until the floor was fixed.

Exterminators were called and a handy-man was called. They were scheduled to arrive around noon on Thursday.

Thursday morning I reported to my 9:50 physiology lab at 9:40. At 9:50 am, I was still the only person there. The instructor finally entered the room and asked if I was there for the lab.

"Yes."

"Well, come on into the other room. We aren't having a lab today. I already gave the introduction and dismissed everyone."

"Ah, Am I late?"

"No. You are right on time."

Once we arrived in the correct room, he handed me a syllabus which he said I could NOT keep. Something about how he hadn't been able to secure copies. Then he went on to explain the grading scale and the requirements of the class.

Then, he asked what time the class started.

"9:50."

"Well, if you could arrive no later than 9:30, then you won't miss any of the instructions for the lab."

What?!? I guess it's a good thing that I do not have a class before this one.

After that I was dismissed and went home. Cool. More time for me to study.

When the Orkin man showed up, I told him of the toilet situation. He went into my bathroom and looked and the floor and the toilet's hole in the floor. (No the plumber had not replaced the toilet. He left it off to the side and a towel stuffed in the pipe.)

"Hmmm," he says as he steps on the floor. And then he groans.

He says it just might be termites and off we go to inspect the basement and the sub-floor. Guess what. No evidence of termites anywhere.

We go outside to inspect the outside walls. Our woodpile was suspect and the Orkin man and I moved it away from the house. Guess what...No evidence of termites.

Then the Orkin man spotted an ant. He asked me if I had ever seen any ants in the bathroom. Well, as a matter of fact, yes. The ants were identified as carpenter ants and we would definitely need to treat our house for them as they can cause as much damage as termites.

About this time, Larry, the handy-man shows up. He sets out to check out the bathroom floor. Out pops his handy-dandy pocket knife. He pokes it several times into the flooring and says we do not have termites. I suggested ants, but he disagreed. He said the constant wobbling of the toilet weakened the bolts securing the toilet and the seal broke causing leakage which caused water damage. He said he could fix my whole problem for $80.

Of course I said, "Fix it."

"When?"

"Right now."

"Well, I can't right now. How about tomorrow?"

"No good for me. I have class."

"I can't come on Monday. How about Tuesday."

Just great. No working toilet until Tuesday. Just then, he remembers he could come back in about 2 hours and fix it then. I tell him that would be fine and I would make the necessary phone calls to adjust my schedule to make it satisfactory.

He leaves. The Orkin man writes up an estimate and assorted pest control proposal and I call my horseback riding student to cancel her lesson.

Oh yeah, as we have a big problem with fleas this summer, I have the Orkin man do an estimate for super flea treatment.

Two hours later, Larry is back. Unfortunately, the pipe fixture that goes into the floor is much too tall and sits about 1/4 inch higher than it should and that was forcing the toilet to balance on top of it. Eventually, the bolts wore out and the toilet was just barely sitting on the pipe. Can you imagine the crappy situation that would have been caused had the toilet toppled over? Anyway, Larry did his best, but had to retrieve and additional tool and get the right fitting. So, one more day goes by.

Just because Larry is a good guy, he popped by this afternoon to see if he could continue his work today. Luckily my daughter was home and she told him to proceed. He was nearly finished when I got home from school.

It's 6 pm on Friday. I have a working toilet, no termites, maybe carpenter ants and fleas in my house, but my husband is vacuuming after sprinkling pet flea-killer carpet fresh.

The laminate floor installers come next week to put new floors down in the kitchen. I would wonder what they would find under the linoleum, but I'm having them put the new floor down directly on top of the old one. If it ain't broke don't fix it and don't ask, don't tell.

Bug Bites and Karma

This morning, my observant husband pointed out that a bug had bitten me on my backside.

"Yep. I was bitten by a very big bug."

He was confused so I clarified.

"Gravity."

He laughed.

Yesterday morning, we had gone out on our morning walk. During our idle chit chat, he had made some smart comment and I, naturally, had to respond in the like.

I said something to the affect that I would have to "kick his butt" and quick bent my leg back to hit his behind with the heel of my left foot. As my foot came down, it became tangled in his feet and I took a spill.

Surprised, he just looked at me. Embarrassed, I scrambled to my feet and brushed off my hands.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yes," I replied. Then we giggled at my antics. "It's never a dull moment with me around."

Lesson learned. Karma is always watching.

My Big Girl

She is so pretty.
She also loves attention. It is difficult to get a good picture of her because she wants to be right up close. I have lots of pictures of just her nostril.
Each day is something new for her.

A couple of weeks ago, I tried giving her a bath. Okay, I tried getting her wet with the hose. It went okay for a few minutes, but then, pandemonium. Fear and anxiety got the better of her.

Wanda and I tried again just a few days ago. We met with huge success. Hopefully, the next time will be even easier.