Olympic Fever

I must confess.....I absolutely love the Olympics From the moment I saw Nadia Comaneci score the first perfect "10" in gymnastics as a child, I was completely hooked. Although my favorite sport (dressage)is in the summer games, the atmosphere of the winter games really captures my heart because of the snow (okay, and the clothes!). I managed to score the highly sought after red mittens from Vancouver and wear them proudly with my 2006 Torino scarf and my 2002 beret! During the Olympic games I get no sleep, because I watch whatever is available regardless of time. So I am set up for live streaming on the NBC Olympics website. Eventing dressage at 5 AM on Saturday! I can watch for two hours before I ride Nikki!

When I was riding with JR, she had already ridden on 3 Olympic dressage teams and was Chef d'equippe for the dressage team while I was under her tutelage. I marvelled at her Olympic ring and loved to hear her stories. The training was intense at her barn, and I miss that level of intensity in my daily training. Most days when I rode, J was either riding or sitting in the arena, so it was essential to be on top of your game at all times.

Here are a couple of links that I have been enjoying.

http://www.dressagedaily.com/article/olympic-preview-dressage-dressage-more-exciting-ever

I especially enjoy reading the rider blogs that are on the Equisearch website:
http://www.equisearch.com/news/

For the past few days I have been having some issues with Suki's bandage. It seems to fall off daily. I'm not sure what the cause is. The weather has been warm and humid, so maybe there has been some aggressive rolling each night during turnout. or perhaps I have moisturized a bit to close to where the bandage needs to stick. Fortunately the foam velcroed to the sheet seems to be protecting the graft area, although yesterday there was a small amount of bruising. And the Wunderwear sheet has yet to come back from my blanket lady....

So far Suki has been eating the 45 tablets of doxycycline per feeding without issue. My friend Katie found a pharmacy to make the meds into a paste, but at this point I will reserve that option for when Suki stops eating the tablets. We have 30 days of this so I believe at some point she will stop eating them! Currently I have not seen much stiffness, but that is the way the symptoms have been. I can see a little bit when I start to lunge her, but 2-3 times around and the gaits appear normal. Now that the heat and humidity have returned there won't be too much lunging for now. Nightly turnout for 10 hours certainly helps, although last night the horses were in because of storms. In spite of that I did not observe any extreme lameness when I took Suki out of her stall for her nightly spa treatment. Deb sponged her off in the middle of the day because of the heat. I am grateful that I have help with some of the responsibility, because at times it can be a bit overwhelming. Not that I am complaining, because I am thankful that I have her! Tonight I was reminded of Suki's silly side....when I went back into her stall one final time to check the fly sheet I was rewarded with a spurt of water! Silly girl!

Today I enetered Suki in the Sidelines Magazine Super Model contest. Once again, I was overwhelmed with the response. When Sidelines posted the entry on their FB page there were more than 20 shares and many likes and comments. Every day I am amazed by the effect that Suki has on people. Her dressage career may have been cut short, but I honestly feels that she has a greater purpose now. And it really suits her!

I love this photo that Jennifer took....

When I look into Suki's eyes I see her soul. It is a beautiful place to be.

Time to take the champagne off ice and prepare to watch opening ceremonies....