Maybe I missed something here but why can’t the boarder blanket and unblanket her own horses if it is that vital? Or she can pay somebody to do it for her. Because you ARE NOT BLANKETING HORSES until you recover. Or she can move her horses where that service is available. Problem solved.
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Given the circumstances, some of those people are showing you who they really are.
When things get difficult, some pony up and contribute, some take it personally and resent their sense of entitlement is ignored.
Good riddance to the second ones, they are not good people to have around by making life form difficult.
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My mom broke her pelvis a couple years ago. She made a complete and full recovery. It was a long 6-8 weeks, but her injury healed much faster than my foot did. I crushed/bruised all the bones in my foot and was still limping after a year. Bone bruises take longer to heal than fractures and broken bones.
My mom stopped riding horses after her accident, but she joined the bike club, and has no limitations, other than the fact her bone density isn’t great. Every so often, she will go for a short ride on my safest horse, but she is just as content not riding.
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She is away for two weeks. And her horses might melt/colic/freeze to death in two weeks. These are healthy horses that are a little overweight. A Morgan and a “mustang”…well suited to much colder weather…the vet even told her that her one horse might do well being a little cold (loose much needed weight). I think she was shocked when told her she may have to move them 'well, this is all such a sudden change for everyone". Really? You think?
I am in a miserable mood today. It is lovely out. Sunny. Light breeze. And I am miserable. Letting my calf drop below my hip is quite painful today and I just don’t see the point. Aside from feeding wet food to kitties and doing some dishes, I am quite useless. Cats are being super bed companions/enablers. Fortunately my tiny old lady bladder keeps me active!
Thought I could distract myself my restarting to look for a horse for a client…there is NOTHING for sale that isn’t an OTTB that wasn’t vetted off the track and has obvious scarring (in the under $15,000 range). where are all the honies (client is short)? Actually could double the budget and still not find a horse. Pre-injury we looked at two 6 year olds - loved them both - but both vetted horribly. Like, it would be cruel to jump them horribly.
On the plus side, pelvis continues to improve. Did some stretches in my walker and things feel good.
Just feeling lost today.
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Take these moments and let the feelings happen. You are allowed to have alllll the feelings. You are also allowed to be useless. Your job now is to heal properly so that you can continue to enjoy life and be useful after you are better.
You didn’t set out that day planning to hurt yourself. It sucks. But it is what it is. If your blanket lady is ‘suffering’ let her suffer in her self important anguish. Do not put your healing at risk, and do not feel bad about that for a second.
Go grab glas of wine (if you can) and wallow away for today. Tomorrow is a new day and nothing can’t wait a bit.
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Well if she is only gone for two weeks it shouldn’t cost her that much to pay an equine babysitter to blanket them. And yes it sounds like both of them would be fine. Just because SHE is cold doesn’t mean the horses are cold - they did not originate in the tropics like human beings. Especially a morgan and mustang. I wish they made a t shirt “Just because YOU are cold doesn’t mean they are cold.” Lots of people need one.
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Ask her to call your vet and ask him/her about the health impact of not blanketing her specific horses. They will tell her they will be fine, and you can say that you’re following vet directives.
Or…YOU call vet and have that conversation. Inform her that you will be following the veterinary protocol. With the real PITA boarders, this is one of my “last line” tactics. Some women will bow to “Dr Authority”.
If she brings it up again, ask her to leave.
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I’m sorry you’re having such a rough time. I spent most of this year effectively bedridden with a mystery illness (now resolved, thankfully), so I totally understand the frustration and restlessness that sets in. It’s really hard to go from riding and working and generally being an active person to struggling to walk across the room. It completely sucks, and you’re allowed to feel miserable. It’s also 100% temporary. It will pass. In the meantime, order yourself something delicious to eat, put something mindlessly entertaining on TV, and give yourself some grace to be unproductive for a while.
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I went for my follow up today (xrays and see surgeon), and my pelvis is good to go! I can start trying to walk (the DVT is more an issue). DH was with me, so he got to see the x-rays and CT scans which was good. Here’s the kicker: they can’t find any other instances where a pelvis displaced/twisted and went back without surgical intervention, so one of the lucky medical students will get to use my pelvis for a paper. (it was very abnormal for me to have to wait so long for surgery and they were very apologetic at the time, but it turns out to have been a good thing!)
Still feeling unenthused. I think this might be a catalyst for some changes here.
The sacrum is still broken, but I guess that isn’t the kind of break to displace.
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That is a great update! I’m sure you made some students very happy to write a paper 
One day at a time.
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I know you are going through a lot and she is being unreasonable. Is there any chance you have 2 very lightweight blankets your husband can safely put on her horses now and then she can put her own on when she gets back?
Or is there another boarder who will blanket for her? When I boarded several of us did blanketing for those who were unable. No big deal.
What blanket is suitable for a wide temp range?
It is going to be 21 degrees (68 F) here today. Her horses are hairy. Her one is wearing one of those rain sheet on top and fly sheet on the bottom things and will be fine…albeit slightly hot mid day. The other is naked thankfully as he is a black fuzzball. I cannot think of a single reason a hairy horse needs a blanket with sun and highs of 68 degrees. It will drop a bit on Tuesday (rain and highs around 55 F), but just for the one day and all pens have a shelter. It does get close to freezing at night so they get extra hay at night this time of year.
Any breathable blanket is suitable for a wider temperature range, but she buys cheapo blankets with difficult hardware that aren’t very breathable, so the blankets fill with ice and her horses get cold even though they are over-blanketed…but won’t buy a good brand because they don’t come in “cute” colours and/or won’t spend the extra $100 for say, an Amigo or even a Canadian Horsewear (which don’t cost much). Sorry, she has been a thorn in my side for a while and right now my patience is gone.
DH and I are going to need to sit down and make some changes. We were supposed to announce a winter board price change Oct 1 (for december) but that didn’t happen - with hay prices and utilities high, we need to charge more, but I am also thinking of having a winter rate and then in the summer a lower summer rate for people willing to help out a few hours a month…I need a vacation that doesn’t involve a hospital. I am also thinking of making it less “full service” and no longer offer blanket service for outside horses…it’s only the one person who really uses it.
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My suggestion is to give that one boarder her notice, with a huge penalty every day over the date you give them to be out. Someone needs to supervise and video the move out too, showing the horse’s condition, and what the owner takes when they leave.
I agree ending the blanket service is a good idea. If the owners want blanketing, they can either do it, or find someone who will.
Will having boarders work off some board be a help to you, or end up needing more of your time than it’s worth to you?
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In the winter it is hard to count on boarder help as we seem to get a lot of freezing rain and heavy dumps of snow the last few years. I also don’t have boarders that “need” to work off board, but I think if we create a bit of a “everyone helps in the summer” barn mentality, it will go towards attracting the type of boarder we want, AND make it easier to go away on vacation.
Also going to stop offering inside board in the summer (unless a medical need). We have ONE client who has her horse in year round, so I keep a horse of mine in to keep hers company, but it seems a waste of resources. her horse needs daily medication, but that is easy enough to do in his pasture.
Mostly just thinking changes through out loud.
on another note, I emailed Equestrian Canada to see if any studies have been done on rider injury by footing type. I am guessing no, because EC only gets notice of an injury, but not of the extent of it, but I am curious. Falling clear onto Silica footing (not a jump or obstacle) should not have resulted in what equates to a crush injury.
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With your accident, now is a good time to make major changes.
Everyone will understand you need to and maybe cooperate.
It will weed out for you those that don’t.
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DH and I are struggling. He won’t let clients help, so has taken on barn chores, but is also working and helping his dad with a rental property (eviction, B&E, abandoned kitty…lots going on). He is angry I took the risk of riding the spoiled horse and got hurt and putting extra work on him. I am angry I took the risk riding spoiled horse and am basically reliant on DH. I am also stressed that he isn’t getting the barn ready for winter, but I can’t help, so feel guilty.
I can kind of use my leg to go up stairs and stand, but I absolutely cannot walk. I can use me right let to drive the side by side too, so hopefully not too long before I an drive. Going down stairs still not good so I feel a bit trapped unless DH is able to help.
On the plus side, we went to Walmart yesterday - took the wheelchair - was so nice to be to be out off the property.
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A barn I was at in Arizona did this, but it was compulsory because the owner worked at a summer camp and simply wasn’t there for several weeks at a time.
It was implemented with a signup sheet (I’d probably use SignUpGenius online these days) and a fixed amount of credit for each job. So when you paid your August board, you’d subtract for the jobs you completed in July.
That way there’s no question of who is pulling their weight with an across the board discount, and boarders who want a bigger credit can sign up for more jobs. And everyone can see who was supposed to scrub the water buckets or whatever on Sunday morning, if it wasn’t done.
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CHT- can you hire someone on a p/t basis to help you with the barn?
DH is being stubborn about it. Not sure why. I am casually trying to find someone who wants to exchange riding for helping - they can help me with lessons at least.
