My Taylor Swift Moment

So, most of you all know that Taylor Swift is notorious for writing songs about her breakups.  This is my blog version of a Taylor Swift song, so bare with me.  Usually I'm just blogging about Smokey and his shenanigans (since this is a blog about him), but I thought I would get a few things off my chest and out into the world. 

Since my divorce was final in 2011, I spent a fair amount of time getting myself back together.  Last winter, I decided it was time to get back on the proverbial horse and started to think about dating again.  Seeing that I work from home and my trips into the social scene in Lexington consisted of an all female populated barn and the grocery store (usually after the barn), I figured out that online dating sites might be a good idea to broaden my social life.  Thus starts the arduous task of filling out a profile and then search was on!

I went on a couple dates, talked to a couple guys, but nothing really peaked my interest.  Until recently.  I met this guy a few weeks ago and I thought we really hit it off.  He was smart, could hold a conversation, interesting to talk to, honest with his answers, funny, and laughed at my stupid jokes.  I was instantly intrigued and excited!!  We talked and texted all through the next few weeks, and I enjoyed getting to know him more and more.  YES, it seemed to me that my faith in the opposite sex may be able to be restored after all!!

Sidebar:  Dating is a ever fluid entity, constantly changing and adjusting to the parties involved.  I get that those of us on dating sites are all out to find the most compatible person for us, and that means we are sometimes talking to more than one person at a time.  No big deal, you never know when you might meet that person you are looking for.

The guy I met was talking to a couple different woman, and I was fully aware of this.  He was never deceptive about his status with me or the others involved.  The problem came into play when one of the women wanted to be in a relationship with him.  Meaning, no dating other people.  Now he had to make a decision, and it basically came down to her or me.  My competitive side wanted to say "bring it on, chick, I'll win this battle", but (thank goodness) my common sense said "woahwoahwoah! wait just a minute!".  I wasn't ready to be in a competition for a guy I barely knew, let alone be in a relationship with him!  How in the world did I end up in this type of situation!!  One day, I'm having a great time with him and then all of the sudden I'm being judged like a head of lettuce in the produce section of the grocery store!?!?!  My common sense pulled through for me and I told him that I was pulling myself from the dating options.  After all, what would have happened if he didn't pick me?  I would feel like crap about myself all over a guy I wasn't sure I even wanted to be with!  Stupid.

He responded that he would respect my decision and that I was a beautiful, intelligent, witty, funny person, blah blah blah.  Really?  Okay, number one, I didn't need you to tell me all of that because I already knew it.  And two, if you see all of that in me and still think that you need to "shop around", what exactly are you looking for in a woman?  You know what, Mr. Know It All?  You barely knew me.  Just think about how much more I could have been to you if you had stuck around?  You didn't even get to see half of the things I could be to you. 

There is a guy on this dating site that I am on that has chosen to rant about women only wanting to date jerks and how he wasn't getting any dates from this site because women only wanted to date broke, no good, free-loaders.  Well, what about guys who don't want to date witty, smart, beautiful women?  Maybe they need to be honest and write "I'm looking for woman who is stupid, ugly, boring, and uninteresting". 

I leave with you Taylor's most recent break up song.  Like.....ever.  Preach on, girlfriend!

When it rains, it pours

It seems that my big grey pony has run into a string of bad luck.  Before you start feeling bad for him, let me first say that most if it is self-inflicted in some way or another. 

First, his back is still hurting.  Michele came out to give him a massage, but that didn't seem to help one bit.  I lunged him the next day, and he seemed okay, but when I rode the following day he was not okay at all.  Probably gave me one of his biggest bucks ever (and I stayed on).  His trot work was so-so and his canter work was backwards:  taking the right lead to the left and visa versa.  The biggest thing I noticed was him grinding his teeth, which is usually an indicator that he is not comfortable, nervous, or in pain.  I finally decided that something was very wrong with him somewhere and that more action needed to be taken.  Now, the problem is that there are a few chiropractors around the area but some of them are impossible to get an appointment with.  My friend at the barn, Rachel, suggested someone that she uses out of Louisville, so I decided to try him out. 

While waiting to hear back from the therapist/chiropractor, Smokey decided to up the ante a bit.  I turned him out this past Wednesday and not 10 minutes later he is bleeding from a wound on his left shoulder!  He was playing with a horse in the field, and I guess he ran into a wire somewhere on the fence.  There was a lot of blood but once we rinsed it off to find the source of the injury, it really wasn't that big of a wound.  It was, however, a puncture wound and those are pretty difficult to deal with considering that part of the wire or whatever might still be in the wound.  So, to be on the safe side, I called Dr. Cook from Woodford Equine just to make sure everything was okay.  It turned out to be pretty deep but he gave me a regimen to follow for the next few days that included flushing with betadine/saline, hot toweling to increase circulation to the area, bute, and a couple days of stall rest.

Today, the puncture hole is healing up.

The wound is healing nicely, the most important thing is to make sure it doesn't get infected.  So far, so good.  However, the swelling is slowly moving down his leg. 

Can you tell which side is swollen?

He's pretty sore and walking gingerly right now.  Considering the fact that he was driving me crazy being in the stall all day and night, I decided that he could go out now.  It's probably good for him to walk around on it and move that leg.  He was pretty pathetic today, and I know he's in a lot of pain. 

It HURTSSSSSSS!!!

I do feel sorry for the Smokey, but honestly, it was his own fault!  We had a long talk this week about money....and how I am not made of money....and how money doesn't grow on trees....and how I had to put off the chiropractor appointment until this was healed....and how I wish he would just be a little more careful....and how I wasn't having any fun right now!! 

Anyways...that is the update from Smokey and me.  Once we get every part of him worked out, I will let you know.  Right now, I'm planning for our first horse trials to be in 2020.  Seriously.