They Also Served: Equine Veterans

Horses were part of warfare even before we were riding them. Before the first kid threw a leg astride, horses were driven; before that, they were used as meat.

Here are a few horses that have been in military service over the years. This is by no means a comprehensive list.

Sergeant Reckless

Reckless was a part-Thoroughbred mare who served with the United States Marine Corps in the Korean War as a supply horse. She performed some truly extraordinary feats of bravery and actually held rank as a Sergeant in the USMC. She also received two Purple Hearts.

Rienzi or Winchester

Rienzi was a black Morgan ridden by Union General Philip Sheridan during the American Civil War. Sheridan was the Union's top cavalry officer, and Rienzi his favorite mount. Rienzi was renamed Winchester after he performed extraordinary feats of endurance and strength on "Sheridan's Ride," a famous overland cavalry ride that brought Sheridan's troops to the Battle of Shenandoah in time to win. Rienzi features prominently in a famous poem written about that ride:

With foam and with dust the black charger was gray;
By the flash of his eye, and the red nostril's play,	50
He seemed to the whole great army to say,
"I have brought you Sheridan all the way
From Winchester, down to save the day!"
Hurrah! hurrah for Sheridan!
Hurrah! hurrah for horse and man!	55
And when their statues are placed on high,
Under the dome of the Union sky,
The American soldier's Temple of Fame;
There with the glorious general's name,
Be it said, in letters both bold and bright,	60
"Here is the steed that saved the day,
By carrying Sheridan into the fight,
From Winchester, twenty miles away!"

Rienzi/Winchester was so famous that he was mounted and today can be seen in the Smithsonian.

Copenhagen

Copenhagen was, you could argue, the original OTTB success story. He was extremely well bred and raced until he was four years old, and was then sold as a riding mount. He was eventually given to Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington, and became his primary battle mount. Copenhagen carried Wellington, most famously, for 17 continuous hours during the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Supposedly Wellington dismounted at the end of the battle, patted Copenhagen's flank in thanks, and the gelding let fly with a hind leg, narrowly missing bashing the general's face in. Copenhagen was Wellington's mount for the remainder of the Napoleonic Wars and then his parade mount afterwards, and became so famous that his hair was a coveted accessory and was made into jewelry.

Fall 2015 Cushings Update

So, continuing on in our Cushings journey.

Previously: Tristan's fall 2014 ACTH levels were back within normal range, and he had a good spring and summer.

My horse is sad because jump standards are not part of his diet.

Tris has not had a ton of work in these past weeks; every time I think my work schedule is about to even out, it ramps up again. The house has been taking the lion's share of my mental and physical energy. I'm getting him worked maybe 3x a week in light work. So his physical condition from exercise is not terrific.

Overall, though, he's in great shape as we head into the winter. Last week, on November 4, he got an updated flu/rhino vaccine, an overall physical, and his vet pulled blood to run another ACTH level so we could make sure we were on track.

She was pleased with his overall condition and demeanor, and reported that he tolerated her kissing his nose several times. Good pony. <3

Last night, we got his ACTH levels back: 33.7 pg/mL, which falls within the normal range of 9-35. It's a smidge on the high normal side, but the vet was not concerned, and it's definitely still within a safe range.

So: good boy, Tris!

For reference and future blog posts: he is down to 1/4 quart of Blue Seal's Carb Guard AM + PM, still on what grass is left, and 3-4 flakes of hay. He also gets a ration balancing vitamin & mineral supplement and a hoof supplement. He is maintaining a healthy weight just fine on that. He's started his blanket rotation for the season - depending on overnight temps, he's in either a stable sheet, turnout sheet, or slightly thicker honeycomb sheet. He seems more comfortable with the temperature swings this year, knock wood.

My Favorite Thing

This horse, you guys. I don't know what I would do without him.

These critters, too.

House Post: Library

On a more cheerful note than our insulation nightmare: the transformation of one of our back bedrooms into a library!

We have four bedrooms. We do not need four bedrooms, nor will we ever, probably. (8 weeks of marriage and the "so, when are the kids coming?" jokes started at the reception, to which my standard answer has been "ALL THE DOGS!") We do plan to have large gatherings of friends for hiking and ski weekends, so we were not wild about completely losing that fourth bedroom (by, say, turning it into a master bathroom).

So! Library it is, which will leave the floor open for an air mattress, and we got one of those uber-expensive super-fancy ones for the wedding, like you are practically on a real mattress and it keeps itself inflated. Which should be just fine on occasions when we are truly full to the gills.

Previously, it was what we called the Lighthouse Room, for, well, obvious reasons.

So, Step 1: remove wallpaper. This went REALLY EASILY. After all the awfulness of the master bedroom, this was a joy to do. Then I scrubbed the walls and the whole "use the appropriate wallpaper paste wash" actually worked, which tells you just how bad that master bedroom was.

Step 2: holy mackerel was there a lot of patching in this room, and I even found spots I missed after I painted and they are just going to have to stay there, good grief.

Step 3: priming with Kilz oil-based primer just in case we missed any wallpaper paste.

Step 4: paint! We went with Sherwin Williams "Worldly Gray" which does not photograph terribly well but is a nice soothing and neutral sort of sandy gray. I wish maybe it had been a little more blue, but I am by no means unhappy with the color.

Step 5: goodbye rug! *happy sigh* Then a long vacuum, followed by a thorough mopping with Old English oil

Step 6: bookshelves! These are IKEA's Ivar shelving system with a light white stain applied to plain pine. They were fine in previous apartments but now that they are in this much nicer room, they are sorely lacking. So they will be upgraded eventually. For now, they are serving their purpose.

Step 7, still in process: unpacking the books, whew.

Still needed: new curtains, new rug, and getting the radiator sandblasted and repainted. None of those things are a crisis, though. For now, I'm really, really excited to get all my books unpacked, put the old curtains back up & one of our extra rugs on the floor and have a proper room. I think I will also move my sewing table + sewing machine in, and strongly consider storing my extra yarn in that closet, along with my file cabinets to free up space in my office.

Weekly Blog Roundup

Lots of interesting things going on out there this week!

I'm going to preface this weekly blog roundup with a small editorial. When I did the blog content survey earlier this week (which has been super interesting about which I will blog more later), someone commented that they'd like to know how I choose these posts.

So, full disclosure: I don't have a really scientific way of doing it. I read a lot of blogs - around 250 posts on an average day across all my interests, not just horses - and when something catches my eye I open it into a new tab. I usually skim it again a while later, and if I still think it's interesting (loosely, by that I mean it represents a good point of view, or is particularly well written, or explains something useful, or has lovely photography, or strikes a good emotional tone, or really just stands out for some ineffable reason) - anyway, if I still think it's interesting I copy it into this post, which I usually create as soon a the old one has been published and add to throughout the week. Some weeks I stink at this, because I'm traveling a lot or just tired or just cranky and don't find many things interesting. Some weeks I love everything and have had energy and downtime to read a lot.

I am always, always open to reading new things and finding new blogs, so if you want me to consider content for this roundup, or just think I'd like your blog, or anything like that, please tell me, ok? I do a lot of link-clicking in the blogs I read, and add probably a blog a week on average, but I'm always thrilled to find something new and fun and love recommendations.

Blogging versus Journalism from She Moved to Texas
I tend to fall a little more on the informal side of this than Lauren - in that I thought the COTH editorial belittling and missing the point, and generally agreed with the original "controversial" blog post - but she presents a really good and important argument. We can all stand to be careful about what we research and say.

We're Killing Our Horses from Riding with Scissors
Really, really sobering and depressing but an important thing to face up to.

Breeder's Cup 2015 Trip: American Pharoah from Racing to Ride
I'm getting all misty-eyed again.

2pointober Analysis from Topaz Dreams
The myth, the legend, the winner of 2pointober. I actually thought these were some interesting and thoughtful observations and reflections.

Saddles, Riders, and Science from Boots and Saddles
Really good & useful roundup of findings on saddle fit.

Happy Horse Project Report from In Omnia Paratus
I love the way this is framed & written, and I love the news it reports!

Oh Shit from The Owls Approve
This is not a cheerful post, but I share it because I went through the same thing, and it is something we will all face as horse owners if we keep horses as they grow older.