Thursday, September 24

Today I am grateful for:

Going to clean for the family again today, and feeling good about cleaning off two ceiling fans, the very cluttered top of their fridge, and some hand prints off of the walls. I still did the normal stuff too, but these were the "extras". We're identifying a few extra things to do each time. It feels nice to do something useful, and again, it's nice to get paid for it.

The family I'm cleaning for actually live pretty close to where River is right now, and it's funny how that happens. I used to not have much reason to drive in this area, and now it's going to be a big part of my week. It's really contributing to this ongoing feeling I've been having of somehow ending up in an alternate universe.

I went to check on River, and his breathing is already a lot better. I didn't work him so I can't be sure that it is back to normal, but yesterday he was still breathing hard at a standstill at the other barn, and today he is not laboring. So, maybe instead of a lifetime of discomfort, drugs, and no energy, he can be fine just by managing the factors that introduce dust into his lungs.

I took him into the covered round pen that they use as a small arena so he could get used to it, and watched some lessons. He was nervous being alone in there, and settled down when the other horse came in. It will take time for him to get comfortable in the new place. It's only been a day, but he's not panicking, just alert. I found the lessons interesting; it's not dressage, but groundwork principles and ground driving that they were working on. Still good things to learn.

I met some of the other boarders, and one person in particular struck me as a potential barn friend. I truly hope so. I also felt very comfortable with the way the owner was conducting the lesson, and I liked her manner with the students and the horses.

The owner is already demonstrating a very conscientious attitude towards River. She sent me pictures and a text last night letting me know how he was doing his first night there as she did her last rounds, and again today. Today she had brought him into the barn with the other horses when they were getting ready for lessons, because she didn't want him left alone yet.

Apparently she worked the horses for everyone (not sure if she charged extra) when she closed the barn because of COVID this past spring (Canada shut down a lot of businesses at first, and many barns were closed for a few weeks until protocols could be established), and she had live cams of all the work so that the owners could see how their horse was doing. I thought that was really considerate of her, because everyone would want to see their horses.

Had a quiet evening at home, mostly reading.