Newton’s Laws of Motion: #3

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

The weeks leading up to the Mill Creek Pony Club Event (from now on referred to as Longview) have been interesting to say the least.  It will be Nutmeg’s first full event, if I can get her there in one piece. 

Nutmeg is slightly self-destructive.  She stomps on snakes in the pond.  They, of course, don’t like this so they bite her.  She finds ways to remove her hide in the safest of paddocks.  She can even give herself a heel grab through a bell boot.  That’s kind of like slicing your big toe when you’re wearing tennis shoes.  She’s a klutz, a big, gorgeous, well behaved klutz, so anytime I invest any money in a future event involving her, I pass out from lack of oxygen  hold my breath a little.  I’m lucky though, I’ve got a back-up plan.

Admiral Nelson is my snuggle bug.  He could be a decent competitor too, if we could just get over the game of red light-green light.  Some days its, go like your tail is on fire, others it’s a push-me, pull-you contest of wills.  Never to turn down a challenge, we keep working.  Admiral has even competed successfully in an event at Longview, so if something were to go wrong with Nutmeg, we’d switch focus and get Admiral ready.  That was the plan until Newton stepped in.

After week after week of minor scrapes and bumps, I finally got in a perfectly sound, no new injuries ride on Miss Nutmeg.  When my feet touched down, I was grinning from ear to ear.  I pampered Nutmeg thoroughly afterwards, then went for Admiral.  For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction…For every smile, there’s a frown.  Admiral was moving a little funny during the walk up to the barn.  Actually, he was moving quite poorly and definitely had me concerned (which, thanks to Nutmeg, doesn’t happen easily).  Well, after a thorough examination, all I turned up was some suspicious swelling in the problem leg.  I should be used to swelling, but when it shows up around tendons, every horse person bites their lip.  Admiral is definitely, no longer the back-up plan.

For now, I’m biting my nails and letting nature do a bit of healing (I hope).  The next few days will tell just how major or minor things are.  I’m also counting down the seconds ‘till Longview.  Can I keep Nutmeg intact now that my back-up is out?  If my fresh look at Newton’s Third Law of Motion is correct, all is well.  The pendulum just swung to the south, so now we should be headed north with vengeance.  Look out Longview, here we come!