Someone's living room, or....

The inside of my brain, with Harv overlooking.

The Harvey Holler

Someone asked me to elaborate on the Harvey moose call, the bellow, the Harvey holler. If you want to hear it, follow these instructions.

1. Turn down the volume (for your protection).
2. Click play.
3. Imagine this noise at two minute intervals during feed time or while waiting for turnout. 
4. Now think about the donkey braying too (they often chimed in together). 

I'm his mom, and I don't love this behavior. It's like having a kid that acts out in school. You cringe, but it is still your kid...

Harvey -- more turnout, doting caretakers

I had a few concerns when I moved Harv. The new place has individual pastures -- something Harv had never liked, and at least once in his younger days, he'd injured himself running the fence on individual turnout.

Partly because the pastures have an adjoining fenceline, Harv was calm from the get-go.

The stalls are not too far from the property owners house, too. Do you all recall that Harv has a "moose call" whinny? I imagined him disrupting their household with his noisy neigh. Fortunately, that hasn't happened either.

While the move was financially driven, there were also many positives about the new place, especially for an older horse.

•  Turnout is 8-12 hours a day in reasonably good weather. 
• Dutch doors! Harv has an outward facing dutch door and an open stall front with a "v" neck so he can hang his head out. Dutch doors are horse-friendly, and something I really love.  So does Harv.
• Customized care. When there are only four horses, each horse gets his own program, and it is possible to switch things up a little -- like vary the turnout according to the weather -- which you can't do as easily with 15-20 horses.

I'm so grateful to have found this place, right when I needed it. It's wonderful.

A Horse of a Different Color: Little Big Man | Eventing Nation - Three-Day Eventing News, Results, Videos, and Commentary

Eventing Nation has introduced a new series -- they're going to be covering unusual breeds and horses in eventing, and check out their first post! This is an overdose of cute...

A Horse of a Different Color: Little Big Man | Eventing Nation - Three-Day Eventing News, Results, Videos, and Commentary

Harv's new digs

Harv has again relocated.

We loved our stay at the last barn but board rates went up in the new year, and it was hard to justify having a retired horse at a full service training barn with so many amenities (e.g., indoor ring) we didn't use. We moved to a new barn in January. Harv is now even closer to Riley, at a private barn with just four horses and lots of pasture. It's a retired guy's dream -- quiet, bucolic setting, individualized attention, ample turnout, friendly herd-mates. The only thing missing is a harem -- no mares.

It's complicated: Harv's celebrity status
Bob said he hopes Harv is done moving, as a horse of his international stature and standing is so much work to relocate. It's not like you can just "hook up the trailer." There was arranging the security detail, working with local authorities, the air reconnaissance, updating the the GPS coordinates, securing the route and contingency routes, etc. It was exhausting, and in all of the activity Harv lost some important papers from John Kerry. Things are just now settling down...

Happy Birthday to me

Harv turned 27 on Jan 1. What a milestone! Today I'm 52. We's both old! There are many strange things about getting old, but every single day I feel blessed for all I have. Birthdays are just one more happy day...

Snow boots, snow boots, snow boots.

$149 from my local tack store, on sale

I think John Belushi said it best: Snow boots, snow boots, snow boots.

The only way to cope, and simultaneously cheer oneself up in the dark, snowy, negative-temp days of winter is to ditch the Mountain Horse winter boots that barely lasted two years (stitching rotted, material fell apart) and buy new ones.

I love my Ariat Brossard boots more than any other I have ever owned -- they're comfy, warm, and I think mighty attractive. I've worn them to work all week (I'm in my office on lunch break in the photo.

I think of them as gray Dubarrys.

Riley -- a great day!

I am so thankful for my trainer, who has really brought Riley "round the corner." Last year, he had no go button, at least not for the first 20 minutes of my ride. In the last few months, he has been more forward, and today he was downright EAGER. Vive la difference....

Oh, and P.S. Remember Ri's hitchy gait that plagued us in 2012? It defied diagnosis. I think he does have "weakness" in the left hind, but he's moving great here, and has for a long time. Rein lame. It's real.

Research says: Stall bedding

When it comes to bedding, research from the dairy cattle world can inform us about what is good for horses. Cow that lie down produce more milk than cows that stand up -- lying down stimulates milk production. Cows lie down when they are comfortable lying down, so they do studies on what surfaces are comfortable to lie upon. Studies from both in Europe and North America are done on bedding, mats, and mattresses in stalls, and cow preferences for each.

Survey says!
The data coming back is that mat, no mattress, no fabulously soft flooring material can ever be a replacement for deep bedding. Cows prefer deeply bedded concrete flooring to lightly bedded mats. Keeping in mind that cows are heavier than horses -- but the gold standard of cow bedding depth is 8" or 20 centimeters.

 Here are some important points...

• It has been shown that lying time on sand bedding declined by approximately 10 minutes per day for every 1 cm of reduction in the depth of sand.
• In addition, a decline in bedding quantity leads to a rise in moisture levels, resulting in increased bacterial counts on both the bedding and the teats. 
• Bedding with less moisture is preferred by cows.
• The risk of thrushlike dermatitis also increases with decreasing amounts of bedding.
• Cows housed in deep-bedded sand stalls have a lower prevalence of lameness than cows housed on mattresses with little or no bedding. 

These are things we know intuitively, but it is alarming to see it confirmed by studies...


References

• Freestall Bedding Levels and Cow Comfort
• Bedding options for dairy cows
• Cow comfort in tie-stalls: Increased depth of shavings or straw bedding increases lying time
• Bedding on Geotextile Mattresses: How Much is Needed to Improve Cow Comfort?
• Effects of sawdust bedding dry matter on lying behavior of dairy cows: A dose-dependent response

SoftStalls: A softer stall for our horses

As Harv gets older he has trouble getting up and down. I briefly contemplated finding some kind of stall matt that might make him more comfortable - like a 'pillow-top' for horses?

I didn't find the pillow-top, but I ran across this interesting product, SoftstallTMAdvantage. It provides a cushy surface to combat fatigue. It sounds wonderful. By the way, this is not an ad, and I have no association with the company.

What it is...
Per the manufacturer, the bottom layer of theSoftStallTMAdvantage system is a "G-Max engineered Flat Technology that provides (HIC) or Head Impact Criteria to provide ideal comfort and safety for your horse and foal." They're made of recycled closed cell foam pieces molded to a specific G-Max rating to provide the ideal comfort and durability in a light weight pad providing excellent performance benefits GUARANTEED for years to come. The height of the matress is approximately 1" and comes in a 4'x6' pad weighing only 25 lbs for easy handling."

Basically -- a mattress.

The second layer of the SoftStallTM Advantage system is a "non-toxic StallSealTM water based, liquid coating. This extremely durable coating cures to provide a rubberized, water-tight seamless, flexible, non-slip, bio-secure seal, wall to wall in your horses stall. Easily and quickly applied by a squeege. StallSeal bonds to and protects wood, foam, concrete and metal creating a tough yet flexible coating to finish your stall. If an issue or wear spot develops you can simply re-coat the entire surface or isolated area."

Posturpedic for horses! File under "post lottery."

 In checking the COTH Forums, opinion is divided -- not so much about the product itself but about the benefits to horses. Do horses do better healthwise on this flooring? The jury is out but there are diverse opinions. No one could prove it's harmful (unlikely) but is it better than deep bedding? Is it more supportive of the joints? People who have Softstalls seem to like them, but IMHO when you spend a lot of money on a product, you are not likely to say you don't like it.

Looking at the product, I think it would have safety value for old horses and foals.  Psychologically, it would benefit me to have my horses on a surface with some give.

They aren't the only brand on the market. Here are a few more -- does anyone have experience with them?

• Humane Manufacturing
• Footing Solutions
• Dynamic Sports Construction
• Stable Comfort
•  Ecoflex Stalls

Canter!

We did a smidgen of canter work Sunday -- the intent was to work on transitions, in part because after a certain amount of canter, things tend to go flat. I was largely happy with the upward transitions, but the downward? They may look like they came out of nowhere, but every one of them was asked for. There is work to be done here, but I'm very happy with Riley's willingness and "jump." I'm not doing all I can to help him stay balanced -- that is the next project...

Woven browbands: Free gift with order!

Tonight I'll be emailing winners of the leg straps -- stay tuned! And on that subject, the Woven Beads Browbands maker is running a special -- free leg straps with a browband order.

If you are on the fence about these browbands, my advice is TAKE THE PLUNGE. They are nice in the photos but they are breathtaking in person, and for the handiwork and craftsmanship the price are extremely modest. Ri is wearing his all winter, and the compliments roll in every time I ride. They're different, but NOT so different that they draw unwelcome attention. They don't sparkle--they glow like they're lighted from behind.

I have two, and got one for my trainer for Christmas -- so you know I'm a fan...

Ship Shape -- A thoroughbred in the hunter ranks

Featured in the Chronicle: Ship Shap, thoroughbred gelding owned by Hannah Taylor, having success in hunters at the bigger shows. Yeah!

A thoroughbred in hunters was no big deal in the seventies, eighties, and nineties, but you don't see it that much at the big shows any more. Kudos to Hannah and her Ship Shape!

Bob's trip to UPenn: On to Interferon

In CTCL, T-cells residing in
 the skin/blood misbehave

On 1/6/14 Bob and I went to the clinic at UPenn where the Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma) CTCL specialists are, and he had more blood tests and biopsies. The initial results did show that there was evidence of burned skin, but it mostly showed the clear pattern of CTCL (shown right). We are awaiting the results of a blood flow cytometry test that will tell us if the disease has entered the bloodstream. Among other things, they will look for evidence of "Sezary cells" that indicate a change in his staging (currently he is IIIA) and a need for more aggressive treatment. We won't get those results for several weeks.

I want a new drug
The next phase of treatment, per the doctor, was to start Interferon A injections three times a week. This is in addition to increasing the Targretin dose and resuming the UVB light therapy. Oh, and he was prescribed an anti-itch drug, Doxepin, which unfortunately has not helped much.

More than 1,000 Sezary cells in the blood tests indicate
 Sezary Syndrome, which is an agressive form of CTCL

The Interferon is a big deal, because it has side effects typical of cancer drugs -- we did not know what to expect. Bob injected himself, and within about six hours came the predicted nausea and headache. Bob described it as a 4 out of 10 on the discomfort scale, not too bad. He said  if it does not get worse than this, he could go to work. The side effects should dissipate over time.

No cure, but control
I think we will have luck with Interferon, but I wish we'd gotten a longer run on the Targretin -- he was at the starting dose for 8 months. From what I have read, with CTCL you develop a resistance to drugs over time, and then you have to move to something else.  There will come a time when Interferon does not work either, I suppose. There are more drugs and therapies in the arsenal, and there are clinical trials, but the longer we can stay on a drug, the better.  If we do cycle through the drugs available, the next steps after that are a bone marrow transplant or stem cell transplant.

The Good News
The good news is, there are lots of new/exciting therapies for lymphomas and blood disorders in development. And, we are so fortunate to have health care and proximity to specialists -- many, many people with this disorder don't have either.  It seems like after fifty or so, everyone has some malady to deal with. This seems to be Bob's. When it is under control, he is in super health -- active, energetic, pain-free. That's a pretty big plus.

Riley Lesson, 1/12

Endless, boring trotwork -- bless you if you actually watch it all. This was a nice lesson, or at least it felt good. It is a little hard to tell, but we are working on transitions and shallow leg yields. The leg yields tend to cause a loss of energy, which you can see occasionally. The canter-work (not shown here) is much improved overall, but it does vary from lesson to lesson. With the weather, Ri is not getting out as much, and rather than risk a big buck we are letting the trainer handle canter till the weather breaks!

Rah-rah for Rolex: 15 Reasons to go!

It's now just 99 days until Rolex. Are you contemplating a road trip? I have fifteen reasons why you should go!

Here we are, rubbing elbows with Peter Atkins

Reason #15: Schmooze factor
At Rolex, the big names in eventing are out and about. I physically bumped into William Fox Pitt eating something very unhealthy  near the food tents. If he looks tall in photos, he is extra elongated in person. His neck is about the length of my forearm and I have to wonder if that gives him a competitive advantage.

Need examples?
Bob and I went to a meet-and-greet with competitor Peter Atkins and his Selle Frascais Henry Jota Hamptom (Henny) last year.  I took Bob’s picture with  Henny, and it’s now on the refrigerator.

At the warmup ring one day, Karen and David O’Connor sat next to me. Overhearing their perfectly innocuous banter was somehow thrilling and fun. Also at the warmup, Bob chatted with the breeder of one of the top Irish horses in the 2013 competition—they were from the same region of Ireland as Bob’s relatives--practically kin.

If you somehow don’t run across anyone by chance, there are numerous guided cross country walks and autograph signings. 

Probably the highlight of the year (equestrian-wise) for both of us -- meeting Henry Jota Hampton

Finding the perfect saddle -- consignment shops

One things for sure, saddles are personal!

So if Ebay is not the place to buy a good used saddle, where is?

Here is a list of used saddle shops online -- where I have personal experience with a company, I've noted it. I have omitted a few used saddle shops that I know have a spotty reputation Others, I have heard of, maybe, or contacted them, but no direct experience. A few hints for "taking the plunge" with an unknown seller are...

1. Sites should list a name, phone, and physical address. Call them! Google the address and get a street view of the establishment.
2. Search the Chronicle of the Horse forums for discussion of the shop you're considering. Have others had a bad experience?
3. Is there a contract? What are their trial policies?
4. Talk to the seller about how much they vet their saddles. Do they check the tree? Do they take any saddle, or are they selective? 

Here is the list..

• Charlottes Saddlery (They've been around awhile, but I've never used them. I have communicated with them before, and I think they are pretty solid).
• Classic Saddlery (These guys have been around since the 1990s, and a friend recommended them way back then).
• Dressagestar.com
• Duchess Bridle and Saddle (Travelling saddle shop. If you are on the East Coast they do runs down the coast)
• Equestrian Imports (they occasionally advertise in Dressage Today -- they rent saddles too.)
• Equine Consign (local shop in Georgia)
• Equine Inspired Touch (I have corresponded with them and they have a good reputation)
• EquusNow  
• Farm House used saddles (I have purchased from Farm House -- not saddles though)
• Fine Used Saddles (Texas-based consignment, well-regarded, focus on high-end saddles)
• Galloping Grape
• Good Apple Equine (Wonderful Ocala-based shop I can personally recommend)
• Maryland Saddlery
• Maryland Tack Exchange (Buys saddles outright if you want to sell quickly)
• Middleburg Tack Exchange
• MM Tack Shop  (I used to live by this tack shop in North Carolina. They have been around since at least the 1990s)
• Pelham Saddlery (I have corresponded with this shop, never trialled a saddle)
• Rick's Heritage Saddlery (Can recommend based on personal experience -- low end to high end)
• Saddler's Row  
• Snooty Fox
• St. Croix Saddlery (I have corresponded with this shop, never trialled a saddle)
• Skylands Saddlery (Can highly recommend based on personal experience -- has Ebay shop, assumes risk associated with selling via Ebay)
• Tack Trader (Can recommend on personal experience, free or paid ads)
• Trumbull Mountain Saddlery (highly recommend, on personal experience)
• Warmblood Sales Tack List  

Finding the right saddle is difficult in so many ways -- good luck in your search!

Bob update: Setback and regroup

Bob on a trip to see my folks in Indiana

If you read "Tale of two dermatologists" you know that Bob has had a setback with his illness. Recall that he has Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma (CTCL), a rare cancer. This cancer is not well-understood. It is known for progressing differently in different people, and also for behaving unpredictably. In December, we had a perfect example of its unpredictability.  Bob had a series of PUVA light treatments that should have taken him to the next level of wellness. Instead, the treatments threw us for a loop, taking us backwards, all the way back to his pre-treatment condition.

No PUVA for you!
Bob had five PUVA light treatments that caused a flareup in his skin. Did the treatment center staff burn his skin? I think so, but in the end probably doesn't matter. If the PUVA light treatment was mismanaged,  it just hastened a trend that was already happening. The drug he started in April 2013 (Targretin) was slowly losing its effectiveness, and the PUVA was an attempt to kickstart an improvement. Instead it made him worse. And so it goes!

Two steps back
For the first time since he was diagnosed, Bob *voluntarily missed full days of work due to redness, pain, and itching. He said his skin redness/rash felt like a bad sunburn, and the itch was actually painful. It's almost impossible to sleep with the sting and itching. It's hard to be in his shoes, but it is also hard to watch.

*I say voluntarily because at one point he was going to work, only to be sent home by the company nurse.

Stay tuned for more...

Giveaway! Leg straps you'll love

Buy these hand-crafted leg straps on Etsy.com 

I love dressing my horse in horse clothing -- every season I anticipate the new season's blankets like some people look forward to Fashion Week! With two horses, I can (almost) justify this obsession.

Leg strap love
The only thing I don't love about horse blankets is the leg straps. They're cumbersome, they get dirty, they don't last (the clippy ends always stick or break)--and they are not always easy to replace. Replacement leg straps are often of poor quality.

Giveaway!
 Pat at Woven Beads Browbands mentioned to me that she also makes leg straps -- and she offered a giveaway of her leg straps on Etsy.com. She sent me a bunch, including leg straps for minis! These straps are superior to others because:

• The buckles are easy to manage and lightweight
• The quality of the materials and craftsmanship is excellent
• They are affordable
• They're easy to wash
• They last!
• They come in various colors and styles and sizes -- mini to horse, single and two-buckle etc.

So if you'd like to enter the giveaway leave a comment describing your horse fashion innovation and the size of your horse (mini, pony, horse).

Here is my innovation -- Glow in the dark leg strap buckles!

Deniro Boot Bling

I want the leopard print with black leather. Thanks Deniro Boot Company for the eye candy!

Sitting trot workout

Bless this man for publishing this!

The Equestrian Athlete Plan | Sitting Strong from matt on Vimeo.

Lovin' some pony dressage!

Taking a break from the stress of Ebay and other stuff, how wonderful to see this pony perform!

Lisanne Zoutendijk   Champ of Class Individual test Ponies 77.317% 

Den Goubergh Roosendaal 2013 from Toptalent Dressage on Vimeo.

Ebay/Paypal: Advice for safer selling

What the large print giveth, the small print taketh away...  

Tom Waits

Over the years, both Ebay and Paypal have modified their terms of service and policies for buying and selling. If you have not read them lately, read them now, or read about them.  You might be surprised at what you find. My experience, already chronicled in some detail, has driven me away from both of these companies.  It s*cks to be a seller.

Paypal is convenient, but checks are safe and sound for sales transactions. And who needs the fees? Not worth it, especially for sellers.

Ebay is tougher. I've found alternatives, but for some items -- rare items or items for a specialized audience, for example --  Ebay is really the best selling option.


If you do sell on Ebay...
Here are some hints...

1. Don't buy or sell for a dollar amount you can't afford to lose.
2. Don't sell to anyone with a spotty record, or with no record. While you can't control much about who buys from you, Ebay lets you block buyers who are the most aggregious offenders -- folks with multiple unpaid items or policy violations -- but only the absolute worst are blocked (see the selling :
• Have received 2 unpaid item strike(s) within 1 month(s)
• Have a primary shipping address in countries that  you won't ship to
• Have 4 policy violation report(s) within 1 month(s)
• Have a feedback score equal to or lower than -1
3. If  a questionable buyer buys your item, don't sell to them! You  can refund their money with an explanation of your choice -- tell the truth, or you can make up a bogus reason not to sell (item broke, whoops!), whatever. But you'll have to contact Ebay to refund their commission to you. 
4. One way to reduce the chance of getting a sale disputed is to offer a return policy. To me this is too risky for valuable items.
5. Mail with tracking and signature required.

My recommendation for selling: Use alternatives...

• Consignment shops. While I used to blanch at the commission, in retrospect it seems like a real bargain. Consignments shops get scammed, and they assume risk. The overhead for trial periods, shipping, answering questions, photographing, listing, is not trivial. Let THEM do the work, and be glad to give them a cut.
• Tacktrader.com -- I've sold things here. You get fewer nibbles, but eventually I've found a buyer for everything I've posted there.
• Bitsandbridles.com. I've had friends use this successfully
• Facebook groups. Look for tack sales groups in your area -- there are 3-4 around where I live and they work!
• Craigslist. I admit I don't use Craigslist to sell, but many do. Anyone had luck with Craigslist?
• GMO/local horse group classifieds. I've sold many items via my local GMO's newsletter.

Sources consulted

• Safe Selling on Ebay - Sellers Beware of Fraud and Scams Under New Buyer Protection Program
• Selling on Ebay vs. selling on Amazon
• How to avoid Ebay scams and fraud
• Sick of Ebay? Try these alternative places to sell?

Ebay, the Resolution! Part VII

Photo from the consignment shop

Read parts I, II, and III,  IV,  V, and VI of my saddle saga with Ebay to see why this incident has taken hours of my time and years off my life ;-). Here is the resolution...

Saddle status
The saddle repair person examined the tree -- the saddle tree is fine, and the rippling on the seat turned out to be repairable. The "slits" in the saddle reported by the buyer were not damage, but the ports used for flocking, so no repairs there. The rippling was repaired for $365.

After the repair, the saddle was sent to consignment at a shop that is a distributor of Black Country saddles. The show manager was wowed by the condition of the saddle, and he set the price well above what I was asking for it on Ebay.  If it sells for the asking price (which is a big if!),  I'll more than match my asking price on Ebay, even with the commission.

Once I learned that my saddle was not damaged beyond repair, this whole incident really felt "over" for me -- in a good way. But there's more!

Squeaky wheel work
I had filed in small claims and contacted numerous consumer protection organizations about this incident. The Better Business Bureau came through for me, contacting Paypal's Office of Executive Escalations. About 24 hours after the BBB alerted me that they'd contacted Paypal, Paypal called me about my complaint. This time, it was a guy named Aaron, and he was waving an olive branch.

I updated Aaron on the status of my saddle -- the damage and the repair. He offered to adjust my negative Paypal balance with a credit of $425--the cost of the repair plus all shipping charges involved in the sale and repair. He also said that I could take my time resolving the negative balance, paying when my saddle sold. No collections! I accepted this solution happily.

Although it was a long time to resolution, it was worth it. I'm thankful to the BBB for their help, and to Paypal for offering me this fair solution. In my heart I wish that I'd had my day in court with the buyers -- but they'll get their karmic payback, one way or another...

Insulated buckets DIY

My home craft project

On those cold winter nights, it's nice to have a silly and fun project. Some people probably baked cookies, some may have done some knitting. Me? Well, I'm a horse person, and I'm thinking of my horses out there in the single digit weather.

Here's what I did...

A home-made insulated water bucket
On the Chronicle of the Horse listserv, members posted their experience with bucket insulation methods, and I was interested in safe (non-electric) methods. There is a bucket cozy product which received good reviews, but one poster said she just wrapped her own buckets in bubble-wrap and duct tape.

Project ho!
I did it while watching Ancient Aliens (or as Bob calls it, Lying Ancient Aliens) the other night. You need a bucket, duct tape, and bubble wrap. The more layers of bubble wrap, the better. It took about an hour I just:

1.  Wrapped the bucket in three layers of bubble wrap (small bubble-bubble wrap), using two sided duct tape (wrapped in a loop) to attach it to the bucket.
2. Wrapped a layer of duct tape over the bubble wrap.
3. Decorated as desired. I used snakeskin duct tape

I'm told it works as well as any other non-electric method -- basically it should reduce or eliminate the freezing on the sides of the bucket, and while it won't eliminate the top layer of ice in the coldest weather, it will keep the layer pretty thin. I'll let you know how it works!

Part VI: Ebay outcome: A resolution at hand!

Saddle damage

 If you've read parts I, II, and III,  IV, and V of my saddle saga with Ebay, you know it's a bit of a sore point.

Short version of the story
Sold a saddle in great condition. Buyers filed damage claim three weeks after receiving it. Saddle returned to me damaged. Buyers got their money back (over $2,200) using Paypal's buyer protection. I'm stuck with a debt to Paypal and a damaged saddle. I appealed and lost.

What has happened since then..

1. I've been having frank talks with Paypal's "Office of Executive Escalations" (collections dept). Whenever they call, I answer and tell each and every rep the full story, in excruciating detail, on what happened to me, and why my Paypal balance remains at MINUS $1999ish. I tell them my prospects for repaying it depend on my prospects for selling my now-damaged saddle. It is not about whether I have the funds in savings, etc., to pay this company.  Not gonna dip into savings. Credit rating be damned.
2. I sent the saddle to a repair shop in CT that can work on Black Country saddles without violating the warranty. I asked them to do a full assessment of the saddle, tree and everything else, and to give me a report on the saddle's condition. What's wrong? Is it worth repairing? How much would it cost?
3. I also:

• Filed a claim against the buyers in small claims court
• Filed a report with the Better Business Bureau
• Filed a complaint with the PA Attorney General
• Blogged like crazy

There's been some "activity" -- So I'll tell you the rest of the story in Part VII.

Anky and Bonfire for Dressuur magazine with

Anyone who tries to get nice photos of their horse has moments like these. I hope that Bonfire was every bit as adored as he seems to be in this footage. RIP Bonfire...

Christel gets her Chronicle scarf!

So.. Did anyone notice an article in the Chronicle of the Horse with my byline? It's the article on Nora Batchelder. Yeah me. :-)

Christel won the scarf giveaway from December 2. I think she is wearing a great basic outfit to highlight this gorgeous scarf from Chronicle of the Horse. Buy one here!

Bob update: Tale of two dermatologists

Bob in about 2006, with Harv

 I wrote recently about Bob's setback with his  CTCL treatment. For whatever reason, it seems we are back to square one with his skin -- his skin looks like it did before he was diagnosed (warning, photo below, not gross but very red).

Here is the scoop.

Dermatologist A: Narrow band treatment
Bob has been getting narrow band light treatment for two years at one dermatologist's office -- Physician A. When he goes in, he chats with the staff and they ask how he is doing, and depending on his answer ("I'm a little burned," "I'm a bit itchy," etc) they adjust the length and strength of his treatment. It has worked decently but he still has a rash -- just less prominent. He wanted to try to eradicate the rash entirely so he wanted to try a stronger treatment,  PUVA.

Dermatologist B: PUVA treatment
In December Bob switched to PUVA treatment. He went to another office, Physician B. PUVA penetrates more deeply, and psoralens (a drug) is taken to make the body more susceptible to light.  It is more risky, and it's a pain in the neck as you have to take many precautions, wear sunglasses, and in his case he has to miss work.

The first treatment left him a little burned, and he told the staff. No one ever examined him or glanced at his skin. They all told him "it has to get worse before it gets better." Every treatment he felt a little worse, and after treatment #5 he looked like a lobster and had a rash. He went in for treatment #6 but told the nurse he needed to see a doctor before he went into the light booth. The nurse got the physician's assistant.

This is Bob's skin, head to toe..

Oh My Goodness, indeed!
The physician's assistant took one look, said "oh my goodness," and got a doctor. They told him, "You've got a bad burn, and you need to stop treatment. If it gets worse, or you have blistering go to the ER." Poor Bob was miserable -- no sleep, clothes were painful to wear, he felt hot  but also got chills.

He had his in-office appointment with the Physician B on Christmas eve. Physician B looked at Bob's chart, and he seemed alarmed. He was very honest, telling Bob his staff did not follow protocol...

• They should not have increased dosage if there were signs of burning.
• The staff did not examine his skin before treating.
• The treatments strength should have been adjusted downward because Bob is taking Targretin, a retinoid that makes you photosensitive.

This doctor was no longer "in charge of light therapy" but he had developed the protocol for the office -- and it was clearly not being followed.

I wish I could say his burn healed and he is back where he was. But something has caused a flareup in his disease, or maybe there is some kind of allergic reaction. Two weeks after his last treatment, he is back to where he was when his his condition was not diagnosed and yet untreated.

Bottom line: We don't yet understand why he is not getting better. We have an appointment on Jan 6 at the  UPenn dermatology center to see what is going on and why we seem to be back at Square One.

Riley Ride, Dec 29: New Year's resolutions

Here goes:

1. Get control of my hands -- low, wide for now.
2. Open hip, no grip (knees).
3. Shoulders up, abs out.
4. Look where you're going.