Sugar is Out of Jail

Most of you know that my beautiful 2 1/2 year old filly banged up her tendon shortly after I bought her. We think she put it through the fence but no one saw it happen. Sugar had only recently been broken and ridden and we were just getting ready to begin to train her more earnestly. The snaps are of Sugar on New Years Day which was warm enough to have her "cell" window open. She has been confined, except for short walks on a lead rope, since Nov 18.

Three ultrasounds and six months later, we got confirmation last week that she can begin exercising to stretch and strengthen the leg and tendon. We are going to go very slowly due to her enforced lack of activity. The plan is a few weeks on a long lead doing trots and walks eventually moving to canter. My trainer will ride her after that so she is getting some weight on her back and legs to help strengthen. Only after that will we turn her loose. She will explode with gallops bucks twists and turns so it will be in an indoor arena with no other horses. I can't predict when we will turn her outside with the other girls. I hope to get her on some pasture this summer while the grass is still good and I have a place to move her to for a couple months. She deserves to get out and she will grow taller on a grass diet.

There have been some upsides to the ordeal. I have spent a lot of great one on one time with her with hand walking and grooming and hanging out with her and I feel we are well bonded. She is very smart which can be good and bad. She will keep me on my toes (I mean heels...riding rule).

Sugar recently turned 3 so we will have plenty of time together.

Hail

Last week we got bombarded with hail larger than golf
ball size, the biggest hail I'd ever seen. This came from
the same storm system that devastated parts of
northern Alabama. The hail damage seems to have been
very localized. A mile away from our house
there's no sign of any real damage.

Obviously I need a new windshield and body work
for my truck. At least I can still drive it. Some cars
nearby lost glass entirely.

We just had a new roof put on in February. At first glance
it looks OK but when you really look at it you can see damage
from the hail. Some houses in the neighborhood have plastic
on their roofs.

Our house has wood siding so we can mostly take care of
the damage with a bit of sanding and stain. All the neighbors
with vinyl weren't so lucky. Lots of siding around with holes
and cracks. Lots of west-facing windows boarded over with
plywood too. Fortunately we don't have any windows facing
west.

Here you can see impacts from the larger hail on our driveway.
I'd say it was pretty good coverage.