Puzzling... this one...
Sigh... this horse!! I love him, but man.. I wish I just knew what the heck was going on!! So... I decided to ride today.. because partly... I wanted to, partly I wanted to make sure that what I was feeling I was still feeling, and partly because I wanted him to be tired for tomorrow so that his vet visit could be productive (in theory). Currently, my thoughts are that when he is tired/fatigued, his symptoms are worse. And I thought hard... if it's a tendon/ligament issue, I didn't want to break him. So I decided to put on the dressage saddle and do some dressage. If he felt awful, I would just go for a long hack. If he felt great, we'd ride and then go on a long hack.
So that's what we did. We met Kelli and we both did our dressage. Dan was actaully pretty good. He was doing his whuffly concentration snorts... drooling well.. and I feel like I was able to accomplish my Kelly homework. I was actually able to get some left rein connection on my own again. Yay! We even had some really nice half pass work, although he was a bit fussy in the bridle in the beginning when I took up the connection. We then went to canter. And.. it's not great, but it's not as bad as yesterday. He fell out of the left lead a little bit, but not as much and it wasn't as hard to keep him in it. And now I'm wondering if he's just weak from actually using himself. ??? So anyways.. we did both canters and just focused on getting him straight in the connection. Then I had Kelli watch me and she pointed out that my arms are getting a little stiff and locked. Oops.. I think some of that is side effect of trying to not knit and instead close my fingers on the reins. She also said that my left hand is sneaking back and down again, and I needed to lift it to help lift that left shoulder of his. But we got a fairly nice canter actually.... so... maybe he's not broken??? It's so frustrating...
So then we went for a long hack. And we started in the XC field and we were talking and... I decided that maybe I should hop over a log or two and just see... since he felt game and not sluggish. I mean, I'm in my dressage saddle, but... whatever. So.. I got a nice canter... circled and got a nicer canter.. and then we popped over a log. It was okay, but I didn't go straight to the coop because.. I can't remember... we either drifted or... something. So I circled, got my nice canter and we did the small log to the small coop. We're talking tadpole here. And he was game. So then we went the other direction and did a different small log to the novice cabin. And... he was going and was game and popped the log.. and then the very last stride at the cabin... right at takeoff, he hesitated. He went... and he was game up to it.. but right at take off, he hesitated. I praised him on landing and we quit with that. Partly because it's awkward jumping in a dressage saddle and I didn't want to punish him accidentally... and partly because.. he tried! And maybe.. I'm getting greedy. But he tried... and clearly... something made him hesitate. And.. I don't think it's me. I mean... I don't think it's confidence necessarily. It almost feels like he wants to do it and then gets there and is like... "I can't! or.. It's gonna hurt". I don't know... Kelli saw it too and sort of agreed with me. She said that she thought he looked very game and happy to go the entire time other than that last stride. So... ??? Oh, but she did say that at least over the last jump she saw my left hand come back and down. Which, could be shutting him down. So... He does still drift hard right, so I've been closing the right rein up against his neck, closing my right leg on his barrel, and then opening my left rein. But maybe I'm not opening it like I think I am and maybe I'm actually shutting him down?? Which could be the whole problem jumping... except... he did it to Lexi too and I'm not sure she did that with her hand either. So... ??? Yeah.... We continued on our hack and had a great ride. We chatted the whole time so I didn't get any photos other than this one.
So that's what we did. We met Kelli and we both did our dressage. Dan was actaully pretty good. He was doing his whuffly concentration snorts... drooling well.. and I feel like I was able to accomplish my Kelly homework. I was actually able to get some left rein connection on my own again. Yay! We even had some really nice half pass work, although he was a bit fussy in the bridle in the beginning when I took up the connection. We then went to canter. And.. it's not great, but it's not as bad as yesterday. He fell out of the left lead a little bit, but not as much and it wasn't as hard to keep him in it. And now I'm wondering if he's just weak from actually using himself. ??? So anyways.. we did both canters and just focused on getting him straight in the connection. Then I had Kelli watch me and she pointed out that my arms are getting a little stiff and locked. Oops.. I think some of that is side effect of trying to not knit and instead close my fingers on the reins. She also said that my left hand is sneaking back and down again, and I needed to lift it to help lift that left shoulder of his. But we got a fairly nice canter actually.... so... maybe he's not broken??? It's so frustrating... 
So then we went for a long hack. And we started in the XC field and we were talking and... I decided that maybe I should hop over a log or two and just see... since he felt game and not sluggish. I mean, I'm in my dressage saddle, but... whatever. So.. I got a nice canter... circled and got a nicer canter.. and then we popped over a log. It was okay, but I didn't go straight to the coop because.. I can't remember... we either drifted or... something. So I circled, got my nice canter and we did the small log to the small coop. We're talking tadpole here. And he was game. So then we went the other direction and did a different small log to the novice cabin. And... he was going and was game and popped the log.. and then the very last stride at the cabin... right at takeoff, he hesitated. He went... and he was game up to it.. but right at take off, he hesitated. I praised him on landing and we quit with that. Partly because it's awkward jumping in a dressage saddle and I didn't want to punish him accidentally... and partly because.. he tried! And maybe.. I'm getting greedy. But he tried... and clearly... something made him hesitate. And.. I don't think it's me. I mean... I don't think it's confidence necessarily. It almost feels like he wants to do it and then gets there and is like... "I can't! or.. It's gonna hurt". I don't know... Kelli saw it too and sort of agreed with me. She said that she thought he looked very game and happy to go the entire time other than that last stride. So... ??? Oh, but she did say that at least over the last jump she saw my left hand come back and down. Which, could be shutting him down. So... He does still drift hard right, so I've been closing the right rein up against his neck, closing my right leg on his barrel, and then opening my left rein. But maybe I'm not opening it like I think I am and maybe I'm actually shutting him down?? Which could be the whole problem jumping... except... he did it to Lexi too and I'm not sure she did that with her hand either. So... ??? Yeah.... We continued on our hack and had a great ride. We chatted the whole time so I didn't get any photos other than this one. 
No comments:
Post a Comment