dressage and hack

 

Well.. maybe a bit better?? We met up with Kelli and did a dressage ride. Sandra was supposed to join us too so I didn't really want to deal with saddle swappings to see if the saddle was the cause of the lameness. So I put on the Horrobin and off we went. We started in the arena and he felt a little more happy to do the lateral work at the walk. But then once we trotted.. it's still there. Maybe even a hair more obvious today even. :( He felt more bouncy in the connection. Like I felt it more in the bouncy connection than I felt it in his gait, if that makes sense. We did a little bit of work and some canter and then I asked Kelli to look. She agreed that she saw it but it was subtle and she couldn't pinpoint it. We messed around a bit and... it was odd because... when I posted on the wrong diagonal... still there. When I sat the trot... and really put him into a heavier contact... he actually got sounder. It wasn't necessarily more collection... but slower in his rhythm. Then I let him free and he went into a serious power trot peanut rolling... like running away with me but lifted in his back. And I didn't really notice in then. But when he was more neutral, it was still there. The canter felt a little better today though but he still fell out of the left lead. Sigh... Oh well. Kelli also mentioned that she thought he looked "goose rumped" again like he had lost muscle up there. She speculated that maybe it is as simple as sore hocks and that I need to give it more time. Time for the steroids to really kick in but also time for his muscling to build back up. Maybe! I hope. 

So then we went for a nice long hack. Dan was happy to go and we did a few hills. We chased off the blue heron from the edge of the lake so Marvin didn't spook. And then Marvin chased the same heron off from the water complex because he was brave. Dan went "bloodhound" on me and was sniffing the trail and tracking. We laughed about his weirdness and contemplated that maybe it's an Appaloosa thing as Fleck tends to do it too. And Indy. I joked that maybe the Indians taught them how to track! Goofball