Happy Easter! I got up early for a lesson with Kelly before family festivities. I know... I know.. I should have gone to Church. I did pray a lot today though... lots of praise... it started with a pretty sunrise!
I got everyone fed and Dan and I loaded up and headed to Ashland. Caroline had me riding in the covered arena because it was easier for Kelly's schedule, but I thought we'd park at the show grounds and hack up to the arena. It's a good warm up and I wanted a quick hack on the way back (If I had time). I forgot to sign in yesterday so I signed in as I was hauling over there. Well... that bit me in the butt! When we got to Ashland, no one was there. I parked and went to unload Dan and he came off HOT! And then proceeded to stare at the jump arena and be stupid. I didn't even tie him because he was so upset. I couldn't see or hear anything. And he was looking to the right too, not just up at the arena. But he was literally shaking... quaking!!! I thought maybe it was the sprinklers, but... And then he tried to run a few times and was spinning and running me over a bit. I had to get mad and yell at him. And then apparently... Lucy WAS up in the jump arena and had turned on the sprinklers... and had Mia, the dog, with her. So the dog came running down and I guess really set Dan off. At this point I think Lucy saw me come in and either realized it was me or was coming down to see and... watched Dan try to bolt and drag me halfway across the parking lot before I could stop him. I almost lost him. Like... I couldn't get him stopped but kept him slow enough that I could keep up, but barely. I finally was able to give a few tugs and push him towards the tree so he stopped and I was able to snatch at him. Then he was running in circles around me. Sigh. Then I realized Lucy was there and she said it was the sprinklers and then the dog. Poor Dan. I felt bad for getting mad at him, but seriously dude... I KNOW you are traumatized by the sprinklers but you cannot run me over! At this point he was still trembling and I figured there was no way I could tie him and get my saddle out of the trailer, so... I loaded him back up and just drove to the gray barn/arena. So much for our relaxing warm up hack... so much for being on time! Poor Lucy too! I think we've traumatized her too. Hee hee.
So we pulled into the gray barn and I unloaded him and he was literally frothy on his sides, dripping sweat, and STEAMING! Daniel... dude.. you've got to figure out how to cope with sprinklers son! This is not good for you. He was still somewhat panicky and danced around a bit. I tried to wipe him down a bit... Luckily I had managed to at least curry and soft brush him at the showgrounds before he really lost it, so... I just had to tack him up. Caroline came up to help, as I had texted her that I might be late. She kept an eye on him while I tied him and was able to get my boots, hat, and tack. He was starting to settle a teeny bit. I opted to leave my spurs off and finally got on. He was ALL FIRED UP, but was reasonable. We pranced our way and walked around a few minutes and then went into the arena. I explained to Kelly what had happened and how things were going. So... we started our lesson. Luckily he was more reasonable that Lyric was that time she was freaking out because Dan was in the stall. And luckily Caroline had me scheduled at the covered because I think I would have really been in trouble had we had to ride at the show arenas. Of course Lucy probably wouldn't have tried to water them but... oh well. He did randomly spook once... just like Funny the other day.. was trotting along and then slammed on the breaks and tried to back up. For no reason. But he's smart and realized it and then moved forward again. Jeesh.
But, overall it was a good ride. In many ways. He was all fired up so he had plenty of forward energy. And he felt sound to me! But... because of his tension he was holding his neck a bit too high. And his tongue was WILD. It was out probably half of the lesson... and not just sticking out... like flailing up to his eyeballs. Sigh... I tried to ignore it. He was chompy too, but... at least this time I wasn't as triggered because I knew he was still upset about the stupid sprinklers. Kelly and I talked and she thought he looked sound enough to not blame the tongue on pain. Of course he was so high with adrenaline he probably had no idea anything hurt. We spent the ride working on getting his neck long and reaching but with a low poll. But not long and low. She wanted him in a training level frame and then a degree lower. She said that was where he let go and got soft. And he did feel swingy. She did say he was a hair on the forehand but because he was tracking up, it was okay. We worked on pushing him in a slight leg yield so he went into the outside rein and then focused on the long neck position. The goal was to get him stretching his hind end, stretching his topline and then opening up his neck. We cantered too and he felt pretty good although a few times he tried to fall out of it and a few times he got kind of "hoppy".
So... at the end of our lesson Kelly said that she thought she occasionally saw "something" going left. Sigh. Dammit. I didn't really feel anything other than the occasional shoulder slipping feeling. That jamming in the shoulder feel. And he was twisting his poll going left. And then the obvious tongue issues and chomping. She said he was crossing his jaw too. We talked about how at this point... she suggested giving it two weeks with this rehab riding. Focus on the long neck, stretching the topline, and... not worry about engagement at this point. She said no lateral work except leg yields. All the leg yields. This gets him stretching and reaching. She said that today.. he wanted to go long and low or too high. We could get him to that sweet spot, but it was tenuous and fleeting. She said it didn't seem confident. So... if we can focus on this for two weeks and get him comfortable there... confident there... then that is encouraging. That means he's comfortable. But if he just will not go there and stay there.. or keeps fussing... that maybe we need to discuss things. Sigh... I agree. But I'm not sure I'll be able to wait two weeks. I may end up calling Keelin tomorrow and seeing how quickly she can inject his neck. Because... if she injects his neck and he is still unhappy and won't keep his tongue in his mouth.. Then I think I have to be done. (Pending what Dr. Tull says about the neck surgery). Not done done.. but done trying to event and dressage. We'll either have to do competitive trail or western dressage or trail ride. We also discussed that the tongue thing might become a habit and she offered a few suggestions. Sigh.. dammit. I do think I may try him back in his rubber nathe bit... I may try the figure 8 again, because of the jaw crossing. And I may try a bit fat hollow mouth d ring.. Not sure I'm willing to do more than that. Yes, I don't want it to become a habit, but... I think it's a sign. Today.. maybe it was just mental stress... or the tension created a sore neck..
So... we walked around a tiny bit after but I had to get back for Easter with the family and because we were late, we didn't have as much time. Dan was so nasty from sweating earlier... I had to hose him off. I used hot water. And he was still warm to the touch so we drove home without any clothes. But then when I unloaded he was shivering slightly. Dude, I am so sorry! Poor guy. I turned him out and he cantered off and was zig zagging a bit. He finally stopped, rolled, and then galloped off to join the others and then chilled.
So yeah... in theory a good ride, but... he was not a happy camper today and now I'm not a happy camper because I know he was so upset and I don't know if he's hurting or was just nervous. Sigh... not how I wanted today to go.
