So.... I'm having all sorts of feelings about Dan lately.... mood swings, quite frankly. Sometimes I'm ready to take him out and chase cows and just let him be my shenanigan pony. And then other days, I'm ready to go to UGA or countryside and have them work him up nose to tail and tell me what's wrong and what needs to be fixed so that we can get back out there and do the T3D dammit! And other days.. it's a combo....
So on Sunday I shockwaved his stifles because... well, because I thought it might be helpful but also because I had to send my trodes back in to be replaced and they don't give you credit if you have 5000 or less shocks left, so I figured I might as well use up some more shocks while I had them. So I did. Then I also did his scapula for funsies too.
So today I rode. I was running short on time and had taken Funny to Ashland so Dan had to get ridden at home. I opted to use the equicore on him. I don't know if that was the right choice or not. He's technically still rehabbing from his suspensories... but whatever. That's my mood right now.
We tacked up and I put the bands on and we walked up Jean's driveway to the arena. We did some walk work and did a tiny bit of lateral work. Then we trotted a little bit and did 5 trot to walk to trot transitions. He felt pretty sound. I don't know...it's sort of hard to tell if there's a head bob but... it was better I think. So then it had been about 15 minutes and he felt a bit behind my leg, so I took the bands off. I definitely didn't want to overdo them. And he was a bit more forward although I still had to get after him once or twice. But it was better. We did some more trotting and even had some nice leg yields at the trot. I did a tiny bit of cantering. It still felt not quite easy and a bit labored... and maybe a bit stickier in the hind end. But... he did it. I had to keep pushing him a bit. He's also coughing a lot again. Argh. I'm not sure if I should treat him with doxy again or try acupuncture or what. I guess I should try acupuncture (Use my seasonal balance for Metal Time (Fall) and that means hexagram #18 conversion.. see I'm studying!). And then I can always add doxy. Or just... let him be. Depending on what happens.
We had some decent work and he felt more symmetric on our baby trot lengthenings, so yay. Then we hacked back home and did a tiny little neighborhood walk about. He's getting fuzzy and it was humid so he was all crusty! And he had some major butt foam, so he definitely worked hard. But then I noticed after I moved him off the hose that he was standing very tight roped behind... like one hind foot directly in front of the other. That's odd for him! Very unusual. And he sat that way for a good minute or two before he corrected it. Hmmm...
So... the good news is that Dr. Proctor mentioned a friend coming to play with cows and I invited myself and she told me I was welcome. So that might be fun. And after RRP, which is coming up soon, hopefully Jennifer will take me under her wing for some of the Newton County shows and we can try our hand at obstacles and trails and maybe even some western dressage. And... we've got our appt with Dr. Keelin in two weeks, so... I may just tell her to assess him and then... maybe let's just inject ALL THE THINGS! Like... literally... let's hit everything at once. Because he's probably due for his stifles by now... he may even need his neck done again.... his hocks and suspensories should be okay, but... I'm tired of chasing down the compensatory fires. And I'm more... more tired of not knowing if it's just compensatory fires or if I just need to let it go and give him a different job. So, I might go big one more time with "maintenance" and see what happens. If I can't get him going and maintaining for at least a few months... then... I may just have to accept it's not God's will and enjoy him as a trail horse. I don't mind injecting his stifles twice a year, his hocks twice a year, and his neck twice a year. I don't mind corrective shoeing.... I don't even mind shockwaving and bemering and all that. I just.... don't mind it IF he can go and do things. If I keep hitting this brick wall, then... I'm done. I'm tired. I'm worn out. It's not fun anymore. But I do think I owe it to us both to give it one last big hurrah... after all his surgeries and stall rests and such. So... yeah.
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