Better.... hmmmmm

 

(The weather this morning was GLORIOUS. But it did NOT last long at all. )

 Today I was supposed to have a lesson with Jacel. I asked her if we could flat instead of jump in hopes that we wouldn't further aggravate his neck/shoulder (Although I honestly think the third level frame is aggravating it more than jumping, but.... I'm giving it a try). Plus I wanted to see what she thought and saw. BUT... twas not to be. She couldn't do any earlier than 2 pm and the rain started at 1:50. Doh!

 

BUT... luckily I kind of had a suspicion so I changed course and got out to Ashland at 11ish. I decided to ride bareback because I wanted to see if that changed anything with the saddle concerns I noticed and because it was colder than I thought and it would help keep me warm. So we popped on and headed for the trails. I figured I could do a nice long hack and we could just enjoy each others company instead of fighting for a bit. And if it looked like my lesson would get rained out, I could do a little ring work on my own and if not, I could pop the saddle on and go. So we mostly walked, but did a tiny bit of trotting and cantering. It was a gloomy chilly day, especially after the amazing weather we've been having, but.. it didn't rain on us, so yay. We came across some deer and geese but nothing else. Dan was super. I tried my best to let him be on the buckle, but not inverted. And bless him, he was trying. He put himself "on the bit" quite a bit. And every time he did I gave him neck scritches and tons of good boys. 

 

Then when the lesson was officially canceled, we headed back up to the arena for a bit. We were done with our trail ride anyways. We got some decent work. We had good shoulder ins and good haunches in at the walk. We had some decent trot circles and canter circles. Especially to the right.. that canter was divine. Or maybe it was left. I can't remember. But he was good. He was a bit fussy and snatched at his shoulder a good bit. And rooted and kept stretching down or just completely standing, turning, and staring into the distance. But when I (in my mind anyways) quietly and politely asked again for the correct neck posture, he was a good boy. I gave him a TON of walk breaks on the long rein. We even got a nice half pass both ways at the trot and canter although the left canter half pass was a bit fast. Hee hee. We didn't do a ton. And just as I was ready to quit... then got tempted to go for more, there was thunder in the distance. So thanks God. I needed the prompt to not push it. We headed in and untacked and the rain started. As I was pulling out of Ashland there was a huge lightning bolt and thunder crack, so.. good timing. And that was right about 2 pm. 

So... while I don't think the saddle is the magic answer... I do wonder if it isn't creating more discomfort. And I definitely still think the shoulder/neck is bothering him. I just wish I could figure out how to fix it. And hopefully it's fixable. 

Chaos

 Well... today was not what I had in mind. Oh well. 

They came to start on my arena today so the horses were locked in the middle field. I actually only did 5 horses today and finished up and was home by 3ish. Yahoo!!! I was all set to go to Ashland. I was deciding whether I wanted to take both Dan and Funny and hack (Ideally, but I was a little worried about leaving Fleck by himself in the middle pasture with the commotion) or whether I wanted to try to do some dressage with Dan in his regular bridle with no draw reins or german martingale. I checked in with the arena guys. They had gotten most of the fence down and we were discussing the arena mirrors. I ended up getting them to help me get them down, so that Mike and I didn't have to do it later... but that meant I had to unhitch...  Of course then the gooseneck ball wouldn't come out so we ended up putting the mirrors on their flatbed... But that meant that I had to help them unload them when they left, so... I had about an hour. Which meant.... no Ashland. But.. the skies were starting to look sketchy too and by now it was almost 4. So I tied Dan to the trailer and went to tack up. Something spooked him and he pulled back hard... almost fell over his butt.. because while I used the blocker tie... there is a knot at the end of his leadrope so he got it all the way through to the end, but then it held. Sigh. He finally gave and at that point it started raining. Hard. So I gave up and took him back to the barn for a few minutes. It seemed like it would pass quickly as you could see the sun shining. And it did.. And we got a rainbow!! Thanks God. So back out we went. And this time I tied him to the haystring. I tacked him up and we got on. I took him into the field to ride since the arena had equipment and they were moving my mirror posts and stuff. 

He's still unhappy. I even put him in the jump bridle and dressage saddle and just tried to get him to go around like a hunter. He didn't have to be in a third level frame but he had to not be inverted or braced. He fought me. He was fussy. He kept throwing his barrel at me. Of course... he was also worried about Funny because she was in the middle field. And then Jean came riding up, so Funny went running along the fenceline after her horses, which worried Dan. And then the heavy machinery work and moving piles of wood. He spooked and bolted twice. We did get some nice work, but it was seconds of it... between the chaos. Then it started to sprinkle some again. And then I realized that Dan's dressage saddle seemed to be pressing really tight against his withers... right where those odd rainrot/scabbly lesions are. Sigh... guess I'll call Cindy. So then I thought, well... crap.. let's see. I rode back to the trailer and swapped saddles out. Then we went back out. And then it really started raining. So, maybe he was a hair better, but it was so hard to tell because of the terrain and all the chaos. Plus he was still wired and getting a little upset. And there was lightning bolts. So... fine. Uncle. This was stupid. I rode him to the pasture gate and untacked him there and turned him loose. 

 

Sigh... so now I'm not sure what to do. I'm starting to panic that his neck is bothering him so much that he won't even carry himself in a hunter frame now... but maybe he needs to go in a third level frame to build muscle... but am I going to piss him off? Or is he just being naughty and I need to be firm, but allowing?? Ugh... 

better, but...

Today was Kathleen day. I loaded up and headed to go meet her and was going to ride after, but Kathleen texted and said she was running late. So... I opted to go ride first and let her do the other horse first so we didn't have to wait and be too late in the day riding. So I didn't get a ton of riding time.. not much for hacking. We did our dressage ride and... yucky. I gave him a ton of breaks but he was still fussy and his tongue kept coming out. We did have a few good moments though. Our hack was short and he seemed fatigued... or weak. It wasn't great. 

Kathleen did agree that his neck and shoulder muscling looked worse again and there was some negative tension. She did her magic though, so hopefully this will help. 

Ughhhhhhhh

 Ughhhhh.... Today was another beautiful day! It was 44 when I woke up but rapidly warmed up to 80 degrees. And no humidity yet! Yay!

I got the horses fed and went for a quick run. Then I loaded Dan up and headed to my lesson. Rana was a little late so I decided to hop on. Because.. it's a beautiful day! We just did some walk work and focused on the slow specific walk... We did some turn on the forehands and turn on the haunches and some haunches in and shoulder in and some half pass. All at the walk. Then Rana got there. She got on and spent a good bit of time at the walk. She said he looked better in the base of his neck but was twisting more today so she had to work harder to keep him straight. Well, micromanage more to keep him straight. But she did think he felt better. Until she trotted. Then he was rein lame again. She worked at it and got him sound for a good bit, but it would occasionally pop back up. Sigh... I'm so exhausted with this. I feel like I'm doing literally everything I can.... and we just keep coming back to this. Rana thinks it's related to jumping... as he was lame both lessons after my jumping rides.. and not the lessons when I hadn't just jumped. She thinks that if I can take a month, build up his neck muscling to allow himself to use his neck properly, then he should be fine again. Which.... sure... I'm on board with that, except..... We've got pine top XC schooling scheduled in 20 days. And that's not something I can push back a week or two. And... I could give it up, but... I don't want to. Allow me a moment.... Right now... the dressage work is sucking.. it's frustrating... I feel like we're back to square one... we're not making progress... I'm terrified that we're not making progress because he can't do it... physically/biomechanically.... I'm afraid that doing this level of dressage makes him hurt. Yet jumping is fun... jumping is progressing.... jumping isn't making me cry. So... it's hard to say that I won't jump him at Pine top. Especially because it's pine top, and this is my only opportunity basically for the year. So I'm pouting.... Yes, I understand that God has blessed me with a sound horse for the time after his injuries and trust me, I'm super grateful. And I know that I should be glad we're even doing 3rd level dressage work because, again... he might not have been able to had God not intervened, but... it's hard not to get depressed when I keep hitting these walls. And again, I'm worried that we're hitting the walls because this is his limit. This is where he says no, I can't. Not that he won't, or he doesn't want to, but... he can't. And I don't want to push him if that's the case. But on the flip side.... in theory, this should help his neck feel better. This should keep him sounder longer. Sigh... so yeah. For now, I'm sad. I'll have a little pity party... and then I'm laying it at God's feet and giving it to God. It will be what it will be. I'll keep fighting the good fight and doing everything I can for Dan. I'll keep trying to ride correct biomechanically sound dressage rides. And if he continues to tell me he can't, then we'll go chase cows or stick to eventing with the lower level dressage. But maybe if I keep at it, we'll figure out the issue and improve his health and function and comfort. God willing!

I let him graze a bunch and then we stopped and got feed and then I tossed him out to roll and pee. Then I grabbed him back up and adjusted him and acupunctured him. He got the electroacupuncture today and then Freddie showed up. I mentioned the rein lame thing and asked if he thought the pad should go back on. He basically said that it usually helps, so... we put it back on. We'll see if it helps him or not. He did well without it for a bit, but... maybe he just really needs it. So.. fingers crossed. 

He sees Kathleen Sunday too, so... he's getting the works. Oh, and I've got a nutrition consult in with Elisabeth, so...  crossing all my T's and dotting all my I's.  (i's?)

Bareback for the soul

Well poo. I was sort of hoping (and maybe expecting) to get done early today and be able to sneak in a ride. But alas... twas not to be. In fact, I even turned down an extra horse and still didn't get home in time. BUT, luckily Mike said he was fine if I hopped on bareback for a few minutes before I fed the horses, thus postponing cooking the humans dinner. So I did. 

Ahhhhhhhh.... my heart and soul needed this. I just put the rope halter on and looped the end of the lead back through and hopped on. We walked out to the top of the hill... and then Sissy came ZOOMING at us, let out a huge buck and fart and tore off. And Dan was SUPER! He didn't do anything. Which is good, because... bareback... halter.. no helmet...  Then she came tearing back... then reared up at us. Then took off again and wiped out going around the roundpen too fast. Ha ha.. I do NOT think she'll be a barrel horse. ha! Then she snuck up behind us and suddenly my knee got really warm from her breath. Goober! But Dan was great. He didn't do anything. We even trotted a tiny bit when the other two were a little farther away and not so threatening. 

We didn't ride long, but it was totally worth it. 

We jump Prelim oxers today!

 Well, A prelim oxer. Singular, but we did it damn well!!

We had a good jump lesson. We jumped a couple of jumps in a row and then finished with a course. Jacel reminded me that I've got to to trust it and have faith. I need to be a little braver and go for it rather than hesitate and let his "air brakes" kick in. Because when I'm not committed, he hesitates the tiniest bit and while he still jumps, it's not as smooth as when I cheer him on and encourage him the tiniest bit. When I just say "Yep, let's do this buddy" and keep my leg on and wait softly but encourage, then he gets all awesome and jumps right out of stride. 

So at the end, she told us to do a course and *IF* I felt like it was going well and I was up for it, to add the big giant prelim oxer at the end. She said IF I wasn't feeling it, don't try. No reason to push it. Well, we started our course and it was icky. ha ha. Doh! So we started again and he was awesome and I knew it would go well so we went for it and we nailed it!!! Yahooo!!! It might have been our best jump. And you know why?? Because I rode it. Rather than just let it happen. I made it happen, but not in an over-achieving way.. in a supporting encouraging way. Whoo hoo! 

We also managed a short hack before and after our ride because it was just too pretty of a day to go home. :) 

Check out those knees!!!! :) And I'm not looking too shabby either. :) Whooo hooo!