Of course that doesn't mean I haven't been riding. It's stayed above 20 (well the actual temps anyway, wind chills are a separate story) so we've been doing the thing. I haven't dragged any jumps out yet. I had thought maybe today, but the wind was terrifying in the indoor and I was like nahhhh. Tomorrow's another day. Or next week. Or whenever I feel like it.
Since I don't have anything exciting to report on riding wise, let's chat about what the vet is coming for this week. We did injections not too long ago on everything that needed it (September/October somewhere in there) so I don't think we'll have any of that to do. But I have some things I want professional eyes on. Important to note, everyone feels (knock on wood) pretty sound, I just like to stay ahead of things ya know?
First up is Al. As I've mentioned a lot lately, he's doing much better than he had been emotionally. And with him finally starting to offer up some nice work, he feels good too. But he still has had some trouble with his right stifle locking so I want to have a look at that. Our canter is a hot mess and I think the stifle is the main culprit. I also want to pick doc's brain about ulcers again. Al is in a much better place right now, he no longer feels electric, but I've noticed some odd behaviors popping up here and there. He's been off the misoprostol for about two weeks now, and I just want to make sure what I'm experiencing isn't the ulcers back already. Namely, I'm having a very hard time picking up the canter. Sometimes he flat out refuses. At one point during our ride today he halted and refused to move. I dunno if you all remember Ducky the stationary hony, but I had a moment of utter dread that it was the 2.0 version. But after a moment Al went back to work. Regardless, I want to make sure I'm not missing something. It was an odd moment for sure, not his usual MO. I'm not panicking about that just yet. It happened at the same time the wind really gusted outside and the indoor sounded like it might just launch into oblivion. So it IS possible he was just spooking. Hard to tell with Al. He's unique. Anyway, those are our main things to discuss.
Eros for the most part feels pretty good. Especially with how cold it's been and his antics in the field. He pulled another shoe last week! A back one this time. He's coming due though so I think it was a little loose and it just was caught up in the mostly frozen grass. The foot was fine thankfully and the shoe was back on later the same day. (My farrier and his team are the absolute best!) Anyway, there are some little things I want to check in with Doc about. He's still very stiff through the right side of his neck. I'm wondering if maybe we should try a shockwave on him. I don't think we've done that for him yet. The other issue is that I'm still struggling to get him to lift his back. He feels very uphill with his front end, which is lovely, but then the back end is like trailing out behind us. I do think this is at least partially due to still using Al's too wide saddle. Eros' saddle should be back in a couple of weeks with the new panels on it. Fingers crossed that fixes this issue.
And then there's Shiny! I'm not sure exactly what I think about her. It's taking a lot longer than it used to for her to warm up. But also, it's ridiculously freaking cold out. So maybe she gets a pass there? She's struggling a bit to stay round and on the bit. It's normal for her to want to bounce off the contact tracking left, but she's doing that to the right now too. It's been awhile since her last neck shockwave, so it could be as simple as that. I'm not positive that's the issue though because she's pretty supple through her neck on both sides. Seems more like the trouble is coming from trying to lift her back. But then again, that could be the hocks... She is definitely dragging her hind legs. Her feet are worn in a way that I've not seen on her before. So what I really am thinking with her is that it could be epm again. We treated about a year ago and saw a big difference in her, so we might just need to do another course. We'll see what Doc has to say on Friday. She's not lame, none of them are, I just think she could be feeling better than she is.
So that's the plan for Friday afternoon! Figure out these weirdos and get them in tip top shape! I'm really excited to get back to some real work (once it's slightly less miserable outside) and ideally we'll do that with everyone feeling great. I usually wait to schedule this appointment closer to spring time, but inevitably it wounds up being much later than I really wanted. So I'm starting early this year in hopes that we'll be feeling ready and eager to do some fun things this spring and summer. Fingers crossed!
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