What's Up Wednesday

 

Oh boy, I'm late getting this done today! We just have one more week of family dinner Wednesdays and then the parentals head south, so hopefully I'll be on a better schedule after that. I don't have too much to talk about today anyway because I got very lucky and had a vet appointment for some maintenance for Al and Shiny on Friday. Thus, they both had the weekend off. It was kind of nice to have an extra easy few days!

When I rode Shiny earlier in the week, I wasn't happy with her left lead canter. At all. It felt really stiff and kind of shuffly. I knew it had been awhile since we've done her hocks, and she'd been stocking up a little behind which she does when she needs them addressed. But I also felt something up front. Not obvious lameness, just a little nqr. Doc agreed and went back in her history to see if we'd done her coffins before. (She flexed a hair off left front coffin, which validated what I was feeling before the flexions.) Turns out we had done them several years ago, so it was nice to know that this wasn't anything new and should be easy to fix. So we went ahead and did hocks with a bit of steroid (we're extra careful with her and steroids due to her obvious weight problems and fear of laminitis that comes with that) and then did the coffins with Prostride, which is what we did before. She had the weekend off and then I got on her Tuesday and she felt like a whole new pony. I love when the fix is quick and easy! (Albeit pricey...) 

She had a nice nap during her treatments

Her kiddo rode her today, and said she thought Shiny felt so much better too. I didn't let her jump yet, but she will on Saturday. 

I have to give Al some big virtual pats on the neck for last week. He came out relaxed and very rideable Tuesday through Friday. We didn't end up jumping because I was so happy with how he was going I didn't want to ruin it. Ha. Amateur problems. But I do plan to pop some small jumps this week hopefully. He also had the weekend off so it's taking some time to get his brain back this week. Yesterday I warmed him up on the lunge line and he was actually pretty good and not particularly tense or nutty. Unfortunately, as soon as I got on the neighbor decided to weed whack our shared tree line which is something Al really can't handle. I tried riding at the opposite end of where neighbor was working, but my ring isn't all that big, and there really wasn't any escaping it. Al had worked for a bit on the lunge before I rode, and so after a few laps of trot I just opted to try again another day. I felt like Al was really trying his best, but it was just a little too much for him. Not sure if you all remember, but he had the same reaction when they were weed whacking around the indoor ring at the boarding barn last winter. It's just one of those things that absolutely terrifies him. Like heart racing nostrils flaring terrified. We've come so far in getting relaxation while we ride, that I didn't see any reason to undo it. So I gave him a big pat after a couple of  nice walk circles and brought him back inside. He was significantly better today, though neighbor was tinkering around all along the tree line again. Not with machinery this time at least. Al was still not particularly cool with it, but he tried REALLY hard and we got a full ride in. Did I canter that long side today? No I did not. But we did lots of passes by at the walk and trot and we cantered the rest of the ring both ways. So I'm calling it a win. It's supposed to rain tomorrow (thank GOODNESS, we haven't had any rain in 18 days) so the neighbor shouldn't be an issue. If it's not raining too hard maybe we can get some real work done. Fingers crossed. Though if we get rained out I wouldn't complain. We need it desperately. 

Doc was really pleased with how Al looked compared to the last time he saw him. At that point, he wanted our farrier to do some work on that upright heal and give it some time. So that seems to be doing much better. But last time our body worker was out (which was right around the abscess time) she felt some stifle stuff which I also thought I was feeling under saddle. He has some wonky stifles, likely from all the breeding he did before he came to me. And we have done them once before a little more than a year ago so I figured we'd address that next time doc was out. After flexions, doc felt like that was a good thing to do for him. 

Group nap time

Despite our work being a bit rather tense so far this week, he feels a million times better. I'm working easily 2/3 less hard to keep the canter and his trot feels so much more powerful. I even had to ask him to slow down twice today which is a real rarity for him. I'm excited to get back to work with him! 

Eros didn't need anything this vet visit which is also rare... Lol! So he's just plugging along. I let Shiny's kiddo hop on him both days last week when she came and I think I already mentioned that she popped a few cross rails with him. 

She did a nice job with him. He's an easy horse in that the less you do the better he goes, but he's not that easy to ride because he has a ton of impulsion and it's really hard to just sit still up there. I've never ridden a horse that jumps you loose over tiny jumps the way this one does! It's also a little tricky when he wants to be a torpedo which he really does since he hasn't been jumping much. So I was really proud of kiddo for being brave and trusting me when I said the worst thing he'll do is go a little fast. She's a lot like me in that a new horse that's a little fast or a little spooky is a little scary for her. Fear of the unknown I think. So it was a big deal for her to be so brave up there. She even cantered the jump a few times! She remarked that he wasn't really scary when he got fast because she knew she could stop even if she couldn't slow down the canter. And that's exactly him in a nutshell. You can always stop him. You just can't always adjust him. There's worst things for a horse to do. 

I jumped him today over a handful of fences but he was full on torpedo. But it was still fun! Ha! I love this horse. 

I actually let Eros have Sunday off with the others because I really wanted to pull everyone's manes. I know myself pretty well and after doing chores, I figured if I rode Eros I would talk myself out of doing manes. So I skipped that ride and was otherwise responsible and did all the manes. Shiny and Eros need one more session, but everyone is looking significantly less feral. 

And that's what's happening over here! I'll have something exciting to share next week I think. So stay tuned for that!