Whomp Whomp

There hasn't been too much happening out here on the western Canadian prairies since my last post. 

I've been managing a couple of rides per week, at a walk and trot. The good news is that my leg has been feeling pretty good during and after a ride - other than consistently twinging it while pushing off that leg from the mounting block while getting on. The bad news is that more often than not it's still a bit achy at the end of the day after putting 20,000 steps on it most days (well, 10,000 on each leg to be accurate). Not nearly as bad as it was through June and July, but enough to make me just not want to ride. The progress is slower than I would like, but it is still progress.

Stitch has been a good boy with the intermittent rides. One of the things that I wanted to work on during these slow rides was being able to get some flexion but not falling in onto the shoulder just because his nose was a couple of inches to the inside. The left is more of a struggle than the right, but at a walk it's been coming along nicely. The trot, not so much. 

We've also been working on keeping a bit of shape through the walk/trot transition. He's so close to getting it consistently, but still loses his balance in the last bit before picking up the trot. I generally get a couple of good efforts per ride though, and I know it'll get better and better.

Not for a couple of weeks though - Stitch came up a bit off a few days ago.

When I brought him in, I noticed that every time we stopped he rested his right hind. I popped him on the lunge and he was definitely off on that hind when it was on the outside of the circle. Not crazy off, but for sure was not right. 

With him wanting to always keep that heel off the ground, I thought that maybe an abscess was brewing. I made sure to bring out the pack of diapers I have for this occasion the next day, and he hasn't held that leg up since. Go figure.  

I also found out that the day he came in lame some of the geldings had been playing Black Stallion, on a day that was very wet and rainy. The person who told me that wasn't sure what horse she saw rearing with her horse across the field, so I'm not certain that it was Stitch, but I'm sure he would have been involved at some point. 

Today (which was actually Sunday) on the lunge I couldn't decide if he still looked off or not. So it is getting better. The plan was to give him a few more days off and hop on mid-week to see how he feels, but I realized today that Thursday through Sunday are all booked up with stuff and I won't be able to ride until the Monday after that weekend, so I might as well just give him the extra few days off. Other than some exercise on Wednesday to make sure his brain is settled for Thursday's farrier appointment. The young horse still needs that. 

We're still toodling along, slowly but surely. 

(Sorry about no pictures - Blogger has been difficult to work with lately and I don't feel like fighting with it. This post already sat for 4 days, so it's now with no pics or never.)