Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
20.01.19 You would find me sat on the sofa with a hot water bottle soothing my aches after taking a somersault
I knew as soon as I got the saddle out the tack room I shouldn’t have gone out for a plod.
We had swapped back to the old hay this week and although he wasn’t great on the yard stones he wasn’t that bad and we thought in our boots and pads the cushioning would be enough for a short plod.
We brushed the mud off with our normal he rubs me and I rub him bonding but the teeth came out once we put the saddle on and he flinched with a lot of tension as my hand went up and down his side.
He let me girth up and get on straight away without any humping so off we went with our human comforters on foot. The stride length was ok and with the initial absence of the staccato striding we carried on
Once on the busier road I wasn't feeling the relaxation happening at all, we had lots of over reacting to noise and movement but all four hooves on the floor so we carried on.
Sometimes you just need to go with your gut and walking up to the grass just didn't feel right. Unfortunately, the tension increased and turned into a little rodeo as we went onto the grass path.
I managed to stay on for two drop shoulders but the third launched me. Luckily, I held on to the reins and then Dad grabbed him as I got back onto my feet.
We decided it was best for us all to walk home on our own feet/hooves and not remount.
No one was badly hurt. A little knock to horse and human confidence
Cooling Routine
Hot hooves and legs, pulse not particularly strong but there was enough discomfort to effect exercise.
Our soothing / cooling routine involves the Aqueos gel of essential oils and organic sulphur in liquid form that is easy to apply to help reduce swelling and heat.
Combing this routine with our Cavallo Hoof Boots and insert pads to give him some comfort on the stoney ground
Looking back over the previous few days he had been ferociously kicking at the bucket as he ate his dinner. But impatient eating isn't unusual.
He was working ok ish on the crunchy hay last year and its one of the batches we tested, on paper it shouldn't have been bad for him.
I have kept him on this batch as I have no idea if it was the change of hay or something else he found in the hedges that upset him.
Fast forward to February Snow.
Having had some reset time and not showing distress day to day I decided the snow would be a good soft landing if needed and it would also cushion against the stones if there was still any foot tenderness.
As most of his over reactions are to tacking up and mounting then trotting there was only one way to find out how he felt.
I massaged his left side that Back2It Chiropractic suggested whilst the saddle cloth was on his back. No reaction to the right side but grumpy to the left side. We remembered the tension points mentioned at the TRTmethod demo and we did some hoof moving in hand before mounting.
No mounting block tension today. I just flung myself on and off we went
We plodded round the snow deep field edges a couple of times but concentration levels were on an all time low and he paid hardly any attention to me. To be fair to the Ninja brain cells, the kids next door were very loud and playful in the snow so I cant blame his curiosity getting the better of his concentration.
I decided to keep it short and stay on.
After our buckaroo I have no idea why he let me tack up and why he was happy to plod about compared to two weeks ago.
It just feels like a lucky dip each time I get the saddle out the tack room
On Hold...……….
Being super sensitive he takes time to reset when it goes wrong so I don't want to push the work so no Online Dressage For Jan or Feb
Gutted (excuse the pun) to be back to square one but we will be back to happiness again soon.
I have decided to take the Equi-biome test for one last attempt to find some answers. The test can take up to ten weeks to come back, my skills of patience aren't the best, but all I can do now is wait
