RESULTS

I'm not sure how, but Kris and I got put in the wrong division at the turkey trot and ended up with a second place finish. 

If we were placed in the correct division we would have had a 4th place finish!

Either way a win is a win. 

Go Us!

(i can't stop laughing) 

Trial and Error

After my last post, Shadow stopped getting the higher protein hay.

He had off Monday and i rode Tuesday with no improvement. As a matter of fact i couldn't even ride him Tuesday. He lunged like a pro, he looked great but as soon as i got on him it was a totally different story. His walk was very short and choppy and when i asked him to move forward he would grunt, put his nose to the ground and spin into the center. Needless to say i left the barn in tears after lunging him for an hour, i was beside myself.

Dom came back out Wednesday after I told her I didnt know what else to do, luckily shes was close to me this day and could make a pit stop before heading home.

The plan was to put shadow back in his old bridle and his new saddle and see if maybe the bridle was causing the issue, eliminating one thing at a time.

Right before i was about to saddle him I asked Dom to check his back just for the heck of it and what do you know.. he was so back sore, like extremely. After not showing any signs of any soreness anywhere for the days leading up to this and of course now i felt like the worst horse mom there was.

We put the new saddle on him and re-examined it, and it did not fit him at all looking at it again.
We put my dressage saddle on him which he has been ridden in before and that we know fits and got on him to see if his attitude changed. It changed ever so slightly. He looked a little better for Dom and he was still a little bit of a mess for me, but i think because he could sense how upset i was/had been the last few times i was with him.

My brand new HDR went up for sale that night and i made a chiropractor appointment immediately.

The chiro came out Friday night and adjusted my boy and confirmed the saddle issue for me. Im really sad that the saddle i always wanted i cant keep, but what can i do, i need to make sure shadow is comfortable, that's what important.

Of course all of this was happened the week of the Turkey Trot at the horse park and I was not sure we would be attending anymore which was bumming me out also. The chiro told me to give him off Saturday or to ride him later in the afternoon to see if his attitude improved and then it would be safe to bring him on Sunday, which was the good news i NEEDED to hear.


Our ride saturday was better, but still not the usual. His walk was relaxed and he was calm, walking around on the buckle. He was still having trouble moving forward and still kind of being rude when asked, but better. He was still showing back soreness too, which is to be expected.

This morning he was given some bute just to be on the safe side and I checked him before we left, He was still showing some soreness so i rubbed his back with sore no more and we loaded up with kris and arrow and off we went to the turkey trot! We got all tacked up and ready and he was very excited and acting rude again. I walked him over to the ring and had to have someone hold him while i got up and he immediately started running off with me threatening to rear. I brought him down and put him next to arrow and we walked on. He was still acting up a little before we were sent out onto the trail, but he seemed to be getting his head back on a little until we got to the first part of the trail where there was a bridge.

Shadow was not having this bridge, he was not crossing it. He was trying to turn around and run the other way, literally. So i pulled his head in and circled him around. The circling then turned into spinning, a million miles and hour. I thought for sure I was falling off. I was so dizzy. My friend sam who was also with us, came back over the bridge to get us. Her 3 year old mare came over like a seasoned pro to hold shadows hand over this awful bridge. Shadow must have been a reining horse in his past life. LOL

 Once we made it over it was smooth sailing, he finally calmed down and we were walking through these trails on the buckle. He handled it great, the footing, the up and down hills, he was really a good boy and long as he was behind arrow. He loves his arrow. lol He even walked through a stream, jumped some logs and jumped a puddle. Thats my boy! Then at the end of our 4 miles we came out into an open field and we all trotted back. He was a little forward but moving beautifully. We were walking back to the trailers and I decided to ask him to canter, so i picked up my reins and he transitioned from the walk into the canter beautifully.

It really turned out to be a great day and I am hoping that now that we got this positive riding experience under our belt we can go back to normal. Now that he knows his saddle isnt going to pinch or hurt him any longer. I missed my good boy.

Now begins the hunt for another new saddle...maybe a pessoa, i tried one on him and it fit beautifully.

Wish me luck!

a hot headed standardbred... wait, what?

Last week, i got my christmas present from William. a beautiful new hdr saddle!

I couldnt wait for saturday to come so i could get to the barn and ride in it..Shadow has another idea.

He was super pushy on the ground, then dom arrived and helped me finish adjusting and fitting everything and he continued with his pushy-ness.

We started out lessoning on the lunge... dom's response "i didnt know you had an un-broke 3 year old! congrats on your new mustang"

he.was.crazy.

when he finally calmed down i got on, and he was acting like he had just came off the track or something. asking him to move forward he would burst into a canter and then pace. if i moved even the slightest bit, my hands, my legs, my butt, he was cantering. he didnt care.

OF COURSE. so now.. is it my new tack? what is going on? he was not himself whatever it was, he even had a different look in his face/eyes. like he was a crazy man inside there. 

i got down and dom rode for the duration all the while he was threatening to rear, spinning into the inside, bulging into dom's leg instead if moving off of it, all things shadow doesnt do. physical? behavioral? giving signs of both.. hmm. 

Lesson is over, dom is holding the gate for me and shadow come barreling out of the gate like a mad man and stops right in front of me. why? no reason. crazy horse. 

Sunday came and i had hope for better results. started on the lunge and he was better, but still not himself. Under saddle still the same rude antics, and a buck and kick to add to it. 

Switched saddles to my dressage saddle which i know he works perfectly fine in, and still the same attitude.

Had my saddle new checked, fits fine, a little low on his withers, but nothing a half pad doesn't fix to make it perfect. he was a little short strided in his bad leg, but worked right out of it. i checked him fore soreness, a little in his bad leg, but nothing out of the norm. I rubbed him down with thermaflex and went home.

I have seen this horse dead lame and still try his heart out so what is going on!!

Come to find out he has been eating left over dengie from one of the older horses, because he doesnt eat it all and shadow doesnt waste anything. 

Okay so maybe this behavior is from the weather change and this added protein in his diet? makes sense, right?

i gave him monday off... to recover from any lingering soreness that i may have missed.

Today his attitude on the ground is back to the normal shadow attitude, i checked him top to bottom to see if he was back sore or sore anywhere for that matter, nothing. i stretched him out, tacked him up and hoped for better results this time

 he lunged like a champ.. moving perfectly. what stifle injury, mom?

So with that i got on him. he was walking very short and choppy, so i asked him to move forward a little and off we went, into the canter and then pacing. over and over and over. i barley even had to move and we were running off and then putting our nose to the ground and cutting into the center.

I dont know what to make of this. 

Calls are out to the chiro and the vet to see if there is something i am missing. Have made sure he doesnt get anymore of the left over dengie and dom is coming back out tomorrow. 

ive already lost my mind and cried about it because i am at a loss and i hope that there is not something i am causing more damage to on him somewhere but he is showing no signs of anything. 

this girl is stumped.HELP.