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!
No comments:
Post a Comment