- Thread starter
- #109
With the holidays coming riding is going to be a little hard to keep up on; I went this week, but am dog sitting for someone who is out of town so wont be able to go next week. The following week I am planning on going, but then the next week will be the day after Christmas so I don't think anyone is planning on having a session; I think everyone is planning on taking that time to be with family. Anyways, it's all kind of hit or miss the next few weeks. This week I did however saddle up Coffee (the first time since her injury). We went for a very easy, very short, trail ride. She has lost a lot of muscle tone in her back end from not being worked. I'm going to need to get her into the round pen to start to build some muscle back up. She did OK for the short ride we had; I didn't want to push her too hard. Under weight her back leg kept slipping out from underneath her. I was watching her ears they never seemed to flatten out, so I don't think she was in any distress or pain, just losing her footing because of general weakness. I did however get her to trot (or she decided to trot on her own that is). I was trying to take it nice and easy, a nice slow walk, but when the herd started trotting she got anxious; she walked at first, under my direction, until the herd started to disappear in the woods in front of us. Then she got really anxious and hurried to catch up with them. I don't think she was in any pain; I didn't notice any signs, but when we came to a halt I made the call to break off from the pack and head back to the ranch. I didn't want to slow the group down, but with her leg giving out underneath her, I didn't want to injure her anymore than she already was. There were 6 of us; myself and 2 others went back and 3 pushed on. When we got back I ran the hose over her leg for about 10 minutes (hoping the cool water would help any swelling). While I was at the wash rack Cannon was running around the pasture bucking and rearing up. I think he wanted to show everyone that he was healthy enough to ride too (he is still in the infirmary due to the puncture wound in his hip). It was good to see him so vibrant. After washing Coffee down I tended to feeding, cleaning stalls, turning horses out, and then headed home. It was a pleasant session even though my ride was very short. I was sore from being on the roof hanging Christmas lights a couple days prior anyways, so maybe it's a good thing I didn't go for a long ride lol. Just that short ride and I was feeling it the next day. Anyways, happy holidays to all; I hope you are all blessed this season and the whole year long.