MB got me feeling all motivated and smart in our last lesson which Opie took as a direct threat to his superiority and ability to run the show when it comes to our relationship and promptly went lame.
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| still rly good at halting tho |
It actually started after his previous shoeing where my farrier trimmed him a little shorter at my request because he grows SO MUCH FOOT even on our summer four week schedule they were looking horrible by the time she came back out. Our first ride after that appointment he was in the indoor and felt a little footy up front, but he always takes forever to warm up in there--and he did. He felt just fine by the end of the ride.
In the past five weeks, he would have a day here or there where he came out and it was like, "Well, if I'm being picky it feels a bit like the LF", but then he would always work out of it without an issue. And most days there was nothing to note at all.
Until two weeks ago when we were once again stuck in the indoor and he was off in the LF. I ended up not being able to troubleshoot anything that would make him more comfortable. I texted my farrier and she said she had several horses this year that she's had to put pads on that have never needed them before because we didn't have rain for two straight months and the ground had been concrete. So that was our plan of action for the next appointment.
I was packing and keratex-ing in the meantime, and then I'd pop him on the longe quick to see how he looked. The LF remained gimpy, but then the hind end started to go as well. Lame on the LF going left, super lame in the hind going right.
Cue spiraling.
Obviously.
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| wants snacks, doesn't care about anything else |
First and foremost in this horse's training, I always try to make sure he is strong. Strong back, strong hind end, all the muscling, all the fitness. But now I'm like, is he not going to hold up to the level of strength he needs to move through the mid levels? Is me trying to pack on muscle and keep the hind end super strong actually breaking the hind end down? Is that a thing?
We're also at the three to four month mark out from his shockwave on the SI which is right on schedule for needing another round according to my vet. So is it that he's experienced shockwave once in his life, and now he refuses to be sound without it? Does he think I'm going to shell out $500 every three to four months to electrocute his ass? Because let's get the animal communicator back on the phone; that's not going to happen, Opie.
Is it time to inject the SI? We went with the shockwave because it was a less invasive test run to injections, but that's something that was on the board at our last vet appointment.
I dumped all this on MB's head one morning, and she attempted to talk me off the ledge by saying that maintenance comes with every mid and upper level horse, it's just a matter of how much and what it is. The chances of me training and competing my shitty little OTTB through Third and hopefully Fourth level on nothing more than annual hock injections is pretty much nil.
My game plan became to wait for our farrier appointment and put the pads on to see where that got us. The LF is probably just a stone bruise--he got one last spring and it took him a solid month to get over it. Hopefully he hasn't exploded some soft tissue in there, but I feel like he would be much more notably lame in the foot, and we would also be seeing swelling or heat or something somewhere in the leg as well. Maybe being sore in the front feet kicked off his own spiral and made him sore in the hind end. Maybe he was running around like an idiot (a regular occurrence) in his field and wiped out again.
The farrier came out on Monday and put leather pads on. Hasn't made a difference so far, he's still gimpy on the LF. And now I'm annoyed I can't do my keratex and hoof packing routine to that foot.
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| annoyed he had to stand and wait an extra two seconds for his bestie to finish before he could go for a trail walk |
Right now, my plan is to walk him. He wants to work, he's sound at the walk, he's all-in for the lateral work and strolling over poles, so we're going to walk. Lots of stretches, he's getting his boujie red light therapy back pad on every day, he gets PEMF this coming Tuesday, and I'm waiting on the chiro to get back to me.
I'm going to give all that a few weeks and see if there's any improvement. My biggest gripe about this horse is his utter inability to cope with any discomfort in his life. He could have the most miniscule thing wrong with him and he throws the biggest shit fit about it. He would react the same way to a broken leg with the bone protruding as he does when I straighten his browband while he's trying to stare out the door--that is, as if he's having the worst day in his entire life the whole world is out to get him he hates it etc etc etc. A bubbly, winning personality this horse has never had.
If he shows no improvement with the more moderate approach, I'll pull the gun on the SI injection. Hopefully his stupid LF is done being sore by then.
I'd be more concerned/faster on the trigger if he wasn't otherwise acting comfortable in his daily life. He's still happily acting like an idiot in his field, he feels sound walking and more than willing to work, and his weight and muscling look fantastic. Everything looks great in Opie Land unless you ask him to trot.
All that is to say, probably not going to be any riding updates around here for awhile again. It's definitely been one of those fucking years.
