Brrrr

I'm back home drinking hot tea and trying to warm up after my lesson tonight :). I got to the barn in time to trot out Dude and see that he is still off, so I decided to ride Bestie. I lunged her on Sunday and Monday, although Monday was sort of a weenie lunge with not much action on her part nor effort on mine.

It ended up being just two of us in the lesson tonight. I hadn't really thought through the change in weather (lots of snow, colder temps), so I was lucky that I had pretty much my whole ensemble of jeans, long johns, wool socks, etc. in the car, and enough outer layers stashed in the barn already to keep warm.

We did a lot of walking and talking, and Bestie was really relaxed. At about the 40-minute mark I suddenly started to freeze. I think I just hadn't been moving enough. That was right about the time we moved into trotting. Bestie made it almost around the indoor at a lovely little jog, then kicked into high gear - trot trot trot trot head up in the air trot trot trot trot. I know I wasn't helping and in fact, I may have initiated the wild trotting, because I could feel myself tensing up and shivering from the cold. Heading back to the barn after a short calming walk seemed like the best option.

It's hard with her when it's cold because she doesn't like having the quarter sheet on her haunches, and using that is the sure way for me to keep warm. I may have to dig out the insulated riding pants on these days when the temps are mid 20s or lower. All in all, she was good, especially considering she hasn't been ridden in at least two weeks. Got her and Dude all dressed in their winter blankies prior to heading home, since it's supposed to be really cold for a few days. My toes have thawed and my cup of chai tea is tasting really good tonight.

Back in the saddle, Part ... 2? 3?

So I did join the lesson group on Tuesday nights the week of Thanksgiving, and it was fun, but the experience was curtailed by the fact that Dude was lame. I didn't discover that until the lesson was about three quarters over, because we practiced a lot of walk-halt transitions and good movement at the walk before moving into trot.

Right away he felt odd to me and Emma confirmed that he was indeed off, seemingly on the back left leg, which is where he's had the scratches. But the scratches are definitely on the mend and have healed to the point where I find it hard to believe that the tiny rough spot that's left would bother him. Maybe he tweaked the leg in the field goofing around. Who knows, really.

So my return to lessons was brief! One night. We put Dude on bute for a couple days. I trotted him last night and he was still off. I don't have a plan except to give him some more time off and see how it goes. He's had such issues with his feet/heels lately with the wet weather that it wouldn't surprise me if he has another abscess brewing. And he's about a week-plus overdue for trimming and shoeing.

I'm thinking that in next week's lesson I may try Bestie, but that means I need to get my act together and lunge her a few times, because with the holiday, she hasn't been too active except for turnout and one low-key pre-Thanksgiving lunge. Work has been super busy and I haven't been able to spend as much time at the barn as I'd like to. Been one of those rush in, rush out weeks, ugh.