Yesterday started my three days off. Three days in which it was going to be 80 degrees and dry. So we started with a few laps of walking, then 8 minutes of trotting in one direction, 5 minutes of walk, 8 minutes of trotting in the other direction then another 5 minutes of walk. All was going well, so I did one lap of canter in each direction. Still all was good.
So we jumped a little, her working on being easy to and from the jumps, me working on getting up off her back a bit and being soft with my hands. It wasn't perfect but she was manageble.
Then I got up this morning to feed and it had all gone to hell over night. Seneca was off again on the same right rear leg. Insert screaming and banging of my head against a wall here.
So we are back to square one. I have lots of options but none of them I really want to think about too hard right now. I could have the vet come back out to the tune of another 300$. I could give her more time off, do flat work only and see if she stays sound with no jumping. I could just agree in my head and heart to retire her, at which point I will be doing one of two things. I could get a project horse put time, money and training in to it then sell it for a decent profit so I can possibly by the packer event horse I should have. Or I could roll the dice on another OTTB again.
I'm just not ready to make these choices yet. I'm thinking May is when I'll make the hard choices. Until then I will try to get the Spotted Beast going and content myself with competing him.
Keep it between the flags everyone.
So we jumped a little, her working on being easy to and from the jumps, me working on getting up off her back a bit and being soft with my hands. It wasn't perfect but she was manageble.
Then I got up this morning to feed and it had all gone to hell over night. Seneca was off again on the same right rear leg. Insert screaming and banging of my head against a wall here.
So we are back to square one. I have lots of options but none of them I really want to think about too hard right now. I could have the vet come back out to the tune of another 300$. I could give her more time off, do flat work only and see if she stays sound with no jumping. I could just agree in my head and heart to retire her, at which point I will be doing one of two things. I could get a project horse put time, money and training in to it then sell it for a decent profit so I can possibly by the packer event horse I should have. Or I could roll the dice on another OTTB again.
I'm just not ready to make these choices yet. I'm thinking May is when I'll make the hard choices. Until then I will try to get the Spotted Beast going and content myself with competing him.
Keep it between the flags everyone.
Maybe hind shoes if you don't already have them? My horses soundness improved with hind shoes.
ReplyDeleteI agree with L. My horse was also oddly off and I put hind shoes on. He is better now! Aside from I wish you the best - I know how frustrating this kind of situation can be.
ReplyDeleteThanks guys. I'll bring that up with the vet when she comes back out. Yeah I just can't give up yet, so one more try at trying to find the cause. I really don't think it's in her feet though. I have a truly excellent farrier, and she would have seen it if it was foot related I'm sure. My gut is telling me she either pulled a tendon of some sort high up on her rear leg, in the hip joint, or in her back somewhere. I emailed the whole scenario to my vet yesterday while I was at work, and I should get a reply next week. I'll let you guys know how that goes. Thanks for the support!
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