The final day for App is coming, which really sucks but I know I am making the right choice. Every time I ask the barn manager is she sure I should wait, she says yes. He walks like he is neurological, but he hasn't fallen down, he is still very chipper, and still very social. He doesn't seem to be in above normal pain, and she says to keep staying the course. So I am.
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| Free ranging App |
He had his last farrier appointment, we trimmed only his front feet. He was too unsteady to try his hind feet, but he stood for his front feet like it was 12 months ago. No fighting to hold his foot up, no struggling to keep his foot up, no straining to keep him balanced, it was odd. Nice, but odd. He had his final massage. He got his final round of dewormer. He got a bath last week because he was FILTHY. I think if I keep going as status-quo, maybe the lie to my brain won't register? Overall he is still happy and moving around, so we just keep on keeping on.
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| With 8lb of apples and 10lb of carrots per week, he sees everyone as a walking treat dispenser now |
Mia has had a rough time lately. She had the random lameness from the last post. That turned into a big abscess that blew out right where the two scratches were in the picture. She was better for 2 days and we went on a trail ride and had her feet done, but then her abscess came back and she was lame for another week. Then I went out of state for a week, and last weekend I was out of state again. I rode 2x last week, but didn't work on anything serious because I was gone so much.
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| That's a massive blowout right there |
Since I tend to work best under a deadline, I figured the best thing for me to do since I hadn't ridden any training ride in 3 weeks was to enter a dressage show for this upcoming Sunday. Makes sense right? SMH. I think I am crazy at times. Last week was the first time I had ridden since last Wednesday and we just did some light fitness in the field to help blow off any steam. It confirmed that neither of us are in any sort of fitness condition, unless "round" is a fitness condition?
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| Apparently a coordinated attempt to block dressage rides |
Last week we did some actual dressage and while we had our normal fights, Mia was actually really good. For basically having 3 weeks off, she tried fairly hard and was game to get back to work. She needed a pretty strong reminder to move off of my bad leg, and that moving through the speeds in a gait does not mean GO FAST ALL THE TIME, but I was happy with the ride.
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| He is always RIGHT THERE |
My plan was to ride every night except Friday to prepare for this random dressage show. It is a "fix-a-test" show. I was not 100% sure what to expect, but I entered with my Training A test. I figured if I can make my brain chill TF out over the fact I am doing a Training level test, maybe we can actually do a decent test on the 2nd attempt. And THEN maybe we can get a decent score when we actually do a HT next month. Because I really want to do another Training HT this year and I am dangerously close to missing the opportunity yet again.
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| Lengthened trot! |
We DID ride every day last week except Friday. And we did make it to the show. How did it go? Stay tuned!
