Positive steps in the right direction

Slow. That is the best way to describe how things are going. We keep getting hit with subzero weather plus snow and ice storms which is making riding time scarce. Add in the fact that life has been busy, a recipe for disaster? Not quite, but close. That said, there are some things to celebrate. Since 2020/2021 was so shitty, I am trying to find the little wins. Like what you ask? Let me tell you!

The first thing to celebrate is Mia's Chiro results. 30 days ago she was all out of whack and very tender. The chiro did wonders for her and she was much better but I did another visit after 30 days because I wanted to make sure nothing fell back out of sorts. Which they did. She said while Mia regressed a little, she so much better than before. Lots of back, neck, and poll adjustments were made and we will do one more 30 day recheck. Then hopefully Mia will be ready to go back to as-needed treatments and the chiro thinks most issues will be gone. Success!

Tell me that isn't a beautiful image!

The second thing to celebrate is Mia's Lyme results. When we started this ordeal last April/May, her number was quite high at 4676 (I thought it was 6600, I was mistaken). When we stopped Doxy at the end of August, her number was 1165. Anything below 1000 is considered negative, and because she had been responding to the Doxy so well, the vet wanted to see if her natural immune system would kick in. I had her retested again at the beginning of January because I just needed to know. Did things get worse? Better? Stay the same? Was the soreness the chiro was finding a result of lyme or was it just the stall rest? Her results came back at 480! She is officially negative, and the vet was impressed with how low her numbers were. #BigWin

The last thing to celebrate is our trotting. We've only been trotting for a week, and only 3x thanks to the bitter cold/ice/snow, but it has gone exceptionally well. Mia has been completely nonplussed about the entire situation. No theatrics, no spooking, just happy to move. I have been able to stay bareback to work on my own fitness and intend to start riding in my jump saddle to really focus on my own muscle recovery while she comes back with me. Mia is definitely stiff in the trot and has no endurance, but she went from stall rest to a big pasture that is completely rutted with frozen ground. There is no running around happening so her fitness is going to come back through riding and that is okay. 

Moving well!

I finally threw her on the lunge line and let her canter vs her cantering while I was trying to evaluate her trot soundness, she is still sound and moving wonderfully. She is very weak and had a hard time staying in the canter, but we can work on that. She really wanted to canter and kept picking it back up, but she couldn't hold it for very long. I will likely start letting her canter on the lunge after some of our rides to help her build muscle. I am not supposed to canter under saddle until next month, so if she can build up some muscle and endurance without me, even better.

Fingers crossed things continue to move in such a positive direction. I still have zero expectations on the year 2022. I DO have the USEA show entry in June that I use or lose, but I am not even worrying about that for now. There is also a schooling show in April and a clinic in March, but I need to get us both back into a better place first, one step at a time.