Better/Not Better

Cautious optimism is always a dangerous thing with horses...

Prair looked great when I got to the show yesterday.  I threw her on the lunge myself just to take a peek before we bothered tacking her up and all looked grand.  No heat, no swelling, no lameness.

Warm up also looked grand.  Her trot was back to normal - free through the shoulder and lofty.

Her jumps looked good and patient.  Nice and slow, very relaxed.  All. Was. Well.

So we went to the baby ring for a 2'6" round to see what we had.

(she looks all Friday-Casual without braids in..)


Anyway, the course went well for Prairie standards.  For the first course of the day, in a sloppy, puddley ring after basically a day off, locked in a show stall... that's pretty chill.

So that's neat.

But after she came out we decided to head back to warm up before her second class and trot her out again to see if anything changed.

She started totally sound - but by the end of the first lap, that god damn head bob developed again and she was the teensiest bit off on that LF.

In a disappointed huff I sent Prair back to the barn, and myself back to the office to scratch the rest of the show.  It's always super fun to write the show office a $500 check for the pleasure of having shown in two classes.

(UGH).  Horses.  their timing is the worst.

I don't know what sort of weirdness only comes out after 20-30 minutes of work, but whatever it is I don't like it, and we're not showing after two days in a row of the same thing.

I feel terribly for her Half Lease Lady (who's birthday it was, doh!) but I just can't in good conscious keep Prair at a show (even for flat classes) when there's a big giant question mark regarding what this is all about.

Fortunately for me, everyone on the team feels the same way so there was no disappointment, or guilt from anyone, just concern and support.

So we loaded up and headed for home.  She loaded and hauled like a champ, though she was slightly concerned that none of her friends got on the school bus with her.

gorgeous day to drive, and all 14,000ft of Mr Rainier was out in the sun

Back at home she seemed to be a bit confused as to why the barn was deserted and no one else was coming home.

where is everyone!??

So we'll spend the remainder of the week/weekend at home, in our stall not playing in the pasture or at the show.  Stall Rest.  Monday we'll see what we have on our hands and decide if the vet comes out for more diagnostics.