The Pampered Prair

I bopped down to the barn Tuesday to clean up the trunk from the show, pat the pony and get some snuggles in.

After two weeks in a portable show stall, Prair is enjoying some well deserved downtime and rest.  

That Face.

The barn has a fairly regular routine of having our lameness/sports med vet out the day or two after each show to check on the horses, make sure everyone is comfy and take care of any maintenance.  At first I was a bit skeptical that we were simply taping horses together, but as I've gone through the routine a few times now - I love the proactive approach (even if my wallet doesn't).  The horses are always checked before long trips, and then again after, to see if anything cropped up with the stress and strain of traveling/showing.  

Most horses don't end up with much more than a short observation under saddle and jogging in hand, but for someone like Prair - with her finicky back and other correlated quirks, it's great peace of mind knowing she's not burning out of getting used up.

That said, Prair is quickly filling up her injection punch card and I'm thinking that if there were such a thing, we'd be close to our "buy 10 get one free." 

The vet thought Prair was looking great through her back (HUGE, HUGE HOORAY) so she spent her time investigating the hind end and trying to see if there was anything to the "something" that N has been feeling in the right hind.  

Prair hasn't been lame, but N feels like she just doesn't want to push off that RH quite as much as the left, and is less willing to really rock back and roll over it.  I promised that if she was still feeling that "something" after this show series, we'd investigate, so we did.

So Prair got flexed 27 ways to Tuesday and the only slight hot spots were her Right Stifle, and her LH Fetlock (?).  Stifle made sense with what we've been feeling, but vet didn't think it was nearly dramatic enough to warrant an ultrasound or any further diagnostics, so she suggested an injection to clear inflammation and see how Prair felt in work after that.  

The left hind is more of a question mark.  She's never flexed positive there before, but we have been talking about whether or not she's interfering a bit when she lands and goes for a lead change.  Currently thinking this might be more of an impact soreness from whacking herself than a chronic injury, we held off on doing anything with that.

The stifle injection means 5 days off, so Prair is under strict orders to just enjoy her pasture and some days without any work.  At the show I also noticed her nuchal ligament was extra tight and even "snapping" across her crest a bit, which isn't tragic and doesn't immediately affect her way of going, but it can't feel good.

Prair's nuchal has gotten really tight before, especially when the mare was guarding her back and really tense through the shoulder.. which isn't the case now, so who knows what the trigger is.

I do know that bodywork has previously really helped relax to her nuchal ligament - and that made me feel like a better horse mom - so I booked some bodywork for today to see if we can help the big girl release some of that tension.

Not such a bad week for Prairie (aside from the giant needle to the leg).  Some time off... a nice massage.. extra treats. All well deserved - and all should contribute to a happy, healthy relaxed mareface.

Prair's calendar is pretty open at this point.  We opted out of the show series in July that the barn is attending due to the... well..ya know, baby.  And I didn't think that traveling to Central Oregon for two weeks sounded like a wise/relaxing use of maternity leave (although it's tempting)...

I feel a whole lot better about skipping July when I remember that Prair hasn't had a month without a show since before Thermal (wow).   And while I love the idea of her having a steady, consistent season, I think she'll appreciate a slower month and I'll appreciate keeping my checkbook in my purse for once. 

We are aiming to be back in action in early August when hopefully Miss Baby will be ready to stroll around a horse show with me! (the lady at the baby store actually said "oh you have horses? you're gonna want the stroller with the bigger wheels if you go to shows!!")  Thank god someone is looking out for our baby/horse crossover needs!