On Track

Whatever clunkiness was cropping up in the canter is gone again (thankfully) and upon reflection Prair kinda felt like crap a few days into trotting for the first time too.  So perhaps its just a muscle issue as she remembers how to be a horse again....

kisses

In fact the last couple of rides have felt over the top amazing.  While the success of this rehab for Prair's left front remains to be seen - all of the walking, stretching and boring repetitive everything has done wonders for her back.  She feels really strong and really light, which is not what I expect when I ask an out of shape, out of practice mare to work.

I think the feeling of strength is coming from Prair being much more comfortable over her topline and her newfound willingness to sit.

Whereas I used to be able to ask her to sit back and wait (especially in the canter).  It was something that was hard for her and longer we did it (like in a flat class) the more of a struggle it was, usually ending up with a long, flat, rather quick stride.

Currently, if I sit up and half halt, I can literally feel the mare lower her hocks and settle back into her stride.

And then?  She just stays there.  Loose rein, light seat, STAYS THERE.  Floppy ears and all.  The ease of it has me being a tad lazy/lenient in our canter work since the whole concept of slow and steady is just so novel and so much fun!

So at least we're solving something.  That fact makes everything feel a tad more productive than a never ending-rehab-purgatory.  But the glimpse of strength and relaxation makes me all the more greedy to be jumping and working and enjoying that easy, soft ride. 

Here's another clip from the other day.  More trot. 

Since we've added the canter back in the mare's frame is a tad easier to elevate and energize, though she can only sustain that for a few minutes.  This clip is from the end of our trot set, so you can tell she's a bit tired and not as snappy as she is when we start.  I'm also slowly adding in more lengthen/collect work and will try to get a clip of that at some point too :)



We tack on another 5 minutes to our trot work after Thanksgiving (for which I'm thankful) and then assuming all continues well we will ultrasound again two weeks from Thursday. 

Thermal is still on the radar, though I'm scared to buy my plane tickets as I think that will totally jinx things....