She wasn't visibly lame to anyone else except in a few spots where she very clearly headbobbed, it was more of a general reluctance to reach out with her front leg, slamming on the brakes, and being in a general pissy mood. She's nothing if not dramatic and I decided to air on the side of caution and scratched her from the show.
Honestly, it was a bit of a blessing. I had been unable (and a bit unwilling a few times) to make ANY winter jumping lessons and combined with my bout of self doubt I had not really actually jumped anything and have been in need of some serious lessons with my trainer. I had been on the fence about scratching anyway, I didn't want to enter the ring with confidence issues and not be able to provide her the positive support she needed.
Luckily the show had quite the waitlist so I am able to get most of my money back!
She was magically %100 sound a few days later. Either she had an abscess that resolved itself, she had tweaked something in her lesson and was now better, or she was making shit up because she heard the word "bath."
With the entire weekend free, and my very own truck and trailer at my beck and call I decided to go ahead and take her up anyway the morning of the show to hack around all the rings. She's pretty good at shows but she could always be better, and it will be the first time she has hacked outside since last fall. It'll be a nice low pressure atmosphere and I think it will do us both some good.
Hope everyone else is enjoying the nice weather on their horses!
I like that, "she was making something up because she heard the word 'bath'". Could be my mare's thing too... ;)
ReplyDeleteWhen she's sound 24 hours later I call it an excuse!
DeleteGood idea to go anyway just for the atmosphere. You can never get too much relaxing exposure.
ReplyDeleteIt was great to get there, get set up, hack around, and not have to worry about any pressure for me or for her!
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