So Depressed

I went out to work Ashke again last night.

He was happy to see me and very willing. Every time we work together, he gets a little bit better. We walked to warm up and then moved to the trot. His head came down, he lifted his back and we moved at a nice, active trot in both directions. He felt like he was floating.

We moved to the canter. He picked up his lead correctly. To the left was easier than to the right, but both are improving. I rode the right first, like I had planned. He was awesome, but tired easily.

When we moved back down to the trot, he struggled. His head was up and I could feel the hitch in his stride. It was more obvious to me, although no one else could see it, I could feel it. We walked out and cooled off, then I put him away.

I think asking him to lift his back has put undue strain on the right hamstring. That combined with the slip he had in the snow on Saturday seems to have set us back a bit. On Thursday, I am going to ride him lightly, with no canter, and see if we can loosen it up a touch. This weekend I will see if I can get him out on a trail and do some flat work toward the lakes.

Part of the problem in the arena is the deep footing. It is fairly thin on the outside of the ring where most people ride, but the interior of the ring is deep and spongy. This makes it so much harder for him to move, since there is no firm footing for him to reach and the sand moves as he strides down. I can't lunge him indoors, since the deep footing is the only place to lunge.

My only positive from this set back is that it seems to be minimal. It is not visibly obvious, and not as bad as he was after his last chiro appointment. I am hoping it resolves itself fairly quickly. No more riding under powerlines in the snow.