Tired

I finally realized last night that both Ashke and I are tired and we both need a bit of a break.

We got in a bit of a fight on Monday over going back to canter work after sitting and talking with a barn fellow for twenty minutes. He didn't think he should have to work and so he resorted to balking and throwing his head up. It is his go-to temper tantrum. He got swatted on the neck with an open hand and then I threatened to sell him. He must of understood, because respectful and obedient Ashke returned and we spent 20 minute cantering in big circles. We would slow and walk until I caught my breath and then canter again, switching directions between walk breaks. We were both hot, sweating freely and pretty much done with each other at the end of our ride.

One night after our ride, just hanging out

I could barely walk on Tuesday. I pulled my right calf muscle on Saturday when we were riding at PVF, plus my groin and thighs are hating me right now. I had a lesson last night and both Ashke I felt off when we started. Except he felt off on the left hind. I basically hurt all over.

 More random video

I talked to Amanda about it during our lesson. He was obviously stiff and we worked a lot on stretching out the left side. We had a great ride and he was very responsive to my requests. Our transitions are getting better every time. However, we both felt tired.

I realized that I have been riding four days a week, mostly dressage stuff, consistently since Expo. The things we are working on are more and more difficult. I know I am feeling sore and old. Like really old. I can imagine that Ashke feels the same. He's seemed tired and a bit lethargic over the past couple of weeks. I was reevaluating whether or not I needed to adjust his feed (I really don't want to add oats because of his feet, but am considering some amplify, since his ribs are beginning to show and the extra fat will increase his energy) but I think we will try some rest first.

I love watching him move

We are going to give him four days off in a row. I am going to Arizona for a week to visit with my mom, and I will have our next show the weekend after I get home. I don't want to let him just sit, so Amanda will put three rides on him while I am gone. I will do a lesson where we will ride the dressage test on the Tuesday when I am back and then we will just hack and hang out on Thursday. Then our show day is Sunday. After the show, I think we will both take a break for the week and do a trail ride of some sort the weekend after. He's learned so much in the past three months and gotten so much stronger that giving him a break might be exactly what he needs.