This week, we continued our rides in the arena. We worked on One Rein Stops & Cruising to establish our gas pedal, brake, & some cruise control. She's been willing & has even begun to hunt the stop a bit at times. I'm still in love with her fantastic lope!
We visited Jen at Knotty Equine on Thursday, May 5th. Jen did note immediately that she had a worm aneurysm so we will go ahead & treat with our deworming protocol to get rid of that. Her pelvis was rotated forward & had some kidney lockdown, more so on the left with a left ureter & bladder spasm. These are likely the cause of a bit of discomfort in her left stifle & hock (compensation) & associated with slight compensation in her right shoulder. Jen also did a bit of circulatory work. Mistie sure enjoyed the MyoPulse machine!
Overall, Jen said there was nothing major going on, just little common things that she sees in young growing horses. Most of those above areas are related to her being built a bit downhill right now as she's going through this growth spurt & the tightness caused by that & being under saddle for the first time.
Jen is VERY in tune with what's going on in a horse's body so when you see words like compensation, discomfort, spasms, etc. it's not that she's hurt or lame or other images you might conjure up like I did when I first began working with Jen. I am quite particular about not continuing to work with a horse in pain so Jen & I will be very upfront if there's something going on that we feel would warrant a break or halt in training.
We were hoping to not need to do a dental since K-State had done them on December 27, but when Jen put the speculum on Mistie to take a feel, we were quite surprised at the sharp points & imbalance that we found along with no bit seats. Jen took the sharp points down, restored balance, & added bit seats. You were also correct that there was still a remaining bit of that upper central deciduous incisor. Jen remove the biggest piece that was loose & ready to come out, but there is still a small piece that was pretty solid yet that we will keep an eye on, but it should be pushed out as the permanent continues to erupt. This particular incisor erupts at 2.5 & is in wear at 3 so she's right on schedule.
Next week, we'll continue to improve One Rein Stops & Cruising while adding Follow the Fence & Yielding the Hindquarters. If all is going well there, we may begin to transition into the snaffle under saddle the following week.
Next week's update will be posted on Thursday night.
Comments