Bodywork for All

 Even with the kiddos returning to lessons after the school holiday, I have finally gotten something of a handle on fitting farm management into my day-to-day and so we have hit our stride in a more normal routine again. This meant lots of work for the two greys, which inevitably led to some bodywork being required.

It started on Wednesday last week when I was grooming the Lanceycorn and he flinched when I was brushing his back. I checked and found he was pretty sore right behind his withers. We've been working quite hard this winter - lots of climbing hills and working on straighter, more collected canter work and mediums - and I dithered about giving him time off until he could see a bodyworker or keeping him in motion. I opted to keep riding and see if it improved or got worse, and with a lot of long and low stretchy work, the tenderness was better but not gone.

hacking a very spicy Stardust, who is at last sound and back to work after her abscess ordeal last year, in lieu of lame Lancey

I checked in with a physio/massage lady who could come out this week and she said to keep him moving and stretching until she visited, but this backfired when he argued with Sahara and kicked the stable wall, bruising his left hind. It was really mild but he was a bit lame at first so he had several days off while we waited for the physio.

Meanwhile, Arwen was working really well on the whole, but I could tell she needed some work on her hind end. She had one day a couple weeks ago where her rein-backs broke halfway through the ride. She's always struggled a bit with them, which worsened after the birth of Wynnie and the subsequent sagging of the dragonbelly, but that day she did them nicely and then flatly refused to do them at all. Refusing outright isn't like her so I backed off and we just touched on them the next day, where she did them but begrudgingly.

why yes that is a matchy new browband

She also had a few moments where she wanted to rear or kick out at my right leg - Lancey uncharacteristically did this a couple times too, so I'm certain my own body is funky as well. While she absolutely understands the changes mentally (it didn't take long), she also had some difficulty changing left to right, leaping through them in a way that felt like she was struggling to get her right hind underneath her. Most horses would simply change in front and go disunited, but not the dancing dragon. Oh no. Increased airtime was absolutely her solution to this problem.

On Monday, we rode in the double. I've been alternating the snaffle and the double lately - she's okay in the snaffle for a ride or two, then goes back to pulling like an absolute freaking train - and it works really well. It keeps me honest about the connection but also prevents my arms from being pulled out of their sockets. (Dragons gonna dragon). We played with the idea of the pirouettes, which I have no idea if we have any right to be doing, but she sat down and lifted really well to the left. The right was a bit more messy, but she gets the idea. We finished by taking E2 and Leia for a hack, for which Arwen was absolutely impeccable. For once.

a behaving dragon

Lancey's leg looked fine, but I gave him an extra day off to be safe and just replaited his mane instead of riding. I did Wynnie's mane too, including asking a bit more than usual of her by tying her next to the tack room and plaiting her there while Lancey went inside to the stable. She was concerned about this at first and remained quite wiggly throughout, but respected my space in the end and settled considerably when she realized that standing quietly resulted in treats. We also measured Wynnie for the first time in ages and discovered that she's just shy of 14.1hh at 18 months. Considering that Arwen and Dakota are both 14.3, I'm guessing she might turn out a little bit bigger. Erin holds firm she's going to leave hony territory behind but I cling to my hope that she'll be 15.1 at the biggest.

Tuesday morning I lunged Arwen in the Pessoa real quick so that we could fit in a workout before Lancey's physio came. She's surprisingly pleasant to lunge and keeps most of the chaotic good under wraps, although on this day she wanted to fall in to the right, which had become a thing under saddle lately too.

The physio lady was met with an absolutely disgusting grubby Lancey, which unfortunately is the Lancey we have this winter as my clippers died a tragic death after a decade of faithful service. We took him to the barn to take thermal pictures, which was cool to see. He was a bit hotter on one side than the other, and there was some heat over his lower back, but otherwise he looked fine.

I've never been given a more detailed and thorough report than from this bodyworker - hugely recommended

Wynnie lost her marbles in the paddock because Lancey was out of sight, but to his credit he didn't get stressed or wiggly. He answered a few times when she called him, but didn't call to her first. Before long, he was enjoying a lovely massage, especially on his lower back and bum. The physio didn't find any restrictions or particular problems - she said he was just muscle sore from working harder than normal and building strength. After the massage, his back wasn't tender at all anymore. She also showed me some massages and stretches I could do to help him as he builds strength for the more collected work.

Finally, Lancey got his butt taped with kinesiology tape. It stayed on surprisingly well for how dirty he was, but I had to pull it off on Wesdnesday afternoon because it had started to come loose.

Both ponies had Wednesday off because we drove halfway across Mpumalanga to go and see a traumatized Appaloosa who is coming to visit in the spring for E2 and I to try and help him. He was interesting to work with and so kind. I admit that, now that I'm not the one who actually has to get on, I look forward to working with a remedial one again. We haven't had one in ages.

Before we went to meet Trauma Appy, though, the chiro visited Arwen. He found restriction in her left bum and correspondingly in her right neck, so she got acupuncture and adjustments. Nothing was major or injury-related, just normal maintenance, so he left us with instructions to do a stretchy ride on Thursday and then normal work on Friday.

she was only moderately incorrigible for this visit

Thursday rolled around unusually overcast and blisteringly cold with a howling wind, but with strict instructions from the physio and chiro not to let the horses stand around and get stiff, I saddled Lancey up with freezy fingers and tried for a ride. He was a little spooky and spicy, only to be expected for someone who'd had a week off and was being ridden in that weather, but felt really good. The bodywork had clearly left him feeling loose and powerful, so we had a good time and he was lovely in the bridle for the first half-hour or so, only getting a bit fussy toward the end.

This thing of his with throwing his head on occasion has been a thorn in our sides ever since I bought him (which was... four years ago?) and it's such a hard one to figure out. Nobody can find a physical cause, but I have this nagging feeling that surely if it was purely a training issue, it would have resolved by now. It's better, but still remains the focus of most of our sessions. I've occasionally gotten myself into the trap of forgetting about his back end (which, obviously, doesn't help at all), but even with the rest of his body in order, he's always looking for a way out of the contact. It's been tempting to give up on dressage altogether but he can be so, so good and so, so enjoys attention, so we'll keep searching for ways to finally get rid of the issue.

always wanted a halter like this as a kid lol

By the time I was done with lessons that afternoon, it was absolutely frigid and I couldn't bring myself to do much more than pull Arwen's snaffle bridle on and walk around in the arena for fifteen minutes. She was really well behaved, to her credit, despite the weather.

Friday was a fabulous day. Arwen gave me the time of my life that morning despite another windy, overcast day. We test rode most of Medium 3 and she felt incredible in the bridle - soft and easy and more supple than usual. Her trot work was all totally solid, and most of the canter work was good, although I didn't set her up well for the first change left to right which made the change immediately after that a bit dodgy as well. Still, we would have gotten through it at a show, which was great.

The Lanceycorn was slightly less great on Friday afternoon than he had been on Thursday, but not dreadful. I dialed our half-passes back to the long diagonal instead of the short diagonal to work on the impulsion and correctness and he gave me some really, really good ones in trot. We've pushed pause on the canter lateral work and changes again (sigh) because of the connection and straightness issues, but hopefully we'll get back to that really soon.

A good and busy week for the greys while Thunder continued to enjoy big boy school. More on that next week!

God is good.