Wahay another good week under our belt :) this is becoming a habit I could very happily get used to!
Jack is still not forward when we start and takes a bit of time and encouragement to get going and working properly but the ability is there and bad behaviour isn't so I'm not worried at the moment although I am considering whether something like a massage pad on before being ridden to warm his back muscles up might help, I will discuss this with Tamsyn our physio when she comes later this week to give him a check up.
I started the week with our usual lunge in pessoa and I worked him hard getting him to really open up and move forwards hoping to give him the confidence to do the same under saddle.
On the Tuesday the weather was windy and we had no one to hack with, the big field is now out of bounds as the cows have arrived so I decided to tackle a bit of schooling in the ménage for the first time in a couple of months.
I gave him a good warm up in walk doing lots of stretching and long and low and lateral before picking up trot. Jack had other ideas and felt that he would rather just keep walking thanks very much! So after a little discussion we were trotting, it was slow and behind the leg but he was going at least! We did a few more trot walk trot transitions and then he brightened up and started to work properly. A spook at the bottom of the school resulted in us picking up canter and as he was feeling happy and forwards I sat and allowed the canter to continue. I then changed the rein and asked for canter the other way and got it without any hesitation :) after that he felt so much better and was giving me some really nice work! I then did some figures of 8 in canter changing leg through trot over x and he was just awesome coming back easily and then picking up the correct lead everytime with no issues and not the slightest hint of hesitation. Thrilled was an understatement! I was grinning from ear to ear as I cooled him down :) I wasn't sure what to expect but he surpassed any expectation I had!
On Thursday I took him for a hack and we did the longest solo hack we have done since his operation. We went all the way to the end of the bridle path and back, about 4 miles in total, mostly trotting and cantering with a bit of walk where the ground was a bit deep and sticky. Jack tired towards the end but we had a lot of fun and he behaved beautifully all the way even through the roadworks with lots of spooky signs, cones, barriers and tape to look at. Another good day :)
Friday is always a bit of a rush so we just did the shorter hack that day, again on our own, going solo doesn't seems to be an issue at all now and again we had a lovely relaxed hack finishing with a lovely canter all the way back on the bridle path, Jack is obviously feeling fitter as he was keen and pulling all the way and still bright as a button when we got home.
I had to ride alone again on Saturday and didn't fancy another hack on the same route so with a free paddock I decided to try schooling out in the field to see if he felt any different. It was very very warm and the ground was pretty hard so I was planning on sticking to walk and trot. Also the paddock that was free is not flat and contains a public foot path so I took things steady. Jack felt lethargic and his walk was very flat and sluggish so I tried to liven him up a bit which he didn't appreciate, he didn't do anything wrong just stopped dead and refused to move at anything other than the pace he was happy with! When I insisted he did give me some better work but he was hard work and didn't feel like he wanted to do it much at all so I didn't do too much.
There could be a number of reasons, lower energy levels due to poor grass, the heat, the hard ground, being away from all the other horses etc.
I will have a discussion with Tamsyn about it all when she comes next week and see if she can identify any issues or provide any advice on it.
Hopefully there is nothing too worry about and he certainly doesn't appear to be in pain or unsound.
The issues with his near hind have disappeared completely.
Fingers crossed he is back to feeling on form after a holiday as we go away for 8 days at the end of the week and he will be chilling in the field for the duration which I think will do him good.
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