Formulating a plan

I had a mammogram early this morning and I didn't know how long it was going to take so I made Dan's vet appt for 1. Which meant... I had time to ride a pony in between. Yay! And luckily, the weather cooperated. So, I opted to ride Lyric because I wanted to see if the shockwave (and Lexi's bodywork) had made a difference. I groomed her and tacked her up and we headed up to the arena. I did a little bit of our pillar/thoracic sling work in hand first. Then I lunged her. She was kind of lazy and sluggish so I had to chase her a little bit to get her moving out. But she was sound. And it took a few minutes but she finally started to go soft and loose in her neck and not inverted. Good... at least you can! She did a little bit of long and low but was mostly neutral to slightly low. 

 

So then I got on and rode. We did a bit at the walk first to get her down and reaching and lifting her back. Then we trotted. And she was pretty good. She didn't seem as fussy in her back and head carriage... she wasn't going from inverted to peanut rolling back and forth.. and she wasn't as fussy/chompy with her mouth. She inverted a few times but mostly, she stayed pretty neutral and we had a bunch of stretch breaks. She felt less stiff laterally although she is still leaning a bit left. She also lost her hind end a few times. But overall, much better! At least it felt much better to me. I sometimes feel like I'm doing all the right things and proud of how she looks and then I panic and start to worry that she's faking it and this is why she has kissing spine. Sigh... 

 

I did opt to try a little bit of canter. I sort of wondered if I could get her more round in the canter. And... I don't know. We went to the left first (I think) and she fussed a bit but finally put her nose down and then snorted a few times and blew and then seemed more relaxed. The other way wasn't as dramatic. So... I got another few minutes of nice trot and we called it quits. I don't want to push her, but also want to strengthen her. So... I'm just trying to do all the right things right now, without knowing exactly what the right things are. 

 

We hacked back home via Jean's driveway. We stopped and smelled the flowers. And she got a snack or two for being a good girl. 

 

So... I need to come up with a plan. It's frustrating because... I know I need a saddle for her that fits perfectly... but I don't have anything that is even close. I don't dislike this one that I've got to borrow but I'm not sure I want to buy anything without getting to jump in it. And, as much as I want to, that's not really fair to jump her soon. But on the flip side... if I can't ride her, then how am I supposed to eventually know if I can jump her? Sigh... I don't know how long I'll be able to hold onto this saddle and to be honest, it's not really fair to let me keep it for too long. And I'm not sure how to best go about her rehab. I've just spent 4 months rehabbing her without riding as it is... I sure as heck don't really want to continue another 6 weeks or so without riding her, but... also, because her back wasn't treated until a month ago... she spent most of that time rehabbing being painful in her back. ARGH. So it doesn't really count. And maybe even made things worse. And... realistically (and hopefully not rationalizing things) she was rehabbing better under saddle between Nov and Jan then between Jan and March without riding. So I don't know. 

 

I shockwaved her back April 20th... so she'll be due again May 4th and May 18th. She has a vet appt to get her neck xrayed May 8th... and if needed, injected then. So.. maybe I could inject her thoracic spine with sarrapin and a small bit of steroids (or bigger bit of steroids and carbocaine) this Sunday... which would then be one week after shockwave, then shockwave one week after, then 4 days later, her neck could get done... which would be 11 days after doing her back.. And in the meantime... do my groundwork, lunge before riding, and then ride for a lifted back. I guess that's as good of a plan as any. Then, at the end of May, inject her back and pelvis again for the stringhalt. and then.. if I need to inject her shoulder girdle again, I could do that mid june... And by then.. I guess I"ll know one way or another. Maybe I should just buy this saddle so I have something to ride her in. Maybe I can talk to the saddle fitter about renting something. Or maybe, the lady that rented Kelli a saddle could rent me something... 

Oh, and... also, I'll talk to Patrick about her shoes.. and whether he thinks doing a "toe plate" to help her lift and push up would help... or whether the hinds need tweaking. I jokingly said I wanted Patrick to put her in lift pads up front to help make her not so butt high and the vet mentioned doing the "toe plate" to help her push up and lift her withers, so... I'll see what Patrick's take is. 

It is nice to be back on her. She's such a good girl and I really hope that I can manage her and make her happy. And I extra hope I can still jump her and event her.