Do we need a vet???

 I don't know if i'm losing my mind.... 

Lyric is sound.... yet.... I'm starting to really worry. Her topline isn't looking as good. She's starting to get some atrophy in her trapezius and also along her longissimus. She's doing that thing where she's sitting on the wall again... and the other day she sat on the wall, pushed into it, then bit at the wall. And then I noticed that on the last trailer ride, she was biting at the chest bar repeatedly and then licking and chewing. And then today... I saw her straddling the water trough. (which.. is extra weird because it's not tall enough for her to sit on). And she still looks almost pot bellied to me. Then, you combine all that with her exaggerated right front foreward grazing stance... and her inability to bend around my left leg... the fact that you can't pull her left leg in front of her right front to get her to stand/graze and instead have to push her right front back... really is making me start to wonder if she doesn't have a neck base issue on the left side. Of course I also worry about kissing spine... and the stifle catching issues. Sigh... I'm just so confused and dont' know where to start!

I rode at home today because Dan has a vet appointment. (Partly why Lyric is still not been scheduled for one because... I only have so much money!). She started to run from me in the pasture (another sign) but then came for cookies. We tacked up at the trailer and then I hacked her up Jeans' driveway to the arena. We had an okay ride. It wasn't as good as the last few, but wasn't terrible. It probably was mostly worse because I got a little frustrated. Ugh... stupid hormones... and... to be honest, I"m in a funk. I'm trying to get out of it. But anyways... she started out pretty good but then got fussy in the middle. Which was mostly becasue I was trying to get her to bend around my left leg so we could try to half-pass. And then I tried to just get her to put her haunches in and give me left flexion and she couldn't do it. Hmmm... She got all worried, so then we had to just go back to "my outside leg back means haunches in, not canter". So we did. And then I just went back to shoulder fore or haunches in, not both. Or just a nice slight bend left. And she was good. 

 

In the beginning we did play with haunches in and shoulder in and got some nice walk work. Then we did some trotting and played with shoulder in and leg yields. We did our counter bend to true bend homework as needed. I tried hard to ride her shoulder in tracking left. And I was trying hard to not get sucked into crossing my left hand or doing crazy things but she kept popping that left shoulder at me, avoiding bend. We did some trot work and got some nice moments. She's needing less counter bend to get that nice right bend. And then we played with the canter. Our transitions were much improved as was the canter. We are still struggling with her hanging on the left rein... no matter which direction. But I tried very hard to keep dropping it. And I tried hard to ride her neck straight instead of overbent and counter bent. We also played with the half pass and... man, half pass to the left is awful. She throws her head up, pops that left shoulder and cannot bend left in front and back and travel left at all. So... again... is that neck base problems? Kissing spine problems? Stifle problems? Me problems? All of the above?? Ugh..

 

We finished up with some nice trot and canter work and leg yields. And then we had a nice stretchy trot! A really nice stretchy trot. In fact, it was a couple of nice stretchy trots. She definitely is more rooty when she's not long and stretchy. When she's long and stretchy she's definitely reaching and steady in the contact... once I bring her up, she starts getting rooty. Is that neck? Back? Not wanting to rock back on her haunches? 

 

We hacked back home in the field and she got a quick rinse. And cookies of course. :) I did put her back on Previcox tonight... she's been off of it for a little bit now, so.. maybe that's part of the problem. Although, I'd rather find out why she needs it vs just putting her on it. We're also 3 doses into the adequan. 

So... guess I'll make a vet appointment soon.