Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Slacker

Hi, my name is Kat and I'm a slacker blogger... it's been entirely too long since my last blog post :-(

To compensate, I did take a few pictures :-)


Handsome Man
Alex has been moving along, we're lunging in full tack, using my Stubben saddle which has a wider tree than the PJ we've been using since I first started riding him.
Nom Nom
Since it appears that his back pain is, for all intensive purposes, gone and the vet says he doesn't believe Alex has an active ulcer, I've been looking into other reasons why Alex would be so anxious about the saddling process (he's still pinning his ears, shaking his head and just generally being unpleasant when saddled).  I started reading a little bit about saddle fit and checked the PJ.  To my horror, it appears that my PJ is entirely too narrow and may have been causing him pain.  The Stubben, which he's never been ridden in, has a wider tree and sits better, so at the moment, I've elected to use that with a Thin Line pad underneath.  I am also working with a saddle rep and may be in the market for a new saddle.  We'll see how that goes.
 
After a few days of dealing with "Wild Alex" (which proved that he is actually feeling good), he's finally settled down during our last two works.  My plan is to "attempt" to get back in the saddle at the end of this week, but stick to walk and trot for a few weeks, until we both regain our confidence.  Last time I asked Alex for a canter depart, he turned himself inside out tried in a very serious way to dump me.  I want him to be good and comfortable with me in the saddle before I ask for another canter depart :-)  He will stay on the muscle relaxers (once per day) until I've been back in the saddle for a while and we've sorted this saddle situation out.  
 
The good news is that we are moving forward and things are getting progressively better.  It will just take patience, which as we know, is a virtue.  No one ever said an OTTB's first year off the track would be a piece of cake!
 
Hope you're all having a great week!
This look is not cool

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