Picnics training had been going very well and she was back on track to get out competing this weekend, her fitness had improved and she was consistently jumping out of a great rhythm. However, as everyone knows with horses there are far more downs than ups but if we only wrote about the upside there would be a lot of blank pages!
So the upside was that all the hard work with schooling, interval training and gridwork had paid off and Picnic was feeling great and jumping well. Friday our Chiropractor was out for the horses routine visit and Picnic needed just a few minor adjustments to ensure she was at her best and good to go, she enjoyed a lovely hack in the sunshine at the weekend which was a welcomed change in the weather conditions and felt almost 'Spring' like. Now for the downside... On Monday morning I arrived at the yard to find a dishevelled Picnic stood at the back of her stable, her rugs were hanging round her neck with broken straps and the bed looked like a war zone. On closer inspection I could see the back wall had chunks out of it and the top blocks had been pushed out but thankfully it had withstood the evenings activities! Picnic had never been cast in her stable before and they are big stables fully rubber matted with a good bed of shavings so it was just one of those things. Leading Picnic outside to check her over she seemed very sore and stiff and her front hooves were marked with white paint. I reorganised her rugs then removed her magnetic wraps that she wears every night, one of the front boots had a tear in it but had not gone all the way through to her leg underneath, not only did her magnetic wraps help with her circulation they also protected her legs from being scraped down the wall! Her legs were a little puffy but no obvious injuries I walked her round the yard cold hosed them off then put her back to bed after finishing morning stables.
On return to the yard in the afternoon after finishing work I decided that Picnic could do with a stroll in the sunshine to walk off any stiffness, I got the other horses all exercised first so we could take our time and have a relaxing wander. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon with a clear blue sky and very still, we set off and I was a little concerned as she was very dull and reluctant to walk out which is not Picnic like at all, we even past a chainsaw cutting trees down but still no interest from Picnic. I pushed her into trot just to see how she felt and thankfully she felt sound but still stiff so kept her walking to the end of the lane. As we were approaching the main road I was just thinking of turning round as she had had a leg stretch and was still feeling sorry for herself when out of nowhere she launched Lipizzaner style into the air followed by a buck then continued along the road humping for a few strides, apparently she took offence at a car towing a boat! Laughing at her while regaining control I notice there are now two coaches, a cement lorry and a skip lorry coming towards us and by now its too late to turn round we have to keep going! Heels down, sticky bum jods and bridged reins all helped in us staying together as the vehicles passed, bless her at 18 I really don't think she is ever going to grow up! As I said before there is always an upside - this was it Picnic was feeling better, panic over, although she tried to deposit me in the road (downside). We made it home in one piece but I wouldn't say it was a relaxed wander and I didn't share Picnic's enthusiasm at all times!
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| Picnic posing - butter wouldn't melt! |
The next day she started off stiff again and there was a small amount of heat in her legs but walked it off so we will continue light work for a few days and hope she hasn't done any permanent damage after getting cast. Unfortunately there will be no competing this weekend for the Showjumping Shire but at least she is in one piece and hopefully this is just a minor setback.
