As I have said several, SEVERAL times, horses are non-linear and they don’t give a goddamn what your plans for them are.
Over the last several weeks I had chosen to enter Ruffi in an online dressage show, just to get some feed back. The week leading up to when I planned to shoot my video submissions, she and I worked several nights out of the week and by that Friday, no matter how much I desperately hoped we could do it. I made the decision to either withdraw or see if I could swap my entry for Bacardi.
I sent several videos to people within my sphere whose judgement I trust implicitly. Of course I got a lot of feedback over a wide range. That she was weak in the hind end, that she was unbalanced, that she needed more PT. I have had my farrier and my body worker out so far. We have ruled out feet, but my body worker today indicated she was super sore and tight. They did a significant amount of cold laser therapy and some hands on body work and we gave Ruffi a little muscle relaxer. These things made quite a difference in a short period of time. We had a really frank conversation that this mare just may be a little more fragile and high maintenance and the reality was that I could plan and plan and plan but would have to resign myself that there will always be a distinct possibility that I could prep her for a show and she breaks two days before we leave.
After our visit and conversation, I have made the decision to put Ruffi and her competitive career on the back burner. We leave for a short family visit to NV next week. Until then, I am going to just let her be. We have a vet visit right before we leave, in which both the kids are getting their teeth done (which was another potential issued) and at that time we will also talk to our vet about potentially putting Ruffi back on Equoixx or some other type of daily medication to keep her from getting so tight from her referred pain.
Preston and I also discussed another round of mesotherapy for her. We also came up with a plan for her going forward once we return. I am going to ride her once a week at a walk only, concentrating on her putting her head down and going long and low. Taking her out more on the property to get her more acclimated to riding out. Also, once a week I will lunge her at a trot, again concentrating on encouraging that down and out stretch over her back. What the goal is here is to just get her more muscle built over her back and topline so that maybe, we can return to our competitive dressage goals.
For now, our plan is to enter her at the 2022 Ride for the Roses in both Halter classes and a Dressage test. We may also explore doing a walk rail class or 6 Feet on the Ground tests. We will go into this show knowing we may very well scratch the dressage test but for right now, that is the plan for Ruffi. Just walk work under saddle for the next couple months and trot work on the line to get her muscle tone. Also talking to our vet about medication options. And just letter her be HRH for the next week and half.
Otherwise, I am going to take some time to mourn the loss of my competitive goals with her, even though she was never meant to be my competitive mount to begin with. I will focus more on getting her healthy and more acclimated to becoming a safe trail horse for Preston, which was her intended function.
Thanks for reading.
A+R
Oh P.S. Yes, I did end up completing my dressage show entry with Bacardi. As soon as we get those results back, I will make a new post. Until next time! xx