It seems that the lack of rain we've been experiencing here in Southern California has pretty much been erased by the various rainstorms we've been hit with since the New Years. With the rain and cold comes limited riding opportunities and swampy stalls and riding arenas and it's been a real pain of late.
I've taking easy with Max and I hadn't been riding him since last weekend when he experienced some muscle soreness on the hind end. Basically, Max has been moving pretty stiffly in the rear and it's no doubt time to give him another Adequan injection. No doubt, things have been aggravated by the cold and damp.
The weather cleared a bit by the end of last week so I decided to ride Max a bit and see how he was doing. On the ground, Max seemed to me moving allright with no issues so I decided to saddle him and do some riding around the stables. I figured that the footing on the trails wasn't so good and I didn't want him to strain himself like he had the week before.
Riding with a friend, we walked our horses around the Quarter-mile track for about half a mile in each direction. The footing was somewhat slippery but that seemed to be the only issue. Fortunately, the sun decided to really come out in force and I'm sure the increasing warmth helped Max loosen up a bit. We then decided to trot our horses on the straightaways for awhile- which worked out to about five minutes or so. Finally, in the driven dressage area, we alternated cantering and trotting for maybe another five minutes. Overall, Max seemed to move out allright and having another horse present was a great motivator, especially since the other horse is a Thoroughbred and a lot faster than Max (use the herd mentality to your advantage).
Everything ended on a positive note and Max actually looked like he was enjoying himself.
Unfortuantely, a storm blew in Saturday night and dumped quite a lot of rain and on into Sunday morning. By the time I made it out to the stables, it was a swamp but the clouds had begun to clear a bit. It was too wet to ride (given Max's prior condition) so I contented myself walking Max around the track and letting him graze on all the fresh grass.
The vet will be coming out on Thursday to take a look at Max and to give him his Adequan and his annual vaccinations so hopefully I can get a more definitive opinion.
I've taking easy with Max and I hadn't been riding him since last weekend when he experienced some muscle soreness on the hind end. Basically, Max has been moving pretty stiffly in the rear and it's no doubt time to give him another Adequan injection. No doubt, things have been aggravated by the cold and damp.
The weather cleared a bit by the end of last week so I decided to ride Max a bit and see how he was doing. On the ground, Max seemed to me moving allright with no issues so I decided to saddle him and do some riding around the stables. I figured that the footing on the trails wasn't so good and I didn't want him to strain himself like he had the week before.
Riding with a friend, we walked our horses around the Quarter-mile track for about half a mile in each direction. The footing was somewhat slippery but that seemed to be the only issue. Fortunately, the sun decided to really come out in force and I'm sure the increasing warmth helped Max loosen up a bit. We then decided to trot our horses on the straightaways for awhile- which worked out to about five minutes or so. Finally, in the driven dressage area, we alternated cantering and trotting for maybe another five minutes. Overall, Max seemed to move out allright and having another horse present was a great motivator, especially since the other horse is a Thoroughbred and a lot faster than Max (use the herd mentality to your advantage).
Everything ended on a positive note and Max actually looked like he was enjoying himself.
Unfortuantely, a storm blew in Saturday night and dumped quite a lot of rain and on into Sunday morning. By the time I made it out to the stables, it was a swamp but the clouds had begun to clear a bit. It was too wet to ride (given Max's prior condition) so I contented myself walking Max around the track and letting him graze on all the fresh grass.
The vet will be coming out on Thursday to take a look at Max and to give him his Adequan and his annual vaccinations so hopefully I can get a more definitive opinion.
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