On August 28, at the beginning of my lesson, Jane lunged Harley. We both had a feeling he would be a bit wild, because he had not been lunged for a couple weeks. Sure enough, he exploded into a bucking session that went on for quite a while. With horses, it's 2 steps forward, 1 step back. He had been lunging beautifully, and this was a bit of a backslide, but to be expected, especially with a horse that has been abused. When he finally settled down though, he was very good. And he walked right to Jane at the end. I half-jokingly mentioned to someone that my rides were always better when his lunging was not so good.
True to form, we had our best ride ever. I finally figured out how to ride him leg to hand, and he responded with a beautiful frame, on contact, and really reaching with his back legs. Jane was so excited, she kept us going for about 15 minutes, walking, then trotting, then walking again. Then we cantered and it was just about perfect. We were both so proud of Harley.
The next day, he was very stiff, quite sore from his bucking episode, and then the heat wave came back with a vengeance. It wasn't until yesterday, September 5 that I was able to ride again. Harley seemed fine, walking normally, but I still opted to go easy with him. We mostly walked, and he seemed better, but something still wasn't right. We tried a little trot, once around the ring in each direction, and although he tried to take contact, he was definitely off. I chalked it up to him being stiff from not working and maybe still a little sore. When I put him back in his stall, he was walking fine.
This morning, September 6, I got a call from the barn manager that Harley was "off." I went over to check on him, and he was not putting any weight on his right hind leg. I checked for heat and swelling, and really didn't feel anything, but he did not want me to touch his leg, especially down by his hoof. I called the vet, and it turns out Harley has an abscess. Right now he has a silver hoof (duct tape) and is not thrilled about that, but tonight he was putting more weight on his foot and walking better, so it's not hurting as much as before.
I was very relieved that it was not a bone or soft tissue problem. Abscesses are no fun, but much easier to treat and heal a LOT faster. I was so looking forward to continuing that amazing ride we had in our last lesson, but I'll have to wait a bit longer. I'm actually not worried that he will forget or regress.....I think he was very happy when I got my legs right and he got clear aides from me, and I think we'll both slip right back into that connection when he is ready for another ride. I'll keep you posted....
