Ok...I need ideas.
Alpine has been coming along GREAT in his conditioning....even in this horrible
heat. About three weeks ago, we went out for about a 10 mile ride. we
did it in about 2.5 hours. This is not fast for him, nor is it far...kind
of a medium ride. It was hot, we kept it pretty slow. A lot of slow
trotting/gaiting (he interchanges the gaits at a slow speed). He came in
just fine. I stalled him overnight because we had just sprayed some weeds
in the pasture, and i didn't want him out there until I got them pulled, and he
stocked up on the front legs, which is not uncommon. After 12 hours of
turnout, the right leg was fine, and the left leg had a little bit of filling
left. No heat, no lameness. Two days later, no filling, no heat, no
lameness. About three days post ride, Alpine was off on his right front
(which is the opposite of the leg that had the persistent filling). I
wouldn't call it lame. If you don't know him, you might not even see it,
but just a little off. The farrier came out and redid his shoes at this
point, and noticed a bruise on his sole, so I thought maybe he was sporting an
abscess. It's been a little over three weeks now, and he is still VERY slightly
off. He seems to work out of it...I tried just taking him for a 10 minute
walk to see if he would. I had the farrier out to check him again, and
he can't find anything there...no soreness on palpation or anything.
I
have made an appointment with the vet, she'll be out Tuesday, but I'm baffled. I
would think if he'd pulled a suspensory, there would be heat and swelling
somewhere, but his legs are cold and hard. He was in a stall overnight a
couple of days ago, and he didn't even stock up. His energy level seems
fine, the only thing I've noticed is that if I lunge him to the right (bad
foot...), he brings himself back into a walk, which I kind of expect if he's
gimpy. His back seems fine, he has no sensitivity there, the shoulders
don't look like they have a problem, I just can pinpoint anything.
I
really, really want to take Alpine to South
Carolina and do our first REAL endurance ride, but
will scrub that if I have too. What's truly annoying is that Al is my
only riding horse. Merlin is just a hair under two, and I firmly believe
that two year olds shouldn't be ridden...I'm planning on waiting until he's
between three and four before starting him. So if Alpine goes out of
commission, I have no riding horse. I might go into withdrawal. My
husband will disown me! I can't afford three horses!
Juli
(who is wishing that Alpine would pretend to Mr. Ed for just a minute and tell
her exactly where it hurts) and the Herd Alpine
(I'm on vacation...mom just keeps obsessively feeling my legs) Merlin
(who doesn't know what a vacation is since he has never really worked in his
life)
