Today I was working Special in the arena, and she pulled a hip muscle.
She has a hard time cantering on her right lead. We were doing circles
left and right, working on the switch to right. She was doing pretty
well, and working -really- hard at it. I'm -supposed- to bring her back
down to a trot when I ask for a change to the right....OOPS! She was
doing a -really nice- circle to the left, and I decided to go for the
switch in a figure 8, I forgot to bring her back down to a trot (BAD
OWNER!). She really went for it and gave it her best shot, but when she
did the flying change, she kinda got "tangled up". I heard her legs hit
together, waited to see if she switched, but she was cross cantering, and
seemed off. She didn't seem to be hurt, and so I finished working her
(slow stuff, no more cantering circles). When we were done she was pretty
tired, and I thought she seemed off. Trotted her in circles, and decided
that yes, she was off to the right (DAMN!) I've located the point of
pain. It is in her right hip, up on the point, right behind her back,
just above the joint. I massaged it some, and then rubbed some liniment
on it. She's been blanketed and put back in her stall. The question
is...Now what??? I figure later tonight I'll go out there and massage it
some more, and rub some more liniment into it. Should I put DMSO on
it?? Will I be able to ride her lightly tommorrow? How serious is this??
She's not actually limping, just looks "ouchy" when trotted in a circle
to the right. You can tell she's hurting.
Marisa (Feeling really bad) & Special "I tried, I -really- tried!"
Ma The Purple Demon ---,'-@ ** Good things **
ri ............................... *** come to those ***
sa purpl2@teleport.com--Ptld. OR *** who...whine!! ***