Step back, punt and seek a way to move forward....

As can be gleaned from my wickedly neglected blog...Last Hoorah didn't go well.

We overtimed again due to a multitude of reasons.

Boot SNAFUs, getting lost on the last loop several times.  And Strider just being, in general, "weird".  We were alone for the vast majority of the ride, which I think he loathed.  So, he didn't really stop and graze while we were out by ourselves.  I made it a point at one moment in the ride to get COMPLETELY out of the saddle, pull the baggie of grain I had in my pommel bag out, and hand feed him grain to perk up his appetite.

He also COMPLETELY stopped eating the DynaSpark from me.  COMPLETELY.  It was just kind of spirit smashing for us as we trudged on through the day.  We did the entire 50 miles, we just didn't do it in time.  Again.  Apparently following ribbons is something I fail at (to be fair, I heard that the ladies I started the ride with, and who I had PLANNED to ride with said the last loop wasn't exactly well ribboned).

However, the Hoof Armor Holly applied to his feet 3 days before we left held up and kept him sound over some gnarly rocks.  I was impressed.  He didn't gait over rocks, he took it nice and slow, but he vetted in 100% sound at the end of the ride.

So, I've spent the past few months considering my booting options.

Glue ons?  Different brand of strap-on boots?  Shoes?

Shoes?  No.  Not worth it to me for the very few potentially rocky rides I might attend.  I do this sport for fun, and my horse should be able to have fun too.  Shoes on his feet doesn't seem like it would be fun for him, and the hassel of finding someone I trust to shoe him, and then to re-set or re-shoe is more than I want to deal with for 1 or 2 potentially rocky rides.  I'd rather skip those rides than shoe my horse and lose the points in the AERC and PFHA standings.

Glue ons?  Kind of expensive.  The glue gun is around $85.  The adhesive is like $25/tube (there-abouts).  Then I've still got to buy the shoes.  And what kind do I want?  The longest lasting ones are the brand new EasyBoot Flip Flop that last through an entire trim cycle.  But, at $30-something a foot, and being unable to re-se them, I'll pass.  Renegade glue-ons?  Only glue for the weekend and have to be removed post-ride.  Can only occasionally be re-used.  Still about $30-something a foot.

Strap-on boots?  Well, so far the Renegades just bug me.  They're not small enough for my dainty ballerina footed horses (plural...and I'm not including Socks when I say that...but more later).  They work just fine at a walk, but the twiddle and tweak is ticking me off. 

I'm currently looking at the ScootBoot ($170/pair) or the EasyBoot Gloves ($78/foot [and $12 for a fit kit]).  So, they're fairly comparable in price.

I have been waiting and hoping SOMEONE was doing endurance in ScootBoots, especially on a gaited horse.  Doesn't look like that is happening yet though.  So perhaps I shall be the first.  Or one of the first.  I'll sell off some of the Renegades that I have (I have LOTS of 1's, which primarily only fit Strider's rear feet, and I'm more worried about his front feet) and put that money towards a pair of purple ScootBoots.

Anyway...I'm avoiding.  So...I loaded Strider into the trailer and headed home.

I stopped for lunch, maybe 45 minutes or so, then proceeded to a friend's house in Hutto to pick up a new-to-me horse she's giving me (another Paso Fino), then off to drop both Strider and new-to-me horse at a new pasture.

Nothing untoward happened.  But, when Strider backed off my trailer, he was gimping, head-bobbing LAME.  I wanted to cry.  My poor boy.  He was fine Saturday night.  I woke up a few times in the night to find him laying on the ground by the trailer sleeping.  He seemed fine.

I kick myself because I didn't really walk him around much before I loaded and headed for home Sunday morning.  So either the adrenaline helped at the finish line Saturday evening, or he got super stiff over night, and then compounded with a trailer ride...it was too much.

The amazing Holly, my farrier extrodinaire, palpated him on Monday, said he was obviously flinchy, but she didn't feel it was a bowed tendon, but most likely tendonitis. 

He has had the entire summer off.  We're just now getting back in the saddle as I do walk only with him and consider how best to continue with him.

We spent 1 week at walk only for 30 minutes.  He was bored.  I'm bored.  He begs to go.  I hold him back.  We both feel like our wings are clipped.  But, my eyes are set on a long-term goal I cannot yet convey to him. 

Each week we add 15 more minutes.  However, 2 weeks ago we were supposed to be doing 45 minutes of a walk, but first the weather got in the way (RAIN!  RAIN in late July in TEXAS!!!!).  Then this week, as Joe preps for football season, he had a training class on Monday, then was out of town Wednesday...so it's just been one thing after another.  I say it's the Universe reminding me that I am not in control and must simply accept what is and move upward.

I'll speak more about the "new-to-me" pony soon!!