A Real Ride

Whoo hoo! I think I'm officially back in the saddle! Of course Axel is still pretty sore on that front knee but it was time to venture out of the arena. Axel's true colors shone through once again. After essentially being on vacation for over a year (with a little work in the middle) I was able to throw a saddle on him and take him down the road. I left the baby with his dad and they went to a car show and I met up with the gals at the barn and we had ourselves a mini trail ride a mile down the road and back. Axel was limpy, he wouldn't eat his bute before we left, hey I tried! But over the course of a mile and half he didn't really get any worse. He was calm and sane. He stopped a few times in an attempt to convince me the ride was over but it was nothing major. Cody was also a rock star. Calm as can be, as far as I could see he didn't try to bolt or trot or even turn around. What good boys!

I ended up getting off half way home and leading Axel, I figured it just wasn't fair for me to make he go that long after having so much time off. He moved out pretty well after I dismounted, for part of the walk he was nearly dragging me, guess I gotta keep working on my running so I can keep up. If I could get him to eat the bute he would have probably been just fine for the whole 2 miles. Since it's arthritis I'm still going to try and keep riding, just nice easy walks of course. He needs to keep moving and I think if I can get him to start using his rear end again that will help take some pressure off the front end.

So all and all it was a good ride. I would have loved to go longer, I would have loved to do some cantering, I would love for Axel to be 100% but it's just not going to happen. Depending on how he's doing and what the vet says next spring I might have his knee injected again. It's not expensive and it helped quite a bit last time, I wonder if there's any cumulative benefit to having it done every year? It'd be nice to keep him sound and working for the next few years until we move out to our own farm and he can retire with Cody. Of course with all the excitement of finally getting out again I forgot to take photos til we got back, whoops.

Back in the Saddle a second time

Another farrier visit already. I left the baby with his dad and hit the road for the barn. The boys thought I was maybe going to feed them so they came trotting up from the opposite side of the pasture. Okay, Cody trotted, Axel limped.

After they had their feet done I saddled up Axel and took a few laps around the arena. He was moving out really well for the first two times around and then he decided he was sore and started limping like crazy. I guess it doesn't take much when you are out of shape. I wish he felt as good as he looks.

I'm still going to attempt a trip down the road, next week if I can get out there when N is out riding Cody. Axel might get himself some bute before that ride just to smooth it out a bit. He doesn't quite understand when I tell him that he's gotta keep moving despite the arthritis, it's the only way to keep it from getting stiff. Maybe drugs will speak louder than words.

Back at the barn!

I finally made it back to the barn for more than a few minutes! Jeff, armed with a bottle, took baby duty so I could go play with horses for a while. I didn't do a whole lot but it was more than I had done in a long time. Axel isn't so much a black horse any more as he is a nice dark brown from standing out in the sun. It probably took me an hour to groom and get all the knots out of his mane from the wind. We did very minimal ground work in the arena, mostly Axel just wandered around checking things out. I was thinking I wouldn't ride for quite a while but Axel tends to not make huge improvements from ground work. So I'm thinking the next time I can make it out when N is riding Cody I'll ride Axel in the arena. Until then I might tack him up and do ground work just so he's reminded what it's all about. We'll see if I stick to that plan ;) Cody was not too happy that I took Axel out of the pasture. He's been the one to leave the pasture not Axel. We could hear him calling all the way up to the barn.