Wizard Ride 320: Almost Good

Monday, 12/5/11

Wizard wore his Back on Track mesh sheet for about an hour and a half before our ride tonight. I turned him loose in the indoor arena to let him loosen up, and he free-longed like a pro, changing gaits on command and using almost the entire arena while never getting “stuck” in any corners.

During our grooming session, he was almost good. He snapped once, and I had a hold of the lead rope so I could correct him. After that, he was an angel. He was really good for saddling, too. Hopefully my quick thinking kept this from becoming a habit.

Under saddle, Wizard was almost good. He was traveling like a sewing machine, with a lot of knee action and not a lot of engagement through his back and hind end. But there was less kicking and ear pinning. We rode in the indoor arena, and I had a bunch of trot poles set up for a change of scenery. I rode very complicated patterns, using shoulder in, leg yield, trotting over poles and around other poles, and doing some transitions. We did just a little canter work as part of our patterns, and his left lead was actually decent. He kicked out at the canter to the right once, but was perfect the second time. My plan is to have the chiropractor look at him 30 days after his last adjustment, and see if she finds any new changes since he has been lightly ridden since her last visit. Also, the farrier is due on the 16th, and I’m hoping the continued changes help him.