OTTB - Too Hot To Ride

When I left the house this morning the temperature was already 85 degrees with 88% humidity. It was almost that hot at the farm when I got there. Bouffe was already sweaty just standing in the run in shed. I brought him in and gave him a bath to cool him off and treated his cracked heal, which is getting better. By the time I left the farm it was ninety degrees. I hope Friday will be better.

OTTB - Good News and Bad News

The Passier saddle fits Bouffe great, but that was the extent of the good news from today's visit. It was very hot today, even at 9 am; so, I wasn't planning on riding even if the saddle fit like it did. 

After fitting the saddle I put the longe line on Bouffe and longed him as Leslie suggested. Going in a counter-clockwise direction, like at the racetrack, he was sound when he jogged and even cantered a little. But as soon as I had him change directions he balked, and not only didn't want to trot he wouldn't even walk without encouragement from the longe whip. When I finally got him to jog he was off again in his right hind and I stopped. 

I have been reading articles and books this afternoon about lameness in OTTB's and they all pretty much say the same thing... left front causes lameness in right hind and vice versa. If you look at Bouffe's photographs, you will see the osselets on both ankles along with white hair on his left front, which isn't an identifying mark on his Jockey Club papers. The hair on the left front turned white because somewhere along the way someone did something (blister, surgery, or the likes) to his ankle that killed the pigment in the hair. 

Where do we go from here? I'm not sure. The first thing I want to do is longe Bouffe in a bigger paddock so I can make the circle larger, which may help him move easier in both directions. Steuart  Pittman from the Retired Racehorse Training Project says, that continuing to lunge horses with problems behind helps, along with an equine chiropractor and massage therapist. I will start with the longing on Friday.

Multiple Sclerosis - Too Hot

We went away for the weekend and ended up missing all the good riding weather. As any of you with MS know, with temperatures in the upper eighties this morning and over ninety degrees now, it is just too hot to ride without an indoor ring, something I will have starting next week. The move is all set up for Monday and I am looking forward to boarding Bouffe at Four Quarters Farm.

The weather forecast is the same for tomorrow. I am hoping to get an early start and ride before the temperature rises out of the seventies.

Since I didn't ride today, I swam my ten laps to keep the level of fitness I have.