We are back! Early this week we had a visit from the back lady to ‘fix’ Scottie’s cold back and stiffness in his back end. By the time she had arrived, Scottie did look a bit looser behind, but I hadn’t ridden or lunged him for over a week so that is probably partly due to time off and plenty of time in the field.
After a quick chat finding out what the issue is and giving a detailed account of everything we have done since she last saw us, it was time for a quick walk and trot up. I’m pleased to say that she couldn’t say any unlevelness anywhere! This theme continued through the rest of the visit. All our usual problem areas (whithers, pelvis, bum muscles) were fine and the bum area in particular had levelled out quite a bit since last time. So fantastic news!
In fact the only area there was a problem was under where my right bum cheek would be. There are lots of possible reasons for this; Scottie’s silly behaviour at camp, Scottie naturally throwing the saddle slightly to the right and my left knee injury. All these things probably contributed to this sore patch.
After treatment and a day off, we were ready to get back in the saddle. Scottie stood happily at the mounting block, which is the first time in a while! However, he didn’t want to walk forwards, but I think this was more because I was tense more than anything else. I was very tentative for the first 5 mins and was looking out for any sign of discomfort, resulting in a very stiff walk.
But as soon as I relaxed Scottie relaxed and really used himself. He was very lazy, but again, I think that was down to me as once I stopped thinking that he was going to buck he went lovely. So while I think the sore patch was the cause of Scottie’s discomfort, I do now think that the reason it lasted so long in the saddle was due to my own tension.
So fingers crossed we will back in the swing of things soon and having just received my EquiMind trainer feedback (blog post coming soon) I feel confident for a better result this month in our dressage!
Last Updated on 14/01/2022
