Looking up

Things seem to be falling into place.

My blacksmith reset Kaswyn yesterday. He always talks a lot while he works on horses, and yesterday was no exception. I asked his opinion about the fact that when Kaswyn puts weight on his left front leg at the walk that the pastern doesn't flex nearly as much as the right front. I wanted to know if he thought it was because his feet grow so differently or from something else. He looked at me, and in his typical way, said "What I think is that you're lookin' at his nose."

I said "What? Looking at his nose? What's that supposed to mean?"

He said "If you look at someones nose for too long it starts to look really big. It's probably because he's been protecting that leg for so long, and might still be protecting it. So stop looking at it and just feel him move. That will tell you all you need to know."

Huh. Pretty good advice. I've been trying to feel what's been going on with him but it's so hard in that arena. Luckily Mr. K is supposed to come out and work on the arena on Saturday. I'm supposed to call him in the morning and he'll give me a time that will work for him. His plan is to come over two times with two different pieces of equipment. He asked that I not water the arena because it will make it easier for him to work with, so that's one less thing I've had to do this week.

Since the arena is too dusty for this DQ, I asked Susan if she wanted to ride down the road with me today. While we were out I had a great idea. There's this massage therapist who I've used before who also works on horses. I think she might have worked on Kaswyn once or twice when he was a young guy, and she worked on me quite a few times but I haven't used her services in years. She's a bit of a space cadet, and totally looks like a hippie, but she really knows her stuff with both humans and horses.

So I called her up. We had a nice chat about his issues, and she's not sure if she can help or not. She said that his slight but persistent swelling (but no heat) in that leg might not ever go away, but she'd evaluate him and see what could be done. I figure it can't hurt anything to have her work on that leg. She's coming Tuesday afternoon.

Which is good, because Boot Camp Section A starts on Thursday! I'll be going to my trainer's barn for a week. While there I'll be having three lessons in that beautiful arena of hers. I'll take some pictures so you can see the footing. It's definitely something to drool over. I'll try and get someone to take pictures or video while I'm there. I'm so stoked! I get to have an honest evaluation of how Kaswyn is doing, plus all of my bad habits will be exposed so I can work on them before the next Boot Camp.

New shoes, arena repair, a massage appointment, and impending Boot Camp. It's going to be an exciting week!