Improvements

Yesterday I went out to ride Kaswyn. After I groomed him I checked his back and his haunches. His back didn't seem sore at all, but he was sore over the back of the right side of his haunches. The left side wasn't sore at all, which is very good.

When I started riding him at the walk he felt very stiff legged. It almost felt like he was walking very wide behind and not bending his hocks. But after a few minutes he seemed to warm up and was walking normally. He felt very good for the rest of the ride, with no funny steps or funky canter strides.

After the ride I checked his back and haunches again. He still had no soreness in the back or left side of his haunches, but the good news is that he was no longer sore over the right haunch. This makes me very happy!

So it would appear that Dr C is on the right track with the Surpass on the hocks. Since I saw improvement after just two days of Surpass, I'm thinking that I will not want to inject the hocks on Thursday. Of course I will ride again on Tuesday, and Kaswyn might be more sore on Thursday when Dr. C comes out again. But I'd rather take it slow and use the Surpass for a few weeks than go into those hocks again.

I think this injury is not as bad this time as his other injuries, mainly because I called out the vet as soon as I didn't like what I was feeling when I rode. Other times I just chalked it up to Kaswyn's funny way of moving sometimes. Now I realize that if he's moving funny, there is probably something going on that needs to be assessed.

So another ride on Tuesday, and a possible lesson on Albert (if working late doesn't get in the way). For Thursday's vet visit, I've got it in my head - no hock injections!