It was almost like a 'day at the spa' in the barn; starting out with Saumur getting a massage from a certified Equine Massage Therapist, Colleen. After Saumur's fall with Sandy I was worried about him being hurt, and unfortunately our Equine Chiropractor won't be able to visit until the end of June. So massage seemed to be the next best thing. Colleen thoroughly examined Saumur's muscles and found him to be sore on his right side, especially his hip, and very tight in his neck. No surprise, as Saumur fell on his right side. My saddle has dirt literally ground in at the right side.
Saumur enjoyed his massage very much, and hopefully it helped alleviate pain and loosen his tight muscles.
After Saumur's treatment I decided all the boys needed a 'beauty-session', meaning a very thorough grooming (not the usual quick knock-off-the-dirt kind), with manes and tails conditioned and trimmed, fetlocks trimmed, ears cleaned, etc. It took me over three hours to work my way through all that black and white hair. Saumur, Remy and Teddy have very thick manes and tails. Just Chambord is not very well endowed (sorry buddy) in the hair department, his blond mane and tail hairs are very fine. In this case I was relieved: less work to detangle!
All the boys showed great patience with my fussing with them, and were very relaxed. I took it as a good sign for the next step: work. Saumur longed fine, and felt OK when I rode him, a bit stiff but not off. Even though he hadn't been in our outdoor arena for a while, he didn't spook once. I kept the work low key, but at the end I casually asked for a couple of flying changes and he did them in a ho-hum way, neat and clean.
Remy clearly needs to get on a more regular work schedule, but he is making good progress. Keeping Sandy's comments in mind, I try to "ride him like he knows it", meaning expecting him to do well.
Chambord, little bugger, had to pretend to be a rodeo horse. He sure could have been a top notch bucking bronc. Lucky for JP, he got it out of his system before before JP got on.
After much soul searching (and lots of discussions with JP) I decided to scale back Saumur's show schedule for a while. Even though I have already entered him for Dressage at Waterloo next weekend, I feel it is best to scratch. Neither Saumur nor I are too well prepared, and after what happened I don't want to push him too much. He has nothing to prove, Saumur already has come farther than anybody could have ever dreamed of, so we will regroup for a while.
With the stalls already paid for it gives Remy a chance to get his hooves wet at a show venue. Earlier than I had planned but it will be a good opportunity nevertheless. Nothing ventured nothing gained! Hopefully we'll gain POSITIVE experience, and I won't have to relive my early years with Saumur, where for a long time I only had two goals: "Stay on and stay in (the arena)!" I stayed on, but not always in --
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