I had to make a tough decision the other night.
I went out to ride Rosa but discovered that she had a huge gash inside her leg, I'm assuming from one of the support T-posts that keep my roommate's horse from getting into the 2-year old pen and terrorizing the fillies. So Rosa got her leg cleaned up and the night off instead.
I went out and grabbed Chica and jumped on her bareback with her halter. Everything started off ok; she felt and looked totally sound at the walk and seemed fine at the trot, too. Then I asked her to canter. While she got into the canter and tried to remain there for me, she was so jarring and struggling so much that I asked her to go back down into the trot, which she did, although this time she was limping.
I got off her and bawled my eyes out. For one, I felt bad for making her do something that hurt her, even though I didn't realize it was going to. For two, the last time that I rode her, she was having trouble at the canter, too. So I think it's time to seriously retire her, at least from doing anything more than walking.
It's almost poetic, if you're into dark poetry. For the first couple of years, I couldn't/didn't want to canter Chica for fear that she would buck me off. Now, when Chica canters off beautifully from the word "canter," I don't think I'll get to experience it anymore. Maybe ironic is a better word.
It's so hard to watch her break down like this, even if it is slowly. She's always been such a tough girl who tries her heart out for me. Even the other day when it was causing her pain she tried to keep going. And it makes me so MAD. I see some shitty horses people have who are not worth the feed and time they put into them yet are completely and totally sound, and then there's my girl who is so well trained and such a good horse and there's so much I could still do with her, even at 18 years old, if she wasn't chronically lame.
But I know that's the way of the world. There are lots of good people getting cancer and Parkinson's disease and ALS while bad people continue to do bad things. We live in a fallen world. Life isn't fair. Etc.
So, this isn't goodbye to Chica, obviously. She's still up for walking around the property. She seems to like the attention when I ride her (she's always been jealous of other horses), so as long as she's feeling up to it, she'll still be my #1 ride. But I think the days of carefree cantering through the trees are behind us. So if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go hug my horse and cry some more.
I went out to ride Rosa but discovered that she had a huge gash inside her leg, I'm assuming from one of the support T-posts that keep my roommate's horse from getting into the 2-year old pen and terrorizing the fillies. So Rosa got her leg cleaned up and the night off instead.
I went out and grabbed Chica and jumped on her bareback with her halter. Everything started off ok; she felt and looked totally sound at the walk and seemed fine at the trot, too. Then I asked her to canter. While she got into the canter and tried to remain there for me, she was so jarring and struggling so much that I asked her to go back down into the trot, which she did, although this time she was limping.
I got off her and bawled my eyes out. For one, I felt bad for making her do something that hurt her, even though I didn't realize it was going to. For two, the last time that I rode her, she was having trouble at the canter, too. So I think it's time to seriously retire her, at least from doing anything more than walking.
It's almost poetic, if you're into dark poetry. For the first couple of years, I couldn't/didn't want to canter Chica for fear that she would buck me off. Now, when Chica canters off beautifully from the word "canter," I don't think I'll get to experience it anymore. Maybe ironic is a better word.
It's so hard to watch her break down like this, even if it is slowly. She's always been such a tough girl who tries her heart out for me. Even the other day when it was causing her pain she tried to keep going. And it makes me so MAD. I see some shitty horses people have who are not worth the feed and time they put into them yet are completely and totally sound, and then there's my girl who is so well trained and such a good horse and there's so much I could still do with her, even at 18 years old, if she wasn't chronically lame.
But I know that's the way of the world. There are lots of good people getting cancer and Parkinson's disease and ALS while bad people continue to do bad things. We live in a fallen world. Life isn't fair. Etc.
So, this isn't goodbye to Chica, obviously. She's still up for walking around the property. She seems to like the attention when I ride her (she's always been jealous of other horses), so as long as she's feeling up to it, she'll still be my #1 ride. But I think the days of carefree cantering through the trees are behind us. So if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go hug my horse and cry some more.
