Grabbed Henry, groomed, tacked and lunged before I got on. He had two days off so I wnated to make sure that all his wiggles were out. He wasn't really that wild but I did make him burn off some steam.
It was just Erica and myself in the lesson and I love riding with her!
We kinda flatted on our own with a few comments here and there from our trainer. Then moved onto jumping.
Warmed up over and X and and forth alternating the turn left or right after. Then we added in another X.. doing both X's both ways. Then added in a line... Henry's fav lattice panels. It was an open 3 stride or slower 4 stride. My horse has a good stride and man that 3 felt very forward and fast but it was great for us to do the 3 and then come back to the 4 and then the 3 again.. you get the picture. We did that line both directions.
Good lesson over all.. didn't jump anything massive but working on the "finer" things haha!
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| Erica on Blue and Me on Henry |
We walked a bunch and cooled them boys out.. un tacked, groomed him really well, loved on him, gave treats, wiped down my bridle, made grain, blanketed and took him home.
Came back and cleaned up all the jumps and headed home.
Off today, lesson tomorrow, trainer ride Fri and idk about Sat at the Hawley clinic is going on.
Question: Have any of you BoT users found that the pad makes your horse uncomfortable? Henry has felt a little funny lately when riding and the only thing that I can think of is the pad is to hot or making him uncomfortable I feel like I have ruled out everything else that I can (i am having the chiro come out just in case). I am going to ride without it and see... his back was REALLY warm where the saddle sits when I un tacked him last night.
The pad is supposed to make them warm. You did have his hind shoes pulled, he might need them to make his back comfortable, or maybe flex his hocks and see if he needs injections.
ReplyDeleteHe's not unsound... just thinking he isn't a fan of the pad/heat- it was really really hot and i had walked him for quite some time to cool out.
DeleteHue's back never seems to be excessively hot after using the BoT pad but I haven't been using it very long... but it is heat therapy technically so some warmth is to be expected. Houston is in pretty good shape right now and hasn't been getting sweaty though (even with the pad). I would be more inclined to think that rather than the pad being the cause it is more likely the shoe change? But you could always stop using that pad and see what happens? If it's white and you're trying to get rid of it I might be interested ;)
DeleteHis back was really sweaty but just under the pad and not the rest of his body (and yeah he is in impeccable shape too right now lol) and I have noticed that he gets extra sweaty with the pad opposed to other pads (I tested lol).. yes it is white in fact! :)
DeleteNot saying he's lame or unsound but referencing Hillary so many things can contribute to comfort (like carlos wasn't lame or unsound behind but the injection improved his movement and I wish I had checked that soon!) You'll be thorough because you care for him and he'll be a-ok.
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ReplyDeleteWe have warm weather rolling in it looks like low 30's woohoo! ;-)
ReplyDeletebreak out the bikini! lol :)
DeletePistol is going to get naked when I get home! How sad is that? when it gets to be 30 degrees I take off his blanket, that's when normal people put blankets ON their horse!
DeleteHoly typos... Sorry my phone hates me so I had to redo my comment. Way too many misspellings for me. I love my pad. I think that it helps Hue loosen up more quickly. I'm buying an all purpose one ASAP or when I recover from buying the sheet! I'm a BoT junkie now! The hock boots are def my favorite purchase though. I kinda want to try the human stuff too.
ReplyDeleteIf you pulled his shoes I would say that could cause a lot of it. Hue didn't have hind shoes at first and when I initially put them on I feel like they definitely helped him have more traction and support in his hind end which in turn helped his back. Back problems or soreness can often be a secondary problem from what I have learned/ heard from my vet. Houston's back has only bothered him when saddle fit was off or when his stifles/ hocks are bugging him. I went for the pad because he can tend to take awhile to get loose in his back when warming up and I was super curious about it. Given that he's a bigger horse and I'm asking more of him I think the support from his hind shoes has helped him a lot.
I would definitely have the chiro or vet out. Or maybe since he's beefed up so much lately his saddle isn't fitting as well as it could? Just thoughts. Hope that you can figure it out :)
He has gone with out back shoes for the whole time I've owned him till the last few months- we thought he needed them but ended up have an abscess so that was the real problem. Pulled the shoes back off to see if we could continue without them. I will def put them back on if that is what he needs but they were pulled a few weeks ago and i didn't notice anything funky till this last sat..
DeleteYeah I am kinda a crazy person when it comes to saddle fit.. I check the fit and marks after every ride to make sure everything is sitting right :)
Anywho I'm all over it and I am pretty sure it's nothing serious :)
I also notices the pad rubs his should area so maybe the BoT pads aren't made for him :)
Gotcha. Well maybe it's unrelated to shoes then... I know that a horse in our barn didn't show issues to having his hind shoes removed until a bit after he had them off and then it was obvious that he just needed the hind end support. But every horse is different. I am sure that as long as you keep an eye on it then it won't escalate into anything more serious! :)
DeleteOdd that you found it rubs his shoulders... I can't imagine why it would. That stinks!
Yeah I plan to get the shoes back on to see if that helps but was just wondering if any other BoT users has experience the excessive heat :)
DeleteYeah it's slight rubbing - I caught it quickly and stopped using the pad for a bit and used it the last three rides and it's running again- so werid!
Sounds like a good lesson. Romeo and I find it difficult to come back and put the extra stride in - we would perfer the open 3 anyday although i make us practice the smaller one too.
ReplyDeleteYeah the forward 3 made for getting him "back" after the jump interesting lol!
DeleteSounds like a fun lesson... I don't know about the BOT pad, but let me know when you find more info. I was interested in getting one, but not if its going to overheat Libberz.
ReplyDeleteYeah my luck is that Henry just doesn't like it :) ha!
DeleteI've never had issues using my back on track products. the amount of warmth it produces on comparison to other pads isn't even comparable because its so much less. BOT though is suppose to warm up the muscles and help the back.
ReplyDeleteHonestly if your horse seems off or you're noticing he's acting funny I'd be looking at other possibilities of the cause. Also the pad shouldn't be rubbing, only an improper fitting saddle would cause that. Have you washed your pad at all? Only think that could be doing that would be soap. if you haven't washed it, I'd wash it in a mild horse detergent or whatever BOT recommends and air dry it.
I can tell you that he gets significantly warmer under the BoT pad and it MUCH warmer to the touch.
DeleteI have looked into other possibilities and this is one of the last things I am looking at :) His back is a bit sensitive and so I am taking a look at the pad that is directly in contact with his back.
As far as the saddle fit and rubbing- I know the saddle fits him well and the pad isn't rubbing where the saddle touches him, its on the shoulder area, the front bottom corner of the pad. I have had other experienced eyes look at the saddle fit and the rubbing and they agree with me.
Thanks for the thoughts though!
Cute pics of Henry hanging out :) We are seriously trying to make our way south (as in resumes submitted), so I don't wanna hear about the bad weather!!!
ReplyDeletehaha yeah i can't complain :)
DeleteI've never used the BoT pad so I can't give you any experience there. We use the mesh cooler/blanket whatever it is though and it has made a huge difference on my trainer's horses. Could be that Henry is just super sensitive to the change?
ReplyDeleteyeah honestly I think that he is sensitive to it.. Chiro is scheduled and back shoes are going back on :)
DeleteHe has the cutest "give me a treat face". I haven't used BoT products yet, so don't have any help there I'm afraid :/
ReplyDeleteah thanks! I think he is pretty cute too :)
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