Day 41-44; Mystery limp is Back and the Pony Cart

After our good work out at Fox berry I decided to give Eclipse the day off Tuesday. Wednesday we were back at it again. I have been doing my ground work warm up at liberty in the arena and things have been going well. He has been doing ground poles, cone weaves, jumps and other obstacles, so taday i thought I would challenge the connection. We ventured out into the pasture play-yard at liberty to see what we could do. The some stuck like glue comes to mind as we made our way around all of the different obstacles. We crossed the teetering bridge, went over logs, stood on the pedestal and Eclipse never missed a beat! We even ventured into the woods to play the extreme obstacles that were there. I could see him mentally struggle to say with me as we entered the woods. The only thing that kept him with me was his turst in my judgement. had he been left to his own devices he would have been gone long before. With a little encouragement he successfully negotiated the bridge, curtain, and tarp. Satisfied with that we saddled and rode. To my disappointment our ride was cut short because our limp was back!

Thursday was a spa day for eclipse. It started with a massage from Tamera Woods, then an adjustment from Dr. Penny. He had some issues in his shoulder area as we had suspected. He also had his right stifle out. So the doc put him back together and ordered another day of rest. In lue of working with Eclipse I grabbed my favorite lesson pony Hercules a Shetland cross and hitched him up to his pony cart and decided to work a few pounds off of him. From Eclipse's stall he could see us make our rounds in the front yard. I was a good distance from him in the cart but I could see the mustang come out in him. Any time the cart would travel in his direction he would turn and try to climb the gait out of his stall! I stopped the cart to come to his rescue. Once I was able to bring to the cart and let him follow it and he realized it was his buddy Hercules all strapped in he decided it was not going to kill him!

Friday afternoon it was back to work. I went over to a neighboring barn where there footing was a little softer and deeper, I figured the extra cushion would help his recovery. Once I was in the saddle Eclipse felt good. Happy to move his feet at the trot. Once he was warm and loose I asked for the canter to the right and he got the wrong lead:( I didn't pay it much mind, I am sure he is having to adjust to Dr. Penny's changes. He bobbled his weaker lead a couple more times but more importantly he never limped and that was enough for me.