My instructor has informed me that they are seriously considering retiring Blackjack (my beloved schoolhorse) from jumping. Which means I would have to switch horses to continue my lessons
We started having problems with him not wanting to take the jumps a while ago. He'd just act really sluggish, like he just couldn't lift himself off the ground. That's totally not like him, because jumping is the one thing he LOVES, he's never been lazy about it. Ususally he's lazy through the dressage, and then as soon as you point him towards a jump, he suddenly has this boundless energy
So, anyway, the first time he acted sluggish, I thought he was sore, because I had ridden him two days in a row, which he is not used to (I was sore too!) Then, when it happened at my next lesson, I thought maybe it was because he had thrown a front shoe earlier in the week and, while he wasn't lame, I thought maybe his foot was tender enough that he wasn't willing to land on it.
My instructor didn't think that was the problem, so we kept taking away poles (they were slowing him down even more) and finally she took all the poles away and changed the single jump into a small vertical that was just high enough that he couldn't step over it (he had not been refusing up to this point, just slowing way down and doing a little trot-hop over instead of really jumping it). So I circled again and got as much impulsion as I could (which wasn't a lot), and he refused the jump We all just looked at each other in total amazement because Blackjack NEVER refuses, and my heart sank. I knew then that something was wrong.
We cut that lesson short and took his temperature because some of the other horses had been sick, and sure enough it was high. So they gave him a few days of R & R and when he was better he still refused to jump, so they actually called my former instructor in Nevada (she knows him better than anyone) and they decided that he's probably just getting too old to jump. His legs are just starting to wear out.
They're going to bring in the chiropractor/vet to make sure it's not his back, but I don't think it is. When his back's out, it's his dressage that suffers, and he's reluctant to pick up a right lead. Well, he's been picking up right lead every time I ask without a problem, and he's actually been really good with dressage lately, so I don't think his back is bothering him.
I'm sorry this is so long. I thought maybe some of you experienced horse people out there might have some other ideas about what might be wrong. He's only 20, and I would have thought that if it was old age, it would have been more gradual. This was kind of sudden. We've noticed that he has been tripping more, even while just walking, and over the summer he just went lame in the middle of the lesson once. The next day he was fine. When I took him back out after riding yesterday, I noticed that he was overreaching on his right and hitting his front foot with practically every step, but I don't think he was doing it while I was riding.
Aren't these some of the signs of navicular? I feel so bad for him. He truly loves to jump, and I hate to think that he won't be able to. Plus, he's finally starting to bond with me, and I've been told that I ride him well and that he responds well to me, and now it looks like I'm going to have to start all over again on a different horse
I have a lesson today, but we aren't going to jump. They need to bring my "new" horse up from the winter pasture and get some of the "wild winter horse" out of him before I can jump again. I could continue to ride Blackjack if I just wanted to do dressage, but I love to jump as much as he does, and I really want to continue. Sigh. I had expected to ride Blackjack until I could get my own horse.
Thanks for listening to my looong and depressing thread. I'll leave on a happy note witha cute picture of Blackjack. He's gotten so gray in the last year that he actually has a "star" on his forehead! This is his "what, you came to the field without treats!?" look
We started having problems with him not wanting to take the jumps a while ago. He'd just act really sluggish, like he just couldn't lift himself off the ground. That's totally not like him, because jumping is the one thing he LOVES, he's never been lazy about it. Ususally he's lazy through the dressage, and then as soon as you point him towards a jump, he suddenly has this boundless energy
So, anyway, the first time he acted sluggish, I thought he was sore, because I had ridden him two days in a row, which he is not used to (I was sore too!) Then, when it happened at my next lesson, I thought maybe it was because he had thrown a front shoe earlier in the week and, while he wasn't lame, I thought maybe his foot was tender enough that he wasn't willing to land on it.
My instructor didn't think that was the problem, so we kept taking away poles (they were slowing him down even more) and finally she took all the poles away and changed the single jump into a small vertical that was just high enough that he couldn't step over it (he had not been refusing up to this point, just slowing way down and doing a little trot-hop over instead of really jumping it). So I circled again and got as much impulsion as I could (which wasn't a lot), and he refused the jump
We all just looked at each other in total amazement because Blackjack NEVER refuses, and my heart sank. I knew then that something was wrong.We cut that lesson short and took his temperature because some of the other horses had been sick, and sure enough it was high. So they gave him a few days of R & R and when he was better he still refused to jump, so they actually called my former instructor in Nevada (she knows him better than anyone) and they decided that he's probably just getting too old to jump. His legs are just starting to wear out.
They're going to bring in the chiropractor/vet to make sure it's not his back, but I don't think it is. When his back's out, it's his dressage that suffers, and he's reluctant to pick up a right lead. Well, he's been picking up right lead every time I ask without a problem, and he's actually been really good with dressage lately, so I don't think his back is bothering him.
I'm sorry this is so long. I thought maybe some of you experienced horse people out there might have some other ideas about what might be wrong. He's only 20, and I would have thought that if it was old age, it would have been more gradual. This was kind of sudden. We've noticed that he has been tripping more, even while just walking, and over the summer he just went lame in the middle of the lesson once. The next day he was fine. When I took him back out after riding yesterday, I noticed that he was overreaching on his right and hitting his front foot with practically every step, but I don't think he was doing it while I was riding.
Aren't these some of the signs of navicular? I feel so bad for him. He truly loves to jump, and I hate to think that he won't be able to. Plus, he's finally starting to bond with me, and I've been told that I ride him well and that he responds well to me, and now it looks like I'm going to have to start all over again on a different horse
I have a lesson today, but we aren't going to jump. They need to bring my "new" horse up from the winter pasture and get some of the "wild winter horse" out of him before I can jump again. I could continue to ride Blackjack if I just wanted to do dressage, but I love to jump as much as he does, and I really want to continue. Sigh. I had expected to ride Blackjack until I could get my own horse.
Thanks for listening to my looong and depressing thread. I'll leave on a happy note witha cute picture of Blackjack. He's gotten so gray in the last year that he actually has a "star" on his forehead! This is his "what, you came to the field without treats!?" look
