Mystery Bastian Theater 3000

Spring has sprung. Its gorgeous out, Bastian and I have had some awesome dressage and jumping schools and I just had Kristin sign my entry form for the Winona HT, which opens on Tuesday. So of course there have been developments. Your choices are:

A) My bank account was hacked into and I am now broke

B) Bastian is mysteriously lame on his right front, no heat, no swelling, just super lame

C)I won the lottery (not like the mega-millions, like a $1000 scratch off kinda thing)!!!!!!

Here is a lovely picture to tide your over while you are thinking about your answer....

If your answer was B, you were right! (Because even if someone hacked my account, there is nothing there to begin with and you have to play the lottery to win the lottery and I don't play. Not to mention that not even my odds are that good) So I got to the barn on Friday night ready to ride, the weather was perfect and it was Friday! Cindy had put up a few jumps on the outdoor and I was like "Perfect, we can trot some Xs and get over this whole jumping outside thing. Not to mention that we have a new bank complex being built and one side is ready to be used so I was going to school the bank a few times too! Sounds like a perfect day, right?

All was well for the first 12 minutes or so, then he just started to feel wrong in the trot, but I couldn't nail down a reason. I rode him for about 5 more minutes pushing him forward, balancing him, pushing him laterally and straight seeing if anything helped. He felt sound at the canter and walk, just his trot was wonky. So I went back to the barn and had Cindy come out and watch him for a minute and somewhere in that 3 minute walk to the barn and back to the outdoor he became super lame on his right front. :( Luckily the farrier was there so he brought over his magical hoof testers and found....wait for it...NOTHING! yay. :(

There was no swelling anywhere and we couldn't do a comprehensive check for heat since I had just pulled his boots off. So to the washstall we went and he got cold hosed for 12 minutes, during which I discussed selling him to the Ringling Bros Circus (which will be in town next week, so I'll save on shipping costs) Which may sound like a harsh consequence for being a lame pony, but if you remember our 2010 lameness debacle I think it is justified :P. Here is the link to that fun-ness: http://bastianthewonderdragon.blogspot.com/2010_05_01_archive.html

*sigh* So yesterday I go to the barn and start checking for heat and/or swelling. Nada. So the next step is the lunge line. We do one lap at trot each way. On a scale of 1-5 in the lameness department he is a 3 (5 being super lame and 1 being slightly off). Back to the wash stall. Cindy feels a teensy bit of heat on the front of his hoof at the coronary band. Abscess maybe? Another farrier is there, so Cindy calls him over and he finds a tender spot on the bulb of his heel. Maybe a bruise? No open wound, nothing that looks like it should be causing a problem. But its the first thing we've found that has gotten an "ouch" response, so we have a possible winner. Today, he was much better, maybe a 1.5-2 lameness on the lunge. Absolutely no heat or swelling, not on his coronary and his heel bulb is still sensitive, but its cool to the touch. But he is better.

I'm taking him off of his bute tonight and tomorrow AM, and we'll see whats up tomorrow after work. Keep your fingers crossed. He is also due to have his feet done so I'm going to get him on the board for this week. I don't think that is why he is lame, but maybe it will make something better?

In other news, entries for Winona open this week and I am sooooo excited! I haven't entered a recognized competition in over a year and half and I haven't done an event in over 5 years. Super super excited. And I know I didn't post my super wonderful jumper rounds from South Farm last weekend, so here they are now: He was AWESOME!! He didn't look at a single jump, he did give the judges sitting on the sideline the wonky eye a time or two, but he was having a blast and was saying "why are they so small? Can't we do bigger jumps??" I was very proud of both of us, I wasn't nearly as nervous as I am capable of getting and overall it went very well. I'm hoping that we go back in April for their last Schooling Show in the series. South Farm put on a great show and they were so friendly, a very nice change from the hunter atmosphere we have been showing in (not to mention DELICIOUS food that was fairly priced).

Well, hopefully B will be on the mend even more tomorrow. I'm hoping to be able to hack a little in the indoor (just to stretch his legs and get him moving) so I hope he is sound, if not its just a matter of playing the waiting game until he is ready to go again. I hope its soon as Jackie Smith is coming again on the 31st to do another jump clinic and I really want to be able to ride. Keep your fingers and toes crossed that he comes sound!