A summer update

Summer has assuredly crept up on me this year.  The flying bugs, who were not there one weekend, were out in full force the next, biting my face, neck, any inch of exposed skin that had not been liberally sprayed down with insect repellant.  We are all sweating now and perpetually damp - either from sweat or from the incessant showers it feels like we take around this time of year.  And there are updates - many updates!

The biggest / bestest news is that my sister's family is (finally) moving to Texas.  The new home has been purchased and sits empty, waiting for the pitter patter of dog paws and bare toddler feet.  The extended family are thrilled about this homecoming and we're ready for all of them to be close by.  It has been a saga (more for them, than for me) to get here but in a few short weeks, they'll be taking a one-way flight from Oregon and settling down in Texas and adjusting to the heat will be the main agenda.  I know that her family have mixed feelings about leaving Oregon where both of her kids were born and also being close to my parents.  Family dynamics will always be complicated, even despite our best intentions, and underneath it all, I think we're all grateful that we even get to have them.

The big guy and a field hack

The other quite relieving and wonderful news is we think we have finally cracked the nut that has been Dalton's NQR (not quite right)-ness in his hind end.  Since December, he has been swapping his right to left lead at the canter, at the worst of times, unable to hold it for a full 10 meter circle.  It would get worse after rainy days, when he had been confined in his stall without the ability to move around during the day in turnout.  We had his hocks injected earlier this spring (annual maintenance), and it did not clear up.  We put back shoes on him, which helped with his grip but didn't completely resolve the issue.  Trainer and I went on a crusade to build up his hind end, which helped quite a bit but he would revert back to a weaker hind end when he didn't have turn out.  This past week, the vet was out for vaccines and took another look at Dalton on the lunge line.  After examining his hocks again (which were fine), this time he and trainer decided on blistering Dalton's stifles.  I had a good amount of googling to do after hearing about it and with bated breath, crossed my fingers that it would be effective.  And finally!  Trainer rode mid-week and I rode yesterday and Dalton is moving with a lot more ease, particularly in his hind end.  No lead swaps, even after lack of turn out this week.  He'll have another round of blistering in two weeks but this seems to be the solution!

There is so much relief in feeling Dalton's movement post-blistering.  We had discussed chiropractor, acupuncture, x-rays and even more as different options.  I also feel good in knowing that we only went with the invasive option when we had ruled out or tried other potential fixes.  The past 6-month period has really informed my thinking about Dalton's training as well as my and my trainer's agenda for his future.  He still has quite a few years of physical growth and maturation ahead of him and I want to make sure we do right by him and are intentional about how we help with that growth.  More thoughts on this later as I continue to put this together, but today I am so relieved and also so grateful.