Somethin Ain't Right

The bronco crow hopping has returned, and I got tossed AGAIN. It looks very similar to this, except I'm not that good at sitting it out (obviously).



Folks, something just isn't right. I've gotten to know this horse, and he tries his big heart out every time we ride to do what I ask him to do- even when he doesn't know how. This horse doesn't have a mean bone in his body, and he really doesn't "test" me. Sure he'll over bend or counter bend to avoid traveling straight and do other silly little evasions, but he doesn't do dangerous stuff to get out of doing work. He likes to work, and he likes to please his rider.

With that being said, our ride was fantastic yesterday. I was feeling confident and very trusting and decided we'd take the trail to the dressage arenas and do some work there. He was absolutely wonderful on the trail- this was the longest trail ride we've been on alone, and we had to walk up steep hills, around the lake, and past the xc course. He was wonderful, and we even did some bending walk work and a little bit of trot in the dressage arena. Then we walked back to the barn on a different trail, and again, he was great!

I wanted to work the canter since it has been so good of late, so we went into the barn arena to finish up our ride. He was already warmed up from our trail ride, so I put him right into the trot and asked him to come onto the bit. We did some serpentines and changes of direction, and then I asked for the the canter. He took a couple of quick steps, and then started up with the above. I came off, felt fine, and got right back on and put him into the trot. He was totally fine and did what I asked without question. Then I asked again for the canter, and he crow hopped again. This time I managed to get his head up (I've stated riding him in a breastplate with running martingale to help with this) and pull him to a stop. I switched directions and asked for the canter again, and he really tried for me but we couldn't pick up the correct lead. I knew something was wrong and pulled his tack off and put him in the round pen. Again, he crow hopped each direction at the canter in the round pen. We called it a day, and I gave him a nice cool hosing.

I think the 2.5 weeks of stall rest did his body good back in March, and as a result, we had a month of good canter work. We've been back to full work now (jumping, dressage schools with canter work), and the problems we were having before are back only now. I really truly believe this is a pain issue, and he needs some serious bodywork. Either that, or I'm in serious denial and he's just being naughty naughty naughty. I'm just mad at myself because my saddle fitter said his back wasn't happy last month during our fitting and suggested a massage. I put it on the list of things to do, but I should have done it right away. I've got a call in to a woman who does several of the horses at my farm, so hopefully we can give that a try. I'm so sorry buddy! :-(