Welcome back Ben

Ben is finally right again. It only took a change in shoeing, stifle injections, and SI injections. I hope that it was all triggered by his unhappy feet that we have now remedied. I would like to not have a repeat of pouring this much money into my horse's joints. Retrospectively he might not have needed the stifle injections because they didn't change much in his way of going. But, regardless, now he is back to work. This is the second summer in a row where he has come back to work RIGHT at the hottest time of the year. By 10 AM my weather app says "unfavorable - conditions are not ideal, consider modifying activities to limit outdoor exposure". Oof. But since he's been mostly off since March/April, he gets to go back to work. 

Our plan is JT riding him for the first two weeks post-SI injection to keep him really freaking straight through his pelvis. I'm taking him for walk hacks in between his training rides with her. The second week of July, I'll get back in the saddle for more than walking and start doing some dressage rides and more heavy duty conditioning. The last part of July, we'll put him back over fences. 

As part of his conditioning, he is aqua tredding. I am delighted by this. He is not and my wallet is not, but I think it is really, really good for him. Plus it isn't 5 million degrees on the underwater treadmill, so that's a perk too. 

Why tho???