A little update on the Grace situation

_jetset_

_jetset_

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Firstly, I want to say thank you to everyone who took the time to put a message on my very neurotic and emotional post about Grace. I really did appreciate everyones comments, whether they be good or bad, and I appreciated peoples honesty too. Sometimes it takes someone completely detached from the person, the horse and the situation to speak sense.

The farrier came up on Tuesday evening to have a look at her (it had been an associate look at it last week) and put the shoe back on for me. Grace was no longer tender when he was poking and prodding the area, which I saw as a good sign, but he also believed that alongside the bruising there was a pocket which looked to be where an abscess had been lurking.

He put the shoe back on and she instantly walked much better, and yesterday morning she trotted up almost sound so I put her out in the field with some cotton wool and iodine pushed into the gap as the farrier recommended. Last night she came in sound in trot, and again this morning, so I lunged her in ride renis and a roller to see how she was working on a circle (I did it without the side reins first) and she looked really well
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So, back to the dilema... I am still constantly looking for some kind of unsoundness, and I don't think this is something that is going to disappear for some time to come. This morning whilst lunging she slipped through one of her hinds, and I was about to pull her up when something clicked and I made her push through her hinds and really worked her quite hard from behind. I felt better having made her work rather than stopping and panicking about things.

I had a really long think about what my options are, how I would feel seeing someone out competing her etc etc. and concluded that I need more time with her to be 100% sure of whatever decision I make. My husband and I discussed all the options; there were tears of frustration, tears of happiness when I remembered what we have already overcome and tears of sadness at what could have been and what we have missed.

So the decision was made, and I am hoping that for now it is the right one. The original plan was to compete her at the Petplan Area Festival at Myerscough in the Prelim which is not until October. So, my first aim is to get one more quaifying sheet so I can take her there. However, there is also a Petplan at Manor Grange, so depending on how she is going, we may go there as a practise run. Until I have competed her at the Areas in October, I am not going to think anymore about what the future holds. Once we have done the Areas, I will then sit down again and reevaluate how I am feeling about riding her, what progress we have made and make a decision based on that.

Thank you again to everyone for your advice.
 
Glad she is sound now. I hadn't realised that she was only competing at Prelim though. From the way you talk of her I thought she was competing, or at least working, at a much more established level.

I'll hopefully be out competing at prelim and maybe even Novice on Berry this winter - should be fun.
 
She was working at Elementary about to do her first test before she went lame in November. Because she is still in Prelim points, I have decided to start from scratch because she has had 9 months out of work and lost all her muscle
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Plus, because of the colic surgery, we have had to be careful how her tummy muscles are worked, but the scar looks great now and the muscle is pretty strong all around it. I sometimes feel naughty starting her at Prelim again, but she only has 24 points and only competed BD from May to October
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One of my trainers really likes her and thinks she is a very athletic young lady who will achieve all of my dreams, if only she would stay sound (even he has now concluded we are going to chop her legs off and put iron ones on
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). It's a real shame because she started her training late when I rebacked her at 5, and then had 9 months off work when she was going so very well
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Excellent! Glad you've decided to go with the "one step at a time" approach. I think you will find things make sense eventually - just often not until you're looking back at them!

Don't rule out having someone else ride and show her a bit, especially if you're also struggling with your time. Feeling frantic and exhausted about other things isn't going to help you feel cool about her! I thought it would really bother me when I leased my older horse out but instead I was happy he was getting the time and attention I couldn't give him. Also, I've seen lots of people give a horse to another rider for a bit, sort out their own burn out, and then go back to the horse with a fresh attitude later on. I think this might particularly be the case here as you could then assure yourself she was staying sound in her work without having the day to day strain of being the one to prove it.
 
There is no one really I can ask to ride her for me or lunge her for me unfortunately, although it is a good suggestion. I am hoping to send her to one of my trainers again (where she was while I went on holiday in July) for a week or two, but I have to find the money to do that so it will not be imminent.

At the moment she is not at the level where someone would want to take her on for a bit to compete either, although if I can get her to where she was this time last year it would be easier. She is such a willing horse to ride that she gives the rider her all, a real trait that I have found so endearing when my other mare makes me work for every last step
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