Two weeks after our Moab adventure, I took Hoss and the boys for a short trail ride at Hollenbeck. The weather was turning, and I had a rehearsal to get to, so we didn't have a great deal of time to get in a ride. The boys were completely nuts, and Hoss was showing signs of feeling a bit pent up, so getting out was as much a necessity as anything. I also wanted to try out a suggestion I got about using the heart rate monitor. Since the electrode on his side had rubbed the hair off, I had asked online for advice. One of the suggestions made was to put both electrodes under the saddle on both sides. In addition to this, I needed to try out the brand new Renegade hoof boots I'd gotten for Hoss's hind feet.
The swelling issue Hoss developed after Moab hasn't changed. I did start taking him on morning walks, and the swelling will go down to the point the leg looks near normal. I've been applying liniment every day in hopes of improving things and getting it to go away. In the mornings, though, the swelling is back. I did trim out his feet and took a very hard look at that left hind, but there's simply nothing there. He has no pain response of any kind, but I think he's beginning to get ticked off at me for continually messing with it.
Fiddling with the HRM took more time than I hoped it would, and I couldn't get it to work quite right. It was clear the watch was receiving a signal from time to time, so I figured we'd just ride and hope that once Hoss had sweated up enough there'd be a good signal. The Renegade boots took less messing with to put on, but I had spent some time at home making some adjustments to get the straps right.
When I mounted up, it was pretty clear my hip was not going to be thrilled about the whole notion. It was immediately achy even through the drugs they gave me at the ER last week. As we headed for the cowboy gate and the trails, I realized I had little to no "leg." I couldn't use my leg for a cue without experiencing pain and cramping in the muscles. Luckily Hoss was still feeling a bit stiff and sore from our misadventure, so he wasn't taking advantage of my disability. I did figure out I could simply shift my weight from one butt cheek to the other and he'd move over in response. Cool! My trainer commented he's so good he'll even do what I want when I don't ask right.
We hit the trail at a sedate pace. It wasn't raining yet, but there were some sprinkles. My daughter had come home shortly before I left, and I quizzed her on the weather conditions, which had convinced me I could get away with a ride. Besides, it's not like we were going to melt or anything. It did turn out we timed it perfectly. The rain didn't really hit until I put Hoss back in the trailer.
Once we had warmed up adequately, Hoss picked up a nice but somewhat stiff trot. Clearly he was still "out" from sliding down Wipe Out Hill. Also, while brushing him, I found some extremely sore muscles. Clearly he was going to need a visit from his chiropractor before going to Lead Follow! Still, he was happy enough to get out, and after a bit smoothed out adequately enough I could be sure he wasn't lame at all.
I knew Hoss was sweating adequately enough that the HRM, if it was going to work with both sensors under the saddle pad, was going to work. I fiddled with the watch, and saw it get a few signals, but it never did give me a reading. That fix was a bust.
I had to be to a choir rehearsal so I really didn't have a great deal of time to ride. As a result I decided to cut the trail a little shorter than usual. Rather than go up the hill, we turned down, cutting off the extra two miles or so up the hill. At the flat, we had a good run-out breezing until we hit the "short cut," where, to his surprise, I turned him to cut off another mile or so of trail.
Once we topped the rise into the meadow, we took the "high" side, cutting the trail just a smidge shorter. As we trotted along, Mac caught sight of a coyote in the middle of the meadow and took off after it. Ash was not far behind him. I hollered, but was summarily ignored. I didn't have Mac's shock collar on, so had no way of stopping him. Not knowing what trouble he could be chasing, I sent Hoss cross-country as fast as we could go after the dogs. The terrain is uneven enough we weren't confident to do more than a swift trot.
Ash was the first to acknowledge my commands and return to me. I could fortunately see Mac, so at least I'd be able to get to him without a major search if things went badly. The coyote, fortunately for it, outpaced Mac and went to ground somewhere Mac couldn't find it. Mac also returned to me, looking slightly abashed. I'm really going to have to get a two-dog training collar system!
Back at the trailer, I got Hoss untacked and found the swelling on his left hind had reduced to completely normal. I ran my hand over it several times, poking and prodding and pinching and squeezing. Only response was a disgusted look from Hoss.
We only got in 5 miles, and I didn't really collect data knowing it was going to be so brief. I got Hoss and the dogs home just in time to turn around and head out in the terrible weather to go to my rehearsal. I was late, partly due to the miserable weather and partly due to getting a late start.
So, yes, I'm nuts. I'm giving serious thought to heading out to Lead, Follow or Get out of My Way.
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