Last night Willow's front leg looked back to normal, and the abrasion on her stifle was completely scabbed over with no remaining swelling. I free lunged her at trot for a few minutes and then walked her for twenty minutes. She also got another dose of bute. I had hoped to get back to riding tonight.
I could tell when I hooked up the side reins and pushed her into trot tonight, though, that she's still sore and/or stiff. She was perfectly even, but she just had a reluctant aura about her, and she didn't want to canter and only held the canter for a few strides. Not at all usual for Willow. So I unhooked the side reins and we're back to hand-walking and bute for a couple more days.
I would be sore, too, if I were to run as fast as I could for twenty minutes with no conditioning for cross country!
2 comments:
If it's just muscle soreness and you're not worried that she's strained something in her leg (it doesn't sound like she has) you might consider an easy ride with lots of stretching. As much as it hurts at first, working your muscles is the best way to flush the lactic acid out.
Sounds like the usual soreness from an intense workout...glad to hear she's not off. That's a huge relief.
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