Long time gone & Backward steps
I'm sorry for the lapse in posting. I got busy in the fall, and then just kept pushing the catch-up further and further back. Then there was this huge thing with the computer, getting a new computer...Suffice to say, there were a lot of excuses.
Toler and I ended the fall in top form. We started doing quite a bit of hill work, mostly trotting downhill and cantering uphill. I found the best hill in one of the paddocks that became empty in the afternoon after the horses were brought in, and Toler and I would sneak inside it to work. The hill was temperate and the footing was excellent, plus the "new scenery" made it far more interesting.
We also had some excellent trail rides. My trainer trailered a bunch of us from the stable to our favorite nearby equestrian park three or four times before the season ended.
Toler had a little hiccup into the winter when he developed a stifle issue. Whether it was just a strain or something psychological (which, to be honest, is sometimes hard to determine with Toler--he often internalizes his injuries and creates an emotional aspect to them), it made us ease up on our training for a short time.
Training was getting back into full swing--after incredible amounts of counter-bending on the rail and other straightening exercises--when we heard that Steffen Peters would be returning as a clinician for this year's Midwest Horse Fair. Having sized up "the competition" the previous year, I was determined to apply with Toler. We had two weeks to prepare ourselves for a video for the application.
I quickly found the new 2011 dressage tests online (scoring copies are available as free downloads on USEF) and memorized all of First and Second levels. Having to shoot our video in the small-dressage-arena-sized indoor arena at our barn, I knew that we would be unable to ride an actual test, but I'd intended to select specific movements and adapt them for the application video.
And, as our luck would have it, a few days into working, I arrived at the barn one cold, icy day to discover that Toler's left knee was incredibly inflamed. No doubt he'd slipped and fallen on it. He was not lame, but riding was decidedly out of the question. So too was our application.
Toler has recovered well so far. He has a slight amount of remaining fluid in his knee, but there is no further swelling and Toler has decided he feels more than fine to do practically anything he wants. Including a rather huge set of bucks while I rode him bareback one day. I am riding him, but it is straight rail-work-only. No bending, no circles, no lateral movements of any kind. Nothing that would put additional weight or strain on his knee, which gets better day by day. It's a good time to step back and work on my sitting trot, really.
Some friends at the stable did apply for the clinic positions, and Toler and I wish them luck. As for us, there will be other opportunities, and, as I suspect, there will be always be next year.
