Sure enough, as he has been for some time now, he was not quite right warming up from dressage, but he seemed to work through it somewhat and actually did a nice test. I was very pleased with him.
He definitely didnt feel right warming up for SJ, but for a long time now it hasnt seemed to worry him too much jumping, so I carried on. Although I did notice that the slight increase in height did mean he was not jumping cleanly....at the lower heights he is ok, but obviously whatever is wrong with him does affect him when the jumps get a little bigger.
However, I got him around the show jumping, but was a little concerned at the number of jumps he was rattling on the way round, even though they didnt all fall.....not like him.
Cross country morning he was definitely feeling the effects of the show jumping, and felt quite unhappy. To the extent that he crashed over the practice jump (NOT like him whatsoever - even when he is being naughty and stopping, he basically never feels unsafe when he jumps). But I started him anyway. :(
He went to take off at number one and as his front feet left the ground it must have hurt of something as he crashed into it with his feet up. He then jumped it, but not happily. Jumped number two quite yukky. I thought I would push him on down the slope to see if he would open up and work out of it, but he felt unco.
I approached number three and he just felt so "off", that I pulled him off it and retired. Friends who saw him said that he was very sore behind....he was by that stage pretty lame.
And has remained too lame to ride to date (18.11.010) Have had him treated to no avail, and am now tossing up whether to get his feet x-rayed, as although the weekend felt muscular, as he has done on many occasions previously, he has also been lame from time to time with what feels like a foot problem???
So, looks like No starts for Willie for a while, unless I can resolve whatever is going on with him....very frustrating, as I really feel I am making progress in getting my head in the right place.
