Update on Mr Pea :)

Things with Pea have been a bit 'up in the air' so to speak lately. He still doesn't seem 100% right and stops when I first ask for trot, however once he eventually gets going he's not too bad. He's had the vet look at him regarding hind limb stiffness, seen the Physio, had a couple of massages, his teeth have been done in the last month and also his saddle so I've decided to just work through it for the next few weeks and see if he gets over it and it is just a behaviour issue or if there's something more to it. 

As it was Burghley over the weekend, and I live two minutes down the road, I spent a fortune on the little horse! I have bought him an Equilibrium magnetic pad to wear before exercise to relieve stiffness and muscle soreness. As I've just bought it, he's only wearing it for a short amount of time but I plan to build this up over time and hopefully he'll wear it overnight when he's stabled over winter. I would definitely recommend checking out 'Wychanger Barton Saddlery' if you're ever at a large horse event and they're there as they always have good offers on. The magnetic pad was only £80 and it normally retails for £125!!

I also popped to Feedmark to have a chat about a supplement as someone from my yard (plus a couple of others) really recommended them. We decided to try the 'ActiVet' supplement which claims to 'soothe veteran muscles and joints'. Whilst Pea is only 14, the woman from Feedmark explained that this works on the joints but as we're not completely certain that it is mainly the joints, it will also help with any muscle soreness. I explained that he had been on Glucosamine & MSM which I think helped slightly but not majorly and that it why she thought maybe trying this supplement might help more. I've bought a months tub as she explained that it takes around two weeks for the supplement to show any effect and then you have a further two weeks of continual use to see if the effects stay. 

Work wise, I'm working on trying to get Pea forwards more as well as doing lots of circles,

leg-yielding, transitions and polework. At the moment, we're mainly working in walk and trot but incorporating a few canter strides towards the end of a session when he's loosened up a lot more. As we've had many issues with canter, I don't want to push too much if there is a problem as I don't want to knock either of our confidence in the gait. We're currently doing one schooling session a week where we focus on suppleness so doing plenty of leg-yields and large circles and a second schooling session where we work over various poles to encourage his hind legs to lift a bit more and step under better. He also gets hacked out and lunged as normal, although he doesn't have the side reins on tight whilst lunging. 

I have a week off work next week so I might book in for a lesson and discuss with my instructor what she thinks but I'm hoping that the new supplement, magnetic pad and regular pole work will help! Fingers crossed anyway!

Thanks for reading,

Laura xx