Earlier this week we talked about Simon pants, I was a bit meh.  I basically made the decision to do some easy (read: inexpensive) things to further try and fix our problem, try to stop being so neurotic about it and essentially ride him until it goes away or gets bad enough to really dive in and diagnose.

Five days later, I am feeling pretty optimistic.  First in my plan of attack was to get Jen to ride him to get her opinion on the state of things.  If you want to read about that, check out her blog post… but the summary is he did the funny step for her but like me, she didn’t feel it was pain related.  Her assessment validated to me that he does do it with lighter riders, but also that the more he works and the more properly he goes… the less he does it.

Then my farrier came out special for Simon and we squared off the toe on Simon’s hind feet.  After I saw the new shoes, they looked lovely and I was cautiously optimistic.  My farrier told me Simon had grown a lot of toe, and he took quite a bit off in addition to moving the shoe back slightly and squaring the toe.

Thursday was my first post-shoes ride, and Simon felt fantastic.  He only did the funny step behavior twice during our ride, and to say I was elated is an understatement.  He basically felt like normal Simon (who is not always perfect in his hind due to his pre-existing issues) and I felt like I had my horse back!  The footing was also exceptional in our ring that night, so I’m sure that had a part to play as well.

So now I’m feeling officially less gloom & doom about my horse.  Yes, he has some weirdness and some issues… but a lot of that is just him.  I can live with it, because he is the bestest.

Since Jen is temporarily boarding her adorable Paddington with me, I also get to ride what I affectionately call “the Anti-Simon.”  Not sure you could create a horse more different than mine… but look how cute he is!

I like riding Paddington, because he reminds me of a horse I rode as a kid.  Just looking down on a thick palomino mane gives me a huge waft of nostalgia.

Plus, all this sitting the Haffie power trot in Jen’s dressage saddle is really good for my abs.  Riding a cutie plus an ab workout?  I’ll take it!

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