Not only did I survive my week away at camp, I’d say I actually thrived. It was a great week, and for a few days after returning home I just wanted to go back. It is nice to be home though and getting back into the swing of things.

Ace is looking pretty good these days. He still seems a little weak in his right stifle when he turns, but isn’t in pain or lame or anything. I’ve got him back in light work, walking and a little trotting long straight line up hills in the pasture. I’ve been riding bareback this week for several reasons: I’m too  lazy to use full tack, it’s good for my position and strength, it keeps me from wanting to push him too hard too fast, and I can really feel how he is moving.

He was super happy to be doing something again, and really seems to like riding out in the field. I was going to just walk the first day back, but he kept asking to trot so I let him. The more we trot, the better his movement feels.

Right now I know I need to just focus on conditioning and not so much on training. It’s hard, because I want to do more than just walk and trot straight lines. I have the “go” mentality of a thoroughbred, that’s for sure. But I’m behaving myself so far. I’m doing little things, like working on bend and flexion and straightness and moving off my legs.

Ace is turning into quite the sensitive, responsive horse. And the amazing thing is, he’s doing that right away after having nearly a month off! It makes me realize that he’s totally worth it, even if we have spent more time off with injuries than I would like. Ace has been through a lot of change in the last year, so it’s not really a surprise that his body is still adjusting (and sometimes rebelling!).