Back To Work

Memorial Day weekend I officially put Zoe "Back To Work". That meant I took her to a friend's riding arena for 3 days and longed her each day. Then took her back that Wednesday and found she was lame-ish. While there was no obvious swelling, taking lame steps, or heat in the leg, she was moving conservatively. When I palpated the tendon she never moved the leg, but I could feel her shoulder muscle contract slightly when I pinched the original site of the injury. That was enough for me to do 2 things:
1) Feel horrible that I overworked my horse in the first 3 days of rehab, and
2) Put her away and gave her several days of rest.

Due to bad weather (lots of rain and flooding), Zoe has had about a week longer for resting than I had planned. I took her out 2 days ago and put her on the longe. She still seems to be moving a bit conservatively, but it looked more like she just didn't have any energy or stamina. She was content to just walk and trot on the longe. She was very well behaved, but I think I would have rather liked to see her try some big fancy trotting and some desire to canter. She did get tired quickly. Remember, she is really out of shape and being conservative on both of our parts is just what we need. I am a bit concerned that maybe I did too much Memorial Day weekend and maybe she really did reinjure herself. Aaargh. There is no heat, no swelling, and no other indication of that, but really only another ultrasound would tell me for certain. I am going to give us a couple more workouts to see before I take her in for a re-check. Keep your fingers crossed for us.