Pandora Update - Cautiously Optimistic

Hey guys, it's me again. I am pretty busy preparing for my rating on Saturday (!), but I thought I'd check in with a Pandora update.

Her two weeks of bute and paddock rest are over, so I've started slowly reintroducing her to work. She's had a couple light free-longeing sessions, then today I longed her on the line and gave her a pretty good workout.

She still does not look 100% right to me, but I'm also very picky, and she really worked out of it today. To me that says a lot of it is stiffness, either from incurring the injury, compensating for the injury, or just having that much time off. So, I'm cautiously optimistic. The right front hoof, which was where the lameness originated, appears to be fine.

Pandora will receive some body work next Thursday, so I'm going to hold off on riding until after then. If all continues well, I should be able to bring her back into work over the month of August. If she seems to be bouncing back quickly both mentally and physically, I'm considering preparing her for a C-1 rating in September. Other options include preparing McKinna for the C-1, or just waiting until next year to rate up again. Either way is fine, I'm not wedded to a particular timeline.

I have been having a great time with McKinna, as my mom has informed you. She was fantastic at Inavale, and the times I've ridden her since then have been just as awesome. I practiced my emergency dismounts today at the trot - something I have to do for my rating - and she was adorable. As soon as I kicked my feet out of the stirrups and began to swing off, she came to a smooth halt. Makes my job easy when she's practically stopped before I hit the ground!

Getting her clean for Saturday is going to be a royal pain, but she's so beautiful when she's clean that it's worth it. Tonight I am spending much of my time updating record books. Unfortunately, since Pandora's my primary mount and McKinna is my rating mount, I need to bring records for both. The level required for D-3 isn't much, but I keep a ridiculously detailed book for Pandora, and I haven't updated it in a month or so. McKinna's is even less updated!

After this weekend, my horse schedule is basically empty unless I choose to do a rating in September.

I have to admit, it's kind of a nice feeling. I have been pushing and pushing, with the occasional lull, since about January. It's amazing to think of how far I came with Pandora. My January goal was to get a reasonably balanced w/t/c. Really. And I took her to her first schooling show to do 2'3 classes, and was so nervous before the Show Jumping Rally where I was also doing 2'3. I kind of laugh at it now, because I was jumping just shy of 3' before we took our lameness vacation, and she has never blinked at a stadium fence. And her w/t/c is just fine!

I'm so proud of both the horses. Every time I challenge them, they rise to the occasion.

Alright, off to do some more record book work. I will let you guys know how the rating goes!