mystery

I have not been out on the beautiful trails. Or along the lake. Or out exploring. I have not been having much fun. I have instead been dealing with mystery lameness. Oh boy. 

A couple weeks ago after a ride without a lame step Major was off. Off off. 3/5 lame. No heat, swelling or tenderness, Mr. Stoic didn't seem to care. Great. I thought maybe another abcess brewing somewhere. 

I wanted to wait before running to the vet. It got better over the course of a week, almost imperceptible except on a circle going one direction. But still there. Made the vet appointment. 

And Major was so excited to be going somewhere he jumped in the trailer! I think he was very disappointed when he got out at the vet. 

Where of course he showed no sign of serious lameness, though seemed stiff. Did one leg block, not any serious perceptible change. Hmm. Options from the vet:

1. do a big work up and see what we can find, if anything. 

2. Ride him and see if I can recreate the lameness. Then do a work up. 

Vet prefers the second option. "Riding till lame" sounds to me like a horrible option, but I understand it is a better diagnostic tool. 

So this weekend I am cautiously saddling my horse for a short ride. And I'll see what happens. I am totally mentally exhausted from worrying. 

But at least Major makes me smile. Not just because he is blindingly shiny gorgeous (and a bit fat from sitting around.) He's so shiny he can't look at himself. 

But because for just a moment I wondered if he would worry about my truck being full of sticks and covered with a flapping tarp. He wasn't, and might actually be a dog.