Some kinda wind!

Too bad today wasn't like yesterday.

I mean, yeah, it was sunny. And the ambient temperature wasn't so bad (if you were in the sun).

But the wind! Yeesh. That wasn't any fun at all.

That said, I did manage to take Kieran for a spin around the big field, though we didn't do any long trot sets (Lynn came out with us on Tyr and that was like...his second time out in the big field so we kept it simple). Did do a bit of trotting and cantering over the logs in the field (can't really call it jumping, hah) and Christine got some pretty ridiculous pictures of us that I'll have to post later when she uploads them.

Then I did take him inside and we did some riding around in the ring. Nothing too exciting, though I did do some "canter a few strides, come back a walk, walk a bit, canter a few strides..." sort of transitions because his downward transitions from a canter are pretty sloppy.

My ankle felt much better today, for the record and I cooled him out standing in two point most of the way.

Other than that, he got a massage a week ago Friday and I've been emailing back and forth with the massage lady about it. Mostly I just wanted her to check him out and see if he did have back pain that needed dealing with (before it becomes an issue). Here's what she told me about what she found:

Basically, Kieran had moderate tension in the bilateral lumbar region, right stifle and right hamstrings. I also found tension at the base of his neck on the left. These are actually pretty common areas of tension and don’t necessarily mean anything is wrong. I’m actually seeing a lot of horses that have a lot of tension in the hind end lately, and I think a lot of it has to do with the ice. The tension in the lumbars is a common finding – it could be from him jumping, as this is where the horse will flex to bring his hind end under himself, as well as the area that is stressed during jumping. Some muscle tension is normal and to be expected when a horse is learning to use himself differently.

So all in all, she didn't find anything of major concern or suggest that she'd need to come out again which is, I think, a good thing. ;)