Horse Update, September

 Unfortunately, I don't have much to talk about when it comes to progress in my riding goals.  I did ride Camaro a lot in July, and we cantered just about every single ride.  That there is progress.

On the other hand, I hardly rode at all in August it was so blasted hot and humid the majority of the month and I just didn't have the strength (or the stomach, high humidity coupled with heat seems to just liquefy my guts and/or make me nauseous, sorry to be graphic) to do barn chores and ride, plus do garden work and canning at home most days.  So, the riding, as the only activity on my plate that wasn't about saving money for the household, had to be lowest priority.  I did longe him at least twice most weeks that I didn't get in the saddle, and I have to say his trot to canter transitions on the longe line are pretty much instantaneous and balanced now.

So far in September, I've been in the saddle once.  We cantered that ride too, in fact, Camaro very calmly and willingly offered it (when I was actually wanting him to collect his trot more), so I asked him a few more times for canter during that ride.

Overall, though, I'm not very happy with the last two months.  So many lost riding opportunities I could/should/normally would have just pushed through.  

And then there's my knee.  My left knee has been acting up the majority of the summer.  Don't know what caused it to start, still don't know exactly what aggravates it, and finally I've been prescribed physical therapy by my primary care doctor (2x weekly for 4 weeks) to try to rebuild the muscles in and around it because for many weeks I couldn't even bend it at the walk, so of course certain muscles went unused or were torqued by an abnormal gait.  It mostly bends now, but not 100%, and I can't jog or run or hop or pivot on it. Stairs range from slightly slower than normal to "this hurts like hell and I hope I don't fall on my face" depending on the day.  So, sometimes just getting into the saddle even from the mounting block is painful and risky.

The show I wanted to go to this month has come and gone, without me.  There's no way I could have taken care of Camaro at the show, or ridden tests well (damn knee).  Honestly, I'm rather bummed out over that.

Well, that's my downer of a horse-related update for this month.  Not even a single picture to share.