Like Wildfire

So apparently the virus at the barn is spreading through the horses like wildfire. Quite a few of them have picked it up. It was pretty funny because the minute I brought Walker into the ring, my instructor was like, "what's wrong with him?" It's so obvious that he's sick, and if course, he's usually so misbehaved that even the spectators made some comments about how down in the dumps he was. We would be jogging along and every so often he would just come to a full stop for no reason whatsoever despite my continued encouragement to keep moving.

Needless to say, it wasn't too intense of a lesson. We pretty much did a spiral in and out exercise for the entirety of the lesson, helping our horses use their haunches while spiralling in and letting them relax while spiralling out. We didn't do it at the canter but that's because we simply don't have the room (and I maintain that will never be possible anyway!). My instructor thinks that we might be in the outdoor arena in a few weeks already because of the crazy amount of rain we've been getting to wash away the snow. You should've seen the look on my face when she said that. I was heartbroken! Don't get me wrong, I love riding outside and having the space, but at the end if Fall, Waller was just so immensely bad behaved during Wednesday night lessons that I don't want to go back to that. We're finally learning how to jump and if he decides to go back to being a jerk who bolts for no reason other than he doesn't want to work, our instructor will greatly limit my exercises, including jumping. :( The only solace I have is that we have been together for much longer now and we have much more of a bond. I'm also hoping to nip that behaviour in the butt immediately this time whereas in the summer, it took me too long to start reacting to it.

St Anne: Patron Saint of Equestrians

Other than that, I think I may have a dislocated or cracked rib. Because my chest is so sore, I haven't gone to my massage therapist lately and so my back is also sore. I tried to lay on the floor to crack it but stretching hurts my chest. But when I was stretched out, I felt my rib and it was noticeably protruded. I looked in the mirror and confirmed that the rib near the place where my chest hurts is sticking out. Perhaps the doctor and I were wrong about it being muscle related. Using those muscles would push on the rib but perhaps all the coughing has done something to my rib instead of the muscles. This also explains the weird popping sound I heard and felt in Italy which led to immobilizing pain. For the meantime, I'm just going to leave it be. If it doesn't stop hurting, I'll go back to the hospital but I still agree there's nothing they can do whatever it is.