When I first got Griffy, I could not comprehend how anyone had time for more than one horse unless they were independently wealthy and didn’t have to work (which honestly sounds pretty great, so if I hit the lottery you’re going to see me blogging a lot more!)

Then Griffy had his litany of lameness issues and all of my grand goals slipped away – no dressage shows, no mounted archery, no trail rides – and as I became grateful for even 10 minutes at a walk, I watched the people around me go through their own cycle of injury, recovery, rinse, repeat, and I realized why horse people often roll their eyes and shake their heads when they hear about yet another injury. All you have to do to connect with horse people is sadly say “Horses, man” and everyone instantly knows just how you feel.

When I had the opportunity to buy Talos, I thought it would be perfect because I could mainly ride him and Griffy could be like an occasional backup/walk/trail ride horse. So it’s not even a little bit surprising that Griffy is 100% sound and Talos is not.

A few weeks ago, right before Red got colic, Talos felt stiff while riding, as if his body was sore. Kind of like how you’d be moving if you had a really brutal workout, except it didn’t get better. He got about a week off due to rain and wet arenas, yet it seemed to get worse. Thankfully he had an osteopath appointment coming up, and I had high hopes for that getting him sorted.

I groomed him a couple of times, but it seemed like standing still made him more uncomfortable. The osteopath saw it too, and they had a good session, but it didn’t help as much as I hoped. The barn owner & I talked about the need to build up his muscles – sitting in a pasture for almost a year really did not do him any favors. But I had a feeling that he needed more, so she agreed to have the vet see him. The vet thought cortisone hock injections would help him – his joints are taking a big load because he doesn’t have the muscles to support them. Cortisone will help relieve the pain while we get him properly fit (similar to how a doctor will tell you that the key to helping osteoarthritis in your knees is building up your quad & hamstring muscles….I know ALL about that!)

He got his injections on Monday and today was the first day I got to ride him in almost 3 weeks. I was really hoping he’d be all better, and at first things looked positive – his walk to the barn seemed easier, he was standing with his feet properly under him instead of parked out, and his walk under saddle felt freer and looser.

Then we tried to trot.

I knew from the first head toss that he didn’t feel good. He only took 2-3 steps before going back down to a walk. Sure signs of a horse in pain. We changed directions and went the other way, and I felt the off step on the right.

Whelp.

It seems like the hock injectsions did help, but uncovered another issue, which is unfortunately very common.

So he’ll get a bit more time off, and the vet will be back next week and we’ll see what else we can do for him. I hate that he feels bad, and I really miss riding my big boy!