I was SO excited last week.

I was going to have REAL agility to blog about tonight.

We were going to a trial -the girls and me – cruising down the road to our favourite venue and having a ball. Sally had 5 classes to play in – standards and jumpers and steeplechase. It was going to be fun. SO. MUCH. FUN. We’ve been working on our agility skills. Jumping, aframes, weaving- not everything we needed but enough that we were feeling fine. Yen was going to make an FEO debut and buzz around the ring making everybody chuckle. I was going to take pictures.

Yesterday was a very long day. I had kids at a horse show, lessons then my own riding. I snuck home mid day and took the dogs for a lovely not too long run at the farm. They ran and swam and had a great time. No big jumps, sudden yips or refusals to load into car. Everybody seemed happy. Left them to nap their run away and got back in time for another quick run. Sally got up stiff and WALKED out the door. Sally really doesn’t walk anywhere unless on leash. Hmmm perhaps she was stiff. She sort of, kind of, walked out of it but then her right hind leg started taking little dotty steps – she wasn’t LAME but she was far from right.

Could I have run her?  I’m going to say yes. I am quite sure that the adrenal rush of being in one of her favourite places doing her favourite thing would have had her looking sound as a bell. She still isn’t sound tonight (we won’t discuss what she thinks of being on leash at the farm). She isn’t any worse but she is still slightly quicker across that hind leg and not even in her stride.

Did I likely make the right call for the long term? Of course. Would Sally have made the same call? I doubt it. No, there is no doubt – she would have run her heart out and her legs off.  So sad to be the adult today.