By the shores of Gitchee Gumee by the shining Big-Sea-Water, came a little red horse! ...Or something like that. Clifford is the star of, "Clifford of Drummond Island" and other true stories. Clifford visits libraries, schools and assisted living centers. He has traveled all over the Eastern United States. Stay tuned for our next adventure! Meanwhile, enjoy the paintings and drawings regularly created by Cliffy's "mom", artist and author Nancy J. Bailey.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Clifford - Day 13
Well, Day 10 went great. I rode Clifford for an hour and he was just like his old self. I remembered why he earned the nickname "Zoom Zoom". I was holding him back. A truck went by us up the hill, and he even wanted to chase it like he used to do. It was our best ride in a couple of years.
Yesterday I took him out again. He was a little slower than he was on day 10. He did stubborn tricks of trying to turn around. He was, quite frankly, a brat. He didn't feel stiff. I think he needs to build up some strength in that leg, and I had read somewhere that the best way to do this is to trot over long distances. So I was asking him to trot a lot.
We had a bad fall while trotting a couple of years ago. It was when he first started having serious problems with the knee. That day, he stumbled, HARD, and I went somersaulting over his head. I hit the ground rolling, thinking for sure he was going to fall or step right on me. But when I looked up, he was standing off to the side. He had avoided me somehow. But I was sore for a few days after that. I have fallen off this horse A LOT over the years and normally I am not worried about it. But this was different. I've been really timid about going fast ever since.
But yesterday, I wasn't worried about it. We trotted. I knew that if he was stiff, I would feel it. His trot has always been rough. He kept doing a little skip-hop type thing, trying to break into a canter. I think a canter might be easier on his knee. And he has always preferred to canter anyway. But I wanted him to stay in a trot.
We went for an hour, mostly at the walk. When we got back, he showed no signs of stiffness or wanting to limp. I have not seen him limp at all now in over ten days.
I am officially at the halfway point of my test run now. So far, so good.
Sounds pretty good so far, keep us posted on the progress.Good Luck.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like he is coming along. That's good.
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