Trouble in paradise

Ruby and I went to Marshall Hampton yesterday.  The plan was to trot as much of the trail as possible, doing both loops once.  That plan went out the window almost immediately.

As we got to the lake, Ruby started to refuse to move forward.  Hmm.  When I'd give her some more leg, she'd kick her belly or kick out with her left hind.  I climbed down and did, in fact, find a bloody spot where she'd been bitten by a fly on her belly near that leg.  While I was on the ground, I checked her leg and foot for any burrs, cuts, etc.  I led her over to a bench to climb back on, but when I asked her to walk we had the same problem, only this time with ear-pinning. Damn mare is too smart for her own good sometimes.  Instead of fighting with her, I hopped down again and led her for a quarter mile or so at a pretty good clip, then I remounted.

She was jumpy, not bad, but jumpy which, after the kicking out/almost bucking, I allowed to make me jumpy - FAIL.  By the time we were halfway around the lake, I was telling myself that we would just do the one loop at a walk and call it a day.

When we came out by the trailer, I let her graze for a bit and watched another horse trailer pull in.  Two ladies, one with a big warmblood gelding, the other with a paint horse.  When I asked Ruby to walk again, I got more attitude - ear-pinning and refusing forward movement!  The lady with the warmblood asked me about my saddle.  Most people, the first time they see it, exclaim about how comfortable it looks.  It most definitely is comfy, if you're wondering.  They left for their ride and I went to load Ruby and she stopped at the back of the trailer. By this point, I was barely holding onto my temper. I got her loaded within a few minutes by tapping her butt with the lead rope.  

When we got back to the barn, I unloaded her and immediately asked her to load again, which she did with just a small hesitation.  I checked the saddle pad and girth for burrs (I check before every ride, too) but found nothing.  I round-penned her, watching for any sign of lameness, and saw nothing.

This morning, I checked over her whole body and palpated her back but she was fine.  Within minutes of me mounting in the arena, she was kicking out with her left hind when asked to walk.  With ear-pinning.  To un-stick her feet, we did lots of figure-eights.  When I had actual forward movement, we did a bit of trotting, then we just worked on walk-halt-back-walk transitions.  By the end of the session, she was moving forward willingly with no more kicking out.

Now, a confession.  I know plenty of people that don't feed cookies to their horses often, but Ruby isn't one who loves pats or scratches so I do give treats quite often. She has never been pushy or demanding about them, ever.  But, maybe yesterday she decided to make her move?  She was very obviously looking over her left shoulder at me while pinning ears, then she would kick out - trying to demand cookies?  Maybe it was a combination of factors: cooler weather, windy, maybe she's in heat, and that all put her in an uber-pissy mood? I don't know.  I'll be riding every day for the rest of the week trying to fix this issue (and still watching for any signs of lameness/soreness).  For now (barring unforeseen circumstances), I have Marie coming out on Saturday for a lesson. I'm looking forward to having her watch and critique Ruby and me and getting her opinion on the situation.