Ruby and Angel

I have been riding Ruby a few times a week, for 10-15 minutes at a time.  She is doing well.  The fluid that was built up in her tendon sheath has worked itself out (thanks to Rick?  possibly), she's moving well, and there has been no swelling or anything to indicate that we've been doing too much.  Last week, we started trotting again.  The first day we did maybe 5 minutes total - she felt great!  The next ride, we did a little more.  Again, she seemed great so I stripped her tack and let her graze in the barnyard while I cleaned her stall and reset her feed (our usual ritual).  When I went to put her in her stall, I noticed that she was holding her left front in a funny position...almost like she didn't want to put any weight on it.  I started feeling around and realized that the fetlock joint was a little swollen and definitely tender to the touch.  I called Heather over so she could talk me down from my near-panic attack and I could get her take on the situation.  She told me that Ruby had been grazing near the tractor when she suddenly took off and ran to the other side of the barn, suggesting that maybe she'd been stung by something.  I went home, barely daring to hope that I hadn't totally broken my horse down with 10 minutes of riding.  When I went to the barn the next morning, Ruby had a small bump on the outside of her left front fetlock.  The bump is still there but it sometimes takes Ruby weeks to heal from bug bites so I'm hopeful that's all it is.  Yesterday I rode her a bit, trotting in relatively small circles to see if I could aggravate her left front, but I got nothing.  I rode her again today - she was great before and after.  Crossing fingers but it looks like she's totally fine. 

I went and worked with Angel again today...this mare is growing on me.  She nickered at me when I walked over to her stall, but I think that's before she recognized me lol.  I'm not sure what it is but I really like her, attitude and all.  She wore the bareback pad today, and is obviously at least broke to wearing a saddle.  What she is not broke to is the minis that came into the rescue the other day...However she remembered her lesson from last week, which is you only have to work hard if you work yourself hard by running around like an idiot or by being disrespectful.  We had a few episodes but nothing too bad.  It won't be long before I'm itching to try her under saddle. 

Observations on Angel: she couldn't decide whether she wanted to be a bay or a chestnut...so her mane is half black/half red, her tail is mostly black, and she has a few faint smudges of black on her front legs.  She is mouthy, and it wouldn't take her long to figure out how to untie herself or let herself out of a stall with the wrong kind of latch.   She's extremely smart and sensitive but is only just starting to try to read my body language - instead she watches the stick and tries to figure out what it wants.  She has a long back, and her back end looks a little funky to me somehow.  Sometimes she almost looks post-legged but maybe it's just that her butt is so gigantic. She has nice but small feet. And she's almost obese..notice the beginnings of cresty neck.

Hmmm, she's looking at me.

It's rude to stare so I'll look away while I figure out what to do...

Maybe there's something interesting going on over there?

Nope, and she's still looking at me.

I suppose I could grace her with my presence.