[LadyNeon01]

Well I went to ride my greenie Criss earlier today in prep for my show on Saturday. I get on, walk him to the ring, and as soon as his front feet hit the dirt, he's limping. Walk him a few more steps just to make sure. Still limping. Threw him on the lunge line and barely got him to trot. Definitely off. Ugh.

So I walk him back up to the barn to check him over. No heat or swelling anywhere. No hoof testers to see if its a possible abscess, but that's the theory I'm going with right now. He was ok on soft ground but as soon as it got hard, he was ouchy. Called the vet and he should be out tomorrow morning sometime (which means I have to leave work to go see what's wrong).

I'm trying not to panic, but I'm hoping against hope that Criss will be fine for Saturday. If its an abscess (and the vet finds it), am I crazy for thinking he may be ok for Saturday?

[J-Lu]

I'm sorry but....of COURSE you're supposed to show on Saturday. If you weren't, your horse would be perfectly fine today. If you were supposed to show next Saturday, your horse would become lame in exactly 7 days. Oh horses.... Your vet should be able to answer your question tomorrow. In any event, I'm sorry!

Been there done that regarding tossing away show fees due to injury...

BTW: one horse trial refunded my entry fee minus the office fee because I had a valid vet excuse and they had made money on the event and were very nice to me. This was after the official withdrawal deadline. Perhaps your show secretary can work a bit with you.

[Mardi]

Sounds familar...not the symptoms but the timing of lameness just before my mare's first show. I was really looking forward to her debut.

But we scratched.....and I learned that if you don't wait for horses, they'll make you wait.

A few months later, when she made it to her first show (a competitive multi-day), she won all her classes.

Hang in there ...if it's not the right time this time, it will be some day.

Oh...and the show fees from the scratched classes ? I was due a refund because we scratched with a vet's note early enough. But show management never refunded the money. Instead they applied my fees (without my permission) to another horse my trainer was showing. Money was still due on that entry, so they simply transferred MY funds to cover someone else's horse. Nice, huh.

Ahhhh...such sweet memories....

[atr]

You said the word "show" in his hearing, didn't you?

It's Wednesday, if he's still lame tomorrow, say goodbye to Saturday, sadly.

[LadyNeon01]

So the vet came out just after lunch today to look at Criss (managed to only be away from work for an hour and 15 min). Definitely an abscess in the right front. His hoof is wrapped up for now. I can take it off Saturday morning.

On the bright side, my ride times aren't until 2pm. So after talking with my trainer, I'm going to see if he's sound on Saturday morning. If he's not, then I'm taking a different horse over to the show (cleared that with the show secretary tonight). The other horse is my trainer's and I rode him for a few months until I bought Criss. She's graciously letting me use him so I don't lose my show fees.

I'm cautiously optimistic about Criss, but no matter how it turns out, I'm showing on Saturday.

[SillyHorse]

Good luck! Glad to know you can show if your horse is still on the mend Saturday.