My Friday afternoon opened up unexpectedly so I got to play with Cowboy. I tried doing some body work but once again was defeated by his itchiness and his frantic insistence on being scratched. He had bitten himself until he was raw in a couple of spots. I treated those with Nolvasan, and I'm trying witch hazel on the rest of the itchy spots. I'm not sure if it's working but I can't see that it's any less effective than Benadryl. I feel sorry for the poor guy, and the damp, above-freezing weather seems to have the little biting flies on the attack. So not much body work, but I did get to ride him a bit. He seems to be doing well. We're working on smooth transitions, especially from a slow trot to a canter. He likes to speed up his trot until he breaks into a canter, and I'm trying to get him collected enough to just canter from a jog without adding speed.

Saturday, I tried pre-treating the itchiness and then starting body work, with the Equine Fitness book in hand. I was paying more attention to his reactions and even though he was still itchy, I noticed that he consistently pulled away when I worked on his cervical trapezius, particularly on the right side. When I applied pressure to a trigger point, trying different levels of pressure, I finally got a huge release from him in the form of yawning repeatedly and lowering his head. So I think I have found a major source of soreness, and maybe some of that fidgeting isn't related to his itchiness. Other areas of the shoulder were also tight and painful. This wasn't surprising considering that his shoulders and neck are masses of muscle ridges and valleys, not that smooth flowing surface we strive for. So I'm focusing on the neck and shoulders to try to get him some relief. This may be a result of his carrying himself on the front end and pulling himself along, so it might still originate in the back and hindquarters as a compensation issue. I couldn't really find tightness in the back and hindquarters--he really seems quite comfortable having those areas worked on, and loves having his tail pulled. But while he enjoys it, I'm not getting those big releases, just my little Spa-Boy enjoying his body work. Hopefully the new saddle and improved hoof trim will help him engage his hindquarters more and take some of the load off the front end.

We are supposed to be having a massive storm this weekend, but so far it's Sunday night and we haven't seen much rain. I suppose it could still happen. We didn't plan to ride because of the weather forecast and it's a bit frustrating knowing we could have gone out! But there was lots to do at home so I guess it's for the best. My books arrived on Saturday, including the Rider Fitness Program book. I've started reading it and trying out some of the exercises. The author recommends skimming the entire book, then starting the program. Looks to be a fairly traditional routine of warmup, stretching, and exercises for various body areas. The nice thing is that it doesn't require any special equipment and can all be done indoors so weather and short daylight hours aren't an issue. It starts with 10 days of the intro workout, followed by 20 days of intermediate, and then into the advanced/maintenance routine.

As a followup to the Martha Stewart Towel Bar note from a few days ago, I'm happy to report that I bought an inexpensive towel bar at the hardware store, installed it on the bottom of a shelf in the laundry room, and it is doing it's job handsomely. I have a few concerns about how much of a load it can handle, given that the shelf it's attached to is particle board, but I have my lightweight windbreakers, vests, scarves and mittens hanging from it so the hooks are freed up for my heavier winter jackets. Go Martha! I signed up for some of her daily messages (what was I thinking?) and got one yesterday on stress reduction. One point is that you should journal daily to vent any frustrations, and end the journal with a list of things you are grateful for. I tried that and was surprised at how many of the things that were frustrating me are also some of the sources of the most gratitude. Think friends and family, not to mention pets. The exercise was like flipping my gripes over and viewing them from the other side. And I realized that you have to nurture the things you are grateful for to keep them flourishing, by giving at least as much as you are getting.