Not Sure What's Going On

Ouchy or Not?

I took Chance out on a trail ride today. Along the back field, I asked him to trot. He was reluctant, and felt a bit short strided to start off. Then he felt fine, then he took a bad step and pulled up with a limp. Then he walked out of it.

We were at the point of no return, so I just decided to stay on and walk the rest of the way back home. Twice, in the woods, he decided to trot on his own and felt just fine. There was one point where he even cantered up a hill and again felt fine.

I cannot feel any heat in his feet or anything out of the ordinary in his legs. I took his temperature and it was normal.

I am suspicious he may be footsore for some reason. Could be a bruise that only bothers him on hard ground, or it might be an abscess brewing.

Then again, there is always the worry about something like Lyme disease. We haven't had many ticks lately, but that doesn't mean anything.

Right now, it's not even noticeable enough to call the vet, as it's more of a "not quite right" feeling.

My plan is to watch him for a few days, ride a little now and then to see how he feels and hope that either something more clear shows up, or he just gets better. He was trimmed about three weeks ago and is still barefoot. I've never noticed a problem like this before, but you never know.

For the time being, it's just wait and see.