Thanks everyone for commiserating with me yesterday. I threw myself into more cleaning, folding clothes, etc. and when the boyfriend got home he dug my car out and I headed to the barn.
I ended up free longeing Tristan in the indoor for about 40 minutes, walk-trot-canter. He behaved beautifully. Our control and focus while free longeing is a bit of a work in progress, and sometimes he doesn't cooperate - gallops to a corner bucking away and then refuses to come out, or heads to the gate and hangs his head over looking for someone to take him back to his stall.
Last night we worked through some stiffness (horses are on limited turnout with all the snow, and even when turned out he's not doing much beyond stuffing his face with a round bale) and he ended up with a nice smooth forward walk and trot, stretching down of his own volition in the trot. Canter was a little wonky; he was throwing his hips inside during the transition, and without a longe line I couldn't correct it, so I didn't want to work too much on an incorrect gait.
Hand continues to heal, and hopefully we'll continue to free longe this week and then next week I can ride again.
glad you were able to accomplish something!
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