Goat Beards and Back Bumps

You know you've been gone too long when there are cobwebs in your grooming bag.

He's back!

"Oh hello, blogland."

And he looked like a goat:

Just kidding, this is actually a goat.

This is my horse.

Do you see that?  It's the one thing that drives me crazy more than anything else.  I like a nice clean jawline, and Cobs grow epic beards.

The first thing I did was give him many treats.  The second thing I did was shave off his goat beard and redo his bridle path.  My trainer was probably dying on the inside every time she bridled him.

Much better.

All is well, with the exception of this:

Do you see that bump?  My trainer said it appeared this morning.  It's hard, has no heat, does not palpate sore at all, the muscles around it don't palpate sore, and it doesn't affect his way of going.  My thoughts are, keep an eye on it and sign up for the chiro list next time he's out.  Anyone seen anything like this before?  It doesn't appear to be a bug bite, it's quite hard.

I can definitely tell my trainer had been on him.  He got multiple trainer rides while I was gone.  The first thing he did when I got on was stretch down and forward from his withers, which normally I have to work hard to get.  He was also hyper-sensitive to my aids and bending laterally more easily.  I also felt like his left side was back to being the poorer side.  All of these are symptoms of my amateur self not being on his back for a while.  

I was almost afraid to get on him and ruin him without having a lesson first to remind me of all of my bad habits, but he does have one more trainer ride left on Thursday, when I am gone for a conference.  We'll all live.  He's my horse and a reflection of my riding, for better or for worse, since he only gets trainer rides a few times a year.  I am always grateful for the tuneup he gets during those rides, though, as well as the feel my trainer gets, since it helps her know what to tell me in my lessons.

I had to re-learn how to ride (seriously weird not riding for 10 days!) but otherwise went through our normal progression of warm-up -> passably good work -> good work -> OMG WHERE DID THAT COME FROM AND WHAT HORSE AM I RIDING?! -> good work -> cool down.  He worked well over his back and into the bridle (when I remembered to keep my heels 'up', which really means 'not jammed down'.  When my heels were down, he was not through at all.)

And then it stormed:

THE END!