If you watch any horse long enough, you can make them move lame or take a weird step or two. :lol:
The fact that you created an alter and have worried yourself sick about this proves that you very obviously care and would never intentionally cause harm to your animal. However, I do think you’re overthinking it.
Most every horse in the world has issues. Old injuries. Arthritis. Etc. Most every horse still goes on and happily does their job. Most riders in the world have issues. My hips and knees are pretty shot and I’m still saddling up and going on about my day, even if I creak and crack in the morning getting out of bed. The world still turns.
As far as what other people think? I promise no one thinks about you as much as you think you do. You’re just not that important. :lol: I don’t mean that rudely, but seriously - everyone on the planet is mostly focused on themselves, except for the rare occasions where some people act like teenagers and engage in bullying - but even that is rare. And it’s a reflection on them, not on you.
Horses are supposed to be a hobby. A relaxing escape. If you can’t shift your mindset, perhaps a therapist would help. Again, not in a totally negative way, just in a “how do I get out of my own head”.
Three quick stories:
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I have a gelding who I used to warm up completely lame. Like, complete disaster. There were times I wanted to get off of him because I felt really, really bad riding him. Trainer insisted he was fine and to keep going. Inevitably, after 10-15 minutes, he’d work out of it and we’d have very productive lessons. He just gets stiff when you keep him in a stall all day and so, like the rest of us, it takes his body a minute to warm up and his muscles to get loose to where he can work. He has all the best vet care in the world, so it’s just something we deal with and understand that we need those extra minutes in the beginning of walking and trotting big straight lines.
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I have a filly who went through some lameness last year as a 2 year old. I thought it was stifle, but we never could pinpoint exactly what was wrong or which leg. Vet and farrier both said - you can spend a lot of money trying to diagnose the problem after we’ve ruled out anything obvious, or, you can toss her in a field for six months and let her body continue growing and see where you are. Here it is - January of her 3 year old year and she’s sound as can be and ready to start work under saddle. Sometimes the young ones just go through weird growth spurts that you just have to let time work with, nothing is clinically “wrong” with them - their bodies are just growing.
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I know a gal whose horse has been lame since the day I met her. He’s lame in the videos she posts online. He’s lame in lessons. He’s lame, lame, lame. It’s subtle, but it’s there and never changes. Left stifle. Anyway, she is blissfully unaware of this problem. Trainers haven’t said anything about it. Judges use him when he horse shows. Horse goes around and jumps and does his job without any complaint. So - you know how often I think about it? Almost never, unless I see him or when I see a post like this. Do I think she’s a terrible owner? Nope. She loves that horse. The professionals she pays (rated barn, so nothing backyard) don’t mention it to her, so I don’t either. Horse seems content, so I’m content.
