Mystery Soreness Solved

Recently I'd been somewhat flummoxed by the fact that Cadence's back seemed to be getting worse again, in spite of the fact that there was nothing work wise that should be making her back sore (in fact her work load was a little lighter than usual), the soreness wasn't indicative of a pull/injury from slipping or something, and she had two saddles that had recently been fitted. So why then was her back sore?  Well, tonight I think I found my answer.
I was doing a light jump/stretch school with the mare tonight, and after our canter work I noticed that my saddle had slipped pretty significantly to the right... impressive considering I'd tightened my girth before cantering to help prevent this. Since I injured (broke and sprained) my foot, my left ankle has been slowly regaining its flexibility as I'm able to do more and more with it. My riding's been evening out again too, but I still am a bit uneven in the jumping saddle as I can't sink my weight down into my left heel as much.  I'd thought it had improved quite a bit, but the slipping saddle suggested otherwise.  And that's when it hit me.  Saddle slipping to the right, more weight in right stirrup, soreness on the right side of Cadence's back.... it's ME that's making her sore!
What a pleasant thing to realize- you're causing your horse pain, and to a certain extent, there's nothing you can do about it.  Even though I do stretches and such for my left foot, I won't be able to ride evenly again unless I keep working on straightening myself out in the saddle.  So to fix the problem I have to keep riding, which in turn will keep adding extra pressure to the right side of Cadence's back.  And while I know that the extra pressure is relatively negligible, and that the situation is largely due to the fact that she's sensitive and expressive, I can't ignore the fact that she's uncomfortable.  She's still in pain, regardless of why or how much.

I lied...

...I said I would post a video of Cadence being a wingnut, and I just haven't had the chance.  She's doing wll though, and on Friday we cantered again.  Her canter was good (though she bucked when we cantered left.  I REALLY hope she hasn't realized she can buck- I want to keep her using that nice short back of hers for good, not evil) but she was a little frazzled... or as some may refer to it: insane... after the canter.

Today's ride was a little more challenging, because whilst we were having our lesson (in the outdoor) the people who own the farm were taking their pool down.  Oh, and there was a horse eating death machine wood chipper parked near the ring.  Which was naturally tantrum worthy.  The lesson went well though, and allowed us to put some meaningful corrections in place.  Afterward, Cadence got bathed, trimmed, clipped, and shined within an inch of her life.  After shampooing, brushing, show-sheening, and braiding her tail, I turned the mare back out.  HOPEFULLY I'll return to a happy, healthy, not sore mare with a gorgeous tail on Monday.  In reality, she'll probably be sore and have rubbed her tail into smithereens.  Chances are I'll probably give in to temptation and go take her tail out tomorrow when our Easter company leaves.

In other news, I managed to break my foot Thursday night.  I broke my 5th metatarsal on my right foot getting into a fight wit the door-frame.  My foot came out a lot worse than the door-frame, unfortunately!  I thought I'd just burst a blood vessel, but when I mentioned this to my dad (who is an emerge doc) and asked him to take a look at it, he informed me I'd broken the bone.  Apparently its pretty easy to do.  It didn't hurt that badly... and was fine with only a wee tiny bit of pain when I walked on it.  However, over the past 2 days I've ridden 5 times & spent a lot of time on my feet.  Apparently, the bone doesn't like that and is now much more sore.  Ah well, it has tomorrow to heal, & I only have one horse Monday.