The Zac Plan

Wow, we had a really great evening at the farm. I popped Zac out of the truck for his hiking session and he skipped a couple of times right away, so i put his boot on. I'd reloaded the pebbles inside and it looked pretty uncomfortable, so i took it off again after a couple of minutes and he did really well from that point on - no skipping for the rest of the 30 minutes. I was surprised and just waiting for him to look bad but he really seemed a lot more comfortable than last week in the same spaces. His second session was eight 60 yard sprints and he still seemed fine, and he totally loved the sprints. I'd thought earlier in the day that he seemed a little better when i had him out for his potty breaks but chalked it up to wishful thinking. My theory is that after hiking around on the rougher terrain at Edgeworth for four days that the smoother, less grown up home ground felt like a piece of cake.

I finally did hear back from Dr. Sherman after we got home and he said this was all not too surprising to him, that it tends to corroborate the habit theory. I got a more concrete plan from him and am to keep the boot on for two solid weeks. We want Zac to get really comfortable with the off leg and i'm to resist the temptation to test it. We'll stick to the long hikes and sprints, adding extra challenge as i can find it (rough terrain, etc) and touch base next week, and go from there. Sheep work will have to wait until we have him balanced up on both legs. I'm feeling really encouraged.

Making it an even better evening, I worked Bart a bit and he looked like a million bucks, and wasn't lame at all afterwards. A very good evening all around!