Riding *Tessa

I've been riding Tessa 3 - 4 times a week and instead of getting better, she seems to be getting worse!  So, the first thing I think of is pain related..... I am planning to get her teeth checked and maybe have a chiropractor out to look at her, but I was also thinking it could be her back is sunburned, it doesn't look burnt, but she does have pink skin under where the saddle goes.  Certainly, she does burn on her nose and I have to keep a full face mask on her including a nose flap to prevent burns there, so it is possible that her back is burning - our sun is very intense here.


Now, having said that, it is also very possible that she is simply showing me some serious resistance :)  This year I am asking a lot of her - on a very consistent basis and she may be just saying "hey, this is more work than I signed up for!!".  I say this because today I decided to work her in the round pen before riding and after an hour of round penning she did come to see things my way and joined up very well, after which I had a really great ride on her, not much resistance nor acting up and she was very good. 

In any case, she is a very dominant mare - she is keenly aware of what is going on in the pastures and keeps an eye on other horses, so I am "leaning" towards thinking resistance, but not ruling out pain related either.

So here is a picture of us from the other day

she isn't going very well in this photo, but she looks happy at least :)
Shelly in Summerland, BC
http://www.curlystandardplace.com