Wizard Session 307: I’ll Be Back Up On My Feet

Monday, 10/31/11

I did another longeing session with Wizard, this time incorporating a trot pole into the workout. We worked in the indoor arena, and did some spiraling, plus work with side reins. I saw him trip one or two times, and it looks like he grew a lot of toe. I put a call in to the farrier to come out a little early in the shoeing cycle since he grew a lot of toe.

The farrier shod Wizard on Saturday (11/5). Our typical shoeing cycle is 6 weeks, but in the summer I do 5 weeks when it looks like his feet are growing quickly. The farrier did a lot of work on bringing his toes back. There was a really interesting recent discussion about negative palmar angles on COTH, and I’m wondering if working on his toes might help the hind end issues.

This is what caught my attention…

Here are some “diagnoses” that are highly suspect of negative hind palmar angles:

Sore back
Sore stifles
Sore withers
Sore hocks

Other signs:
Mild hind lameness defying diagnosis
Stopping at jumps
Missing leads
Cross cantering
Heavy on forehand

These are some areas that can either be caused or exacerbated by negative palmar angles behind.

Even more signs:
“My horse needs regular hock injections”
“My horse gets regular chiropractic/acupuncture/massage therapy”
“My horse needs a saddle fitter”
“My horse needs regular Adequan/Legend/(Other) injections”

M.W. Myers, DVM

Wizard also get a set of shoes that are lighter in weight and appeared to be smaller. On Sunday, my friend came out and massaged him. He was REALLY touchy in the beginning, but in more specific places. Last time she worked on him, she said he was basically sore all over. He was really resistant in the beginning on Sunday, but once he got into “massage mode”, he was back to being his usual responsive self. I’m going to do a few more longeing sessions and see how he feels to get back in the saddle.

Wizard Session 296; Rides 297, 298: Under a Cloud

Friday, 10/14/11

After work, I longed Wizard in the indoor arena. Before he worked, my friend did a little massage work on him. She said he’s VERY body sore- still. It’s not just on the topline or on the saddle area, but extends all the way down the rump. When he longed, he was really good. He has gotten SO much better about going to the right. He used to be mentally incapable of walking to the right (always broke into a nervous trot), but now he can do all three gaits quite willingly. I put him through his paces, and he did some work in side reins as well.

Saturday, 10/15/11

I got two saddles from the tack shop on consignment. One is a Hampson & Scott Jimmy Wofford model, and the other is a Smith-Worthington Danzig. On the tack shop bucks, the Hampson & Scott felt much better to me as a rider. The twist was a little wider, and it had that flat seat that I really love. The Smith-Worthington has a lot more puff to it- it’s like a puffy cloud :^)

I brought the saddles to the barn and tried them on Wizard. The Hampson & Scott looked like it did not have enough withers clearance, so I rode in the Smith-Worthington. It took some getting used to for me, because I have ridden in simple, flat Stubbens forever and ever. The saddle is comfortable enough, and Wizard seemed better in it than he was in the County and my current saddle, the Stubben. He began the ride with his recent habit of ear-pinning and tail swishing and kicking up at his belly. But as we rode more and more, he stopped tensing up and snarling so much. The ride was not very long, and we just did a little cantering, but the saddle seems like a winner.

After our ride, my equine massage friend was doing a little evaluation on Wizard, and while she had her hands on him, I heard the loudest C-R-U-N-C-H! I assumed it was one hoof stepping on the other, but my friend said it came from high up in his pelvis. It was SO loud. But Wizard barely batted an eye. I wonder if something was out of alignment?

Sunday, 10/16/11

I tried the Hampson & Scott saddle, just in case it suddenly fit Wizard better once it was on his back. Boy, oh boy, do I LOVE that saddle. SO, SO, SO comfortable. And Wizard rode pretty nicely in it. He snarled again, with kicking and pinned ears when we were walking, but then really stretched nicely at the trot. But when I checked the gullet, I could only get one finger in the front, and then it stopped where the top of the saddle was crushing his withers. The panels looked good, but without that clear channel down his spine, the saddle was not going to work. What a shame. Someone is going to get a really nice saddle.

I put the Smith-Worthington back on Wizard, and we rode for a while. It was not a ride with a plan, more of a test drive. He was pretty good, but got really wound up by the end of the ride. He threw a few kicks at the canter, and pinned his ears during a few trot exercises. The reason I kept riding was to check the sweat pattern on his back from the saddle. There was no bridging, which is wonderful- there were two perfect strips of sweat down the panels on the sides on his spine. There were dry spots on the sides of his withers, but I’ve read so many different opinions of that. I think the saddle fits better than any other saddle I can currently find, and I’m pretty sure we’re going to keep it. And once I’m comfortable with the saddle I have, I can go back to slowly bringing him back from whatever is causing this body soreness.

I have been putting his Back on Track sheet on him overnight for the past three days. Sunday was Day 6 of his magnesium. Sunday was Day 11 of his Omeprazole treatment. I wish I could have isolated each treatment to see which were working and which were not, but at this point, I really want SOMETHING to work.

Wizard Ride 173: Stay Loose

Wednesday, 8/25/10

Wizard was treated to another massage session by my friend. She’s tuning up for her certification exam. She felt some changes and some things stayed the same. There was still some back soreness, but it was on the sides of the back, not up by the spine.

Wizard was all loosened up for our ride and it was great. I felt the same result from the massage that we did last time- he was straighter and stronger than he is without one. Our ride was very mellow and easy, mostly keeping soft and riding easy patterns. Our riding clinic was the following day so I did not ask for a big physical or mental effort.

I rode him in my old Myler Comfort Snaffle (the unported one, without hooks). It’s a bare-bones bridle and Alibar used to ride nicely in it. I tried it a year ago on Wizard but he fussed like crazy with it. This time around, he rode well in it. I’m planning a few more rides in it. Perhaps he is getting a little more advanced as a riding horse and can maintain better contact with the bit.

Wizard Ride 169: The Spa

Saturday, 8/14/10

The Spa in August… No, not The Spa as in Saratoga, the spa as in Wizard’s wonderful massage session!

My friend is working on her equine massage certification and has been practicing on a variety of horses. On Saturday, Wizard was a lucky recipient. This was his first-ever massage, but he was familiar with body work since the chiropractor has worked on him several times over the past year and a half. Basically, it was adhesions on the left and muscle soreness on the right. On the left side, my friend found adhesions on the left side on his shoulder, tensor fascia latae, and fascia latae. On the right side, there was some muscle soreness in the shoulder, glutes, biceps, femoris, tensor fascia latae, fascia latae, semi tendinous, semimembranous, and inside thigh, as well as a few spots on neck and back. Click here for muscle groups. All of the areas she found went hand-in-hand with the issues the chiropractor has found in the past, as well as the issues I feel under-saddle. A few times, Wizard backed away when she was working on the sore spots, but he also sighed, licked, and chewed when things felt good. He’s so expressive.

The big test of the massage was how he felt afterwards. I rode for about 20-30 minutes and he felt GREAT! The ride was simple and relaxed, working in a loose and forward frame. I encouraged him to stretch as much as possible since his muscles had just been worked on. The biggest thing I felt about the ride was that I was able to maintain my own position extremely effectively, and I deduce that it was because he was more comfortable. He was straighter and stronger than usual. He comfortably picked up each lead in just two tries.

There was an S-curve of jumps set up in the outdoor arena, first two cross rails and lastly a small vertical. I started out warming up over the X and then put together the S-curve, trotting to get the correct lead if he was on the wrong one. Our work with the trot-in and canter-out poles is helping him learn distances. He took a long distance a few times, which is fine by me since it felt confident and comfortable.

The results of the massage were clear and it was a good indication that a horse like Wizard responds nicely to body work. It also spoke volumes for my friend’s hard work!

Wizard’s Equine Chiropractic Report

Wednesday, 7/15/09

A lot of barn time, not a lot of riding. Wizard got a nice chiropractic adjustment and acupuncture treatment. He was out in a few places, probably from whatever is making his right hind leg hitch. The chiropractor said that it looks like a stifle issue. It looks like he will be on vacation for a while. I’ll keep hand walking and massaging him and I’ll make sure he’s turned out as much as possible. Once he is back to 100%, maybe we can start over with some short trail riding at the walk. Hills are excellent for strengthening stifles.

I used an electric massager (for people) for both horses on Wednesday night. JR was ambivalent, ears held in a neutral position, lips tight. I think he’ll come around to the spa treatment pretty soon. Wizard enjoyed it right away, after the initial concern about it being a set of clippers :^) My plan is to do as much therapeutic work as I can with both horses: stretching, massage, and strengthening.

Wizard Session 71; JR Session 26: Pain in My Gluteus Maximus

Every few days, my barn buddy Cathy sends me photos of Wizard and JR during the day while I’m at work. Here’s her latest photo of the two hooligans. I find it very amusing that I can keep tabs on them while I’m in the office- reminds me of the nanny cams that people install in their houses.

Wednesday, 4/8/09

So my wool saddle pad theory was all wrong :^/

I hand grazed Wizard for about 20 minutes before I rode today. The air is cool and lows tonight are in the 30s. From the beginning of the evening, Wizard’s body language was tight. He was ticklish and sensitive about grooming and a little jumpy outside- not spooky, just kind of on edge. When we were done, I put him back in his stall with some Alfa Supreme for 30 minutes. I left the Thermatex cooler on him while he ate, hoping that the warm wool might loosen up his cold muscles a little bit.

I longed JR in the indoor arena. Little yellow fellow is feeling FRISKY! He was pretty mellow at first but when he broke from a trot to a canter, he EXPLODED into playful bucks and once again, I felt like a deep sea fisherman wrestling a marlin. I’ll have to tack him up next time if I want a more serious longeing session- he was in a halter today. He trotted a few times over some ground poles and he was very willing and round. Good boy! Our longeing session lasted about 20 minutes, including warmup.

I put JR to bed and tacked up Wizard. He was still sensitive, even when I put his plushy saddle pad on his back (no more wool for him). I kept the cooler on him and took it off once he was warmed up a bit at the walk on the longe line. The footing was a little hard and dry but Wizard looked pretty good on the longe- I longed him for about 10 minutes, just walking and trotting. I longed him because I wanted to see if he worked out of the tightness I was seeing.

Sarah showed up for our lesson and I explained Monday’s ride. I mounted up and Sarah asked us to do a long, easy warmup at the walk on a very loose rein. After several minutes of walking, she asked us to trot on a loose rein. BACK went Wizard’s ears again! We had not trotted a full circle before Sarah said, “He’s hurting” and asked me to dismount.

I took off my saddle and she ran a line of pressure down both sides of his back to feel for soreness since he looked to be backsore rather than sore in his legs. Back seemed pretty good, but when she got to his left hip and hamstring, she found the root of the cause: a big knotted muscle. This is the same injury the chiropractor felt when she worked on him. I was a) impressed with Sarah’s judgment and diagnostic skills and b) relieved that it was the same thing we’ve noticed before.

Sarah and I walked Wizard back to the barn and she showed me some massage techniques to help break up the tight muscle tissue, rubbing and currying in even circles in the direction of the hair. Wizard let us know exactly how he felt about it by yawning and chewing contentedly. Yawning is seen as a release of toxins by some equine practitioners.

So now that we know that Wizard’s left hamstring is sore, what can be done and how did it happen?

Fibrotic myopathy requires surgery in its more severe cases, but can be relieved with massage, acupuncture, and laser therapy. I plan to call the chiropractor out in the next week or two to see if she agrees with this possibility and to see how she thinks we can address it.

How did Wizard get a sore hamstring? I believe that it’s an old injury but it seems like it gets sore sometimes. On Sunday night, he was playing and galloping in the outdoor arena and perhaps he pulled it in the deeper footing (footing is not as deep indoors). He also has a rowdy new equine neighbor who has been leaving bites on Wizard and they might have been rearing or wrestling.

Honestly, I’d rather work on something like this than a leg or hoof issue so I’m relieved that Sarah diagnosed the issue. Now he just needs a little pampering until he no longer has a pain in the butt :^)

Check out the silly sign I found in a local antique store- it’s now proudly hanging on Wizard’s stall door :^)