Just thought I'd write an update on the situation with Shamrock's back ( the pain versus naughty pony argument!)
We had a lovely, well recommended lady come today. She is a mctimoney chiropracter and also the president of the Equine Sports Massage Association.
She found that he has wobbly back legs, a funny shape rear end and is very stiff in this area too. She feels that the symptoms/injury would be consistent with him in the past going right up and over on himself. He obviously wasn't seen after the accident, so everything has kind of healed in a funny way, and become stiff and tight.The wobblyness comes from lack of muscle in the right areas, probably due to him not holding himself well due to the pain or old pain from the back end. If that makes sense? There is also a very small chance of a neurological problem, which we will be easier to see when he is fit. In other words, the wobblyness is most likely caused by the lack of muscle, but if its still there after our work, will be more thoroughly checked out and tested.
She gave me two choices. He can either be retired, or will need to be worked consistently, building up a good level of fitness and hopefully the correct muscle. Although his personality suits being ridden gently irregularly, his body doesn't! Its all or nothing. We have in hand stretches to do and other exercises, including rein back and some special pole work! The main part is walking though, starting with 10 minutes and building up to one hour, but he must be straight and not allowed to swing his quarters to the side when doing hill work. She also said something interesting about trotting hills, no good for him either, walk or canter only, as the action of the trot uphill will effectively *grind* his problem area/pelvis. Sounds odd with me trying to relate it but made perfect sense when she explained how and why!
So thats it really.......I had a feeling he didn't have a particularly pleasant past ( headshy........move too fast and he looks as though he thinks he'll get a wollop) but the thought of what it was that made him go over on himself makes me shudder
Anyway, so there we go.Thanks for reading if you got through all that
We had a lovely, well recommended lady come today. She is a mctimoney chiropracter and also the president of the Equine Sports Massage Association.
She found that he has wobbly back legs, a funny shape rear end and is very stiff in this area too. She feels that the symptoms/injury would be consistent with him in the past going right up and over on himself. He obviously wasn't seen after the accident, so everything has kind of healed in a funny way, and become stiff and tight.The wobblyness comes from lack of muscle in the right areas, probably due to him not holding himself well due to the pain or old pain from the back end. If that makes sense? There is also a very small chance of a neurological problem, which we will be easier to see when he is fit. In other words, the wobblyness is most likely caused by the lack of muscle, but if its still there after our work, will be more thoroughly checked out and tested.
She gave me two choices. He can either be retired, or will need to be worked consistently, building up a good level of fitness and hopefully the correct muscle. Although his personality suits being ridden gently irregularly, his body doesn't! Its all or nothing. We have in hand stretches to do and other exercises, including rein back and some special pole work! The main part is walking though, starting with 10 minutes and building up to one hour, but he must be straight and not allowed to swing his quarters to the side when doing hill work. She also said something interesting about trotting hills, no good for him either, walk or canter only, as the action of the trot uphill will effectively *grind* his problem area/pelvis. Sounds odd with me trying to relate it but made perfect sense when she explained how and why!
So thats it really.......I had a feeling he didn't have a particularly pleasant past ( headshy........move too fast and he looks as though he thinks he'll get a wollop) but the thought of what it was that made him go over on himself makes me shudder
Anyway, so there we go.Thanks for reading if you got through all that