New insight.......

Thursday

Matt came out to shoe Woody. I couldn't be there due to work, but he called to let me know that his front and rear left feet were a half inch longer then his right.

No wonder he is all out of whack. I know when I am trying to decide on what shoe to wear it is uncomfortable to have two different heights on, I can't imagine what the last five weeks have been like for him.

Friday

Since I was off work, I headed out to the barn after my MRI appointment. With Connie's advice, I put one of her Skeeter's training saddles on him. When I went to mount he still wouldn't stand still like he used to, but I expected it since I knew his back was not going to feel better right away. When I asked him to move forward all he wanted to do was crow hop. I was finally able to get him to long trot to see if he was still short striding. Kim told me to try out the old Circle Y as another horse had similar issues and was fine with this saddle. After switching saddles again, he seemed much better and I actually felt like we had a very good session, probably the best one since I had moved Woody.

I went back out to the barn in the evening to put his blankets on and Connie advised me that the Vet would be out Monday morning at 9.

Saturday

We had another good ride. I think he is finally settling in and not so tense. Connie commented that she saw a vast improvement on his movement by just changing the saddle.

By the time Mikhail arrived with Mikayla, I had just finished riding. I took her out to the round pen to get on Woody. For only her second ride she did really well. I lead her around at the walk for awhile and then asked if she was ready to jog. She was ready so I asked Woody to jog and she just sat there and smiled. Watch out lead liners:)

Monday

This morning I went out to the barn since the Vet was coming. Jana Froeling from Full Circle Equine Service. Not only is she a vet, she is a chiropractor also. I gave her a quick run down of what was going on with him. She tested him by running a point over him to determine where he was sore. He showed reactions in his shoulders and hips. She looked at his feet, had me take him outside to walk him. She said he was short striding in the hind end at the walk. She pushed around on him in the back and hip area and then had me walk him outside again. She said she could see an improvement in his stride. She also advised me that he is tipped to the rear which basically has to do with his front heels being too low, something Matt has already begun to fix. While outside she would hold one of his front legs up and have him hop a couple times to the side. She also checked out his teeth while outside. Well it turns out that he still has one of his Wolf teeth, but it seems like someone may have tried to remove it but broke it as she said it is pretty rigid. Back inside she showed me an exercise that I need to perform on him before and after I ride to help stretch his neck/shoulders, it's called the carrot stretch and basically I have him bend his neck around to touch his side. There are three different positions, first with both legs on the ground, then with a front leg bent up and lastly with a front leg stretched out. Obviously I am going to need to find a helper for the last two. Finally she did acupuncture, mostly on his hips and his shoulders and then injected B-12. Woody was definitely relaxed during the acupuncture as he kept yawning the whole time. After she removed all the needles, she noticed he started breaking out in hives on his hips.

Overall the outcome is that his hips, back and right shoulder are sore. She also mentioned that his hocks are slightly sore as well. It is recommended that I do the carrot stretch before and after riding, 10 tail pulls and start walking him over elevated poles to help engage his hind end. Plus to have his teeth done soon. She stated that if he doesn't show an improvement, that I should get him tested for Lymes and that we may want to put him on a high fat diet as she noticed muscle spasms, a sign of EPSM.

Poor boy, he did get lots of treat though.

Christina