BBP mark 2 - more weird horses

[BBP2]

During my hiatus from the forum (trying to waste less time on it!) I completely forgot my password and no longer have access to the email I used to set it up, so couldn’t reset. So I’m keeping the BBP name in his memory on profile number 2 so as not to confuse anyone, but in reality now I have a mini bonkers black pony (the mini Shetland, mBBP), the complicated chocolate pony/complex Connemara pony (CCP) and the perplexing palomino pony (PPP), so I could have picked from any of those! Lots of people won’t know me on here now so it probably doesn’t matter much!

I came back in because although all are making progress, I’m still a bit stuck with the Connemara and some of you have some great insights. For background info, bought as a long yearling from Ireland, ruptured a tendon a few months later, so not a lot done. Picked up at winter of his 3yo year and found he was lethargic, would lateral walk, hiccup and had zero tolerance of any kind of pressure, would get really anxious, hiccup and lie down. Never wanted to trot or canter and if he did he would see red and just gallop with ears pinned back. Also had a subluxating nuchal ligament. He’s now 5 and not yet backed.

Vet is involved and we are still tackling ongoing liver disease, cause unknown. Nuchal ligament is now generally stabilised through groundwork (for those interested, basically creating space in his neck, opening it forward and out and creating length to effectively take up the slack in the nuchal ligament when his neck was jammed up and shortened), he is progressing nicely in some ways but in others still at ground zero. The main one being unexplained reactivity/hypersensitivity over his back end and belly. Flinches and tucks his butt when touched and this doesn’t seem to improve day on day no matter what work he does. He bucks and kicks at his own tail when it hits him, so if he is loose and has a buck because he is feeling fresh, and his tail then hits him as it comes down, he will then keep on bucking and kicking at it and generally getting pretty stressed. The video gives a bit of an idea. https://www.flickr.com/gp/197825428@N06/B7N9786686
Until I can get to the bottom of this anxiety I am no closer to backing him.

Back X-rays are clear, but back ligaments not scanned, he does have a bit of a posterior pelvic tilt to his pelvis which could be causing a degree of tension. Osteopathic vet said thought possible redworm damage to mesenteric ganglion (the bundle of nerves and blood vessels that hangs like a chandelier from around T17/18 - I think!), which could be affecting his internal organs and creating downward stress through the soft tissue in that area of his back.

I have a few options including a more local, less expensive, osteopath, a lovely masterson practitioner, and also seeing if his current liver meds make any difference, but I’d be open to anyone else’s thoughts and experiences of similar. He has a fair bit more weight to lose as well.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/197825428@N06/t4JP22kS88

 

[rabatsa]

Welcome back.

 

[splashgirl45]

Can’t help with any ideas but nice to see you back, BBP was one of my favourite horses on the forum

 

[SEL]

Hello!

I had one of my nastiest falls off a youngster who reacted to his own tail. It was wet - we'd just crossed a stream - but the reaction was full on rodeo. My friend who owned him managed to get in touch with the breeder and it turned out he'd got trapped in electric fencing as a foal. She moved him on - full disclosure - because she'd just had a baby but I know the new owner did an enormous amount of desensitisation.

CCP's reaction reminds me very much of how he behaved. What's he like with rugs?

 

[Exasperated]

During my hiatus from the forum (trying to waste less time on it!) I completely forgot my password and no longer have access to the email I used to set it up, so couldn’t reset. So I’m keeping the BBP name in his memory on profile number 2 so as not to confuse anyone, but in reality now I have a mini bonkers black pony (the mini Shetland, mBBP), the complicated chocolate pony/complex Connemara pony (CCP) and the perplexing palomino pony (PPP), so I could have picked from any of those! Lots of people won’t know me on here now so it probably doesn’t matter much!

I came back in because although all are making progress, I’m still a bit stuck with the Connemara and some of you have some great insights. For background info, bought as a long yearling from Ireland, ruptured a tendon a few months later, so not a lot done. Picked up at winter of his 3yo year and found he was lethargic, would lateral walk, hiccup and had zero tolerance of any kind of pressure, would get really anxious, hiccup and lie down. Never wanted to trot or canter and if he did he would see red and just gallop with ears pinned back. Also had a subluxating nuchal ligament. He’s now 5 and not yet backed.

Vet is involved and we are still tackling ongoing liver disease, cause unknown. Nuchal ligament is now generally stabilised through groundwork (for those interested, basically creating space in his neck, opening it forward and out and creating length to effectively take up the slack in the nuchal ligament when his neck was jammed up and shortened), he is progressing nicely in some ways but in others still at ground zero. The main one being unexplained reactivity/hypersensitivity over his back end and belly. Flinches and tucks his butt when touched and this doesn’t seem to improve day on day no matter what work he does. He bucks and kicks at his own tail when it hits him, so if he is loose and has a buck because he is feeling fresh, and his tail then hits him as it comes down, he will then keep on bucking and kicking at it and generally getting pretty stressed. The video gives a bit of an idea. https://www.flickr.com/gp/197825428@N06/B7N9786686
Until I can get to the bottom of this anxiety I am no closer to backing him.

Back X-rays are clear, but back ligaments not scanned, he does have a bit of a posterior pelvic tilt to his pelvis which could be causing a degree of tension. Osteopathic vet said thought possible redworm damage to mesenteric ganglion (the bundle of nerves and blood vessels that hangs like a chandelier from around T17/18 - I think!), which could be affecting his internal organs and creating downward stress through the soft tissue in that area of his back.

I have a few options including a more local, less expensive, osteopath, a lovely masterson practitioner, and also seeing if his current liver meds make any difference, but I’d be open to anyone else’s thoughts and experiences of similar. He has a fair bit more weight to lose as well.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/197825428@N06/t4JP22kS88

Gosh, you’ve really drawn the short straw, although the Connemara seems to have landed on his hooves, plenty others wouldn’t persist, and got to be draining the finances!
Sounds like you’ve got all the experts on board already, I do hope they achieve some improvements, good luck.

 

[teach]

Have you looked into PSSM? Sounds like a possibility for PSSM2. I once had a pony that hated being cold (over rugged and hot was his happy place) and was very reluctant to move faster than walk. I took a gamble after some researching online and bought some vitamin e, well it was like night and day! Pony suddenly had go and was overall a much happier soul!

 

[Exasperated]

Have you looked into PSSM? Sounds like a possibility for PSSM2. I once had a pony that hated being cold (over rugged and hot was his happy place) and was very reluctant to move faster than walk. I took a gamble after some researching online and bought some vitamin e, well it was like night and day! Pony suddenly had go and was overall a much happier soul!

Tbh, this was my first thought, having had a PSSM type 2 for devastating experience, but it is perhaps too easy to attribute a lot of things to this, and I would have thought the ‘experts’ already involved would have considered this?
But certainly ladle natural vitamin e down him to see if it helps, won’t do any harm.
If it does make a big difference, you’ll need to decide how you want him testing, and then whether to proceed. For both your sakes, I do hope it isn’t.

 

[DabDab]

Welcome back, sorry to hear you are still having issues with young Connie.

Has Lyme's disease been considered at all? Is that possible in your neck of the woods?

 

[BBP2]

Hello!

I had one of my nastiest falls off a youngster who reacted to his own tail. It was wet - we'd just crossed a stream - but the reaction was full on rodeo. My friend who owned him managed to get in touch with the breeder and it turned out he'd got trapped in electric fencing as a foal. She moved him on - full disclosure - because she'd just had a baby but I know the new owner did an enormous amount of desensitisation.

CCP's reaction reminds me very much of how he behaved. What's he like with rugs?

I definitely think he could escalate to that sort of thing. Which is why by anytime anyone asks me ‘have you backed that horse yet?’ I’m like ‘nope!!’, but I find it hard to explain to them why, as he looks so big and grown up now. With BBP I backed him when he wasn’t ready, and I don’t want to make the same mistake with this guy. He is the most endearing little horse, you can read every emotion in his eyes and he always wants to be the bestest boy, he’s also extremely intelligent, so I thought I would have cracked this by now if training was all that would do it, so I really think it’s something physical underlying that he can’t help.

Also not a fan of rugs or water touching him. He hasn’t had to wear one much as he’s such a fat and fluffy beast, so I probably haven’t worked on it as much as I should, but yesterday he let me lob a fly rug on him without any drama, but then stood frozen for a couple of minutes when he felt it touching his back legs. I can now hose as far as around T17/18 with him standing beautifully but behind that he gets quite stressed and kicks at the water.

 

[BBP2]

Have you looked into PSSM? Sounds like a possibility for PSSM2. I once had a pony that hated being cold (over rugged and hot was his happy place) and was very reluctant to move faster than walk. I took a gamble after some researching online and bought some vitamin e, well it was like night and day! Pony suddenly had go and was overall a much happier soul!

He’s already on vitamin E but not as much as you would feed a PSSM horse. I might ask for the vet to redo his vitamin E bloods when they come to do his next liver tests, as the reason I started on it was that he blood tested as deficient a couple of years ago (same as BBP).

He’s got a gigantic walk and we think it took him a while to get the strength to control his limbs as his legs were so long and back so short. Now he’s the opposite and looks long in the back and short in the legs and has finally started to coordinate himself. His trot and canter are gorgeous when he does move, a lovely long balanced stride, and no change winter to summer or on or off grass, so I suppose I had mentally put PSSM low on my list of possibilities, but perhaps it’s time to move it higher up.

Tbh, this was my first thought, having had a PSSM type 2 for devastating experience, but it is perhaps too easy to attribute a lot of things to this, and I would have thought the ‘experts’ already involved would have considered this?
But certainly ladle natural vitamin e down him to see if it helps, won’t do any harm.
If it does make a big difference, you’ll need to decide how you want him testing, and then whether to proceed. For both your sakes, I do hope it isn’t.

I can definitely up the vitamin E, he’s only on 4000iu a day at present. Funnily enough, no one but me has even contemplated PSSM, and I had put it low on my list, so testing at this stage might be an idea. We all keep thinking that it could all be down to liver, but symptoms caused by the liver seem hard to define as everyone reports different things with their affected horses.

Welcome back, sorry to hear you are still having issues with young Connie.

Has Lyme's disease been considered at all? Is that possible in your neck of the woods?

It would be unusual here, but given he has been like this since day one, I should look into how rife it is in Sligo area. Having had neurological Lyme disease myself I know the devastating impact it has had on my nervous system. Even now that I’m better, I still can’t stand things brushing against my skin. So thanks for the reminder. You may have suggested it last year when I posted about him but then we found the liver issue and mild ulcers so I again moved it to the bottom of the list.

 

[BBP2]

Can’t help with any ideas but nice to see you back, BBP was one of my favourite horses on the forum

Aw thank you. He was one in a million, in both good and bad ways! I never thought I would love a horse like I do BBP, but this Connemara is something special. And it’s not about how he moves or anything like that, it’s something to do with his soul, you can look right into it. Everything he feels he shows you (a bit like BBP) there are no walls up or barriers to reading him. The energy you feel being around him is like sitting in a pool of sunlight. That sounds daft and ridiculous, but it’s the closest I can explain. And yet he still carries this anxiety/tension/worry that I would love to release for him.

 

[Caol Ila]

Nice to see you back, BBP, though very sorry about the reasons you're posting. He is beautiful. I have no suggestions, but that behaviour is weird.

On your wee video, he looks really tight through his back end while he bucks and canters around the arena. And when he whacks himself with his tail, he gets even tighter and looks really uncomfortable as he kicks out at it. Looks like he's kind of hunching his butt muscles and clamping the tail down while he has his argument with it. Dunno....just a thing that struck me, watching it.

 

[BBP2]

Nice to see you back, BBP, though very sorry about the reasons you're posting. He is beautiful. I have no suggestions, but that behaviour is weird.

On your wee video, he looks really tight through his back end while he bucks and canters around the arena. And when he whacks himself with his tail, he gets even tighter and looks really uncomfortable as he kicks out at it. Looks like he's kind of hunching his butt muscles and clamping the tail down while he has his argument with it. Dunno....just a thing that struck me, watching it.

No you’re exactly right, that’s what is happening. I was hoping you could see that properly in the video.

 

[Caol Ila]

Could be that first couple fly-bucks trigger some kind of sudden, sharp pain around his hind end, so he's kicking out at that. Either 'blaming' the tail, or not kicking the tail at all - the tail just happens to be there - but kicking at something which is hurting him. I assume you have some flies where you are, and he can whisk his tails at flies, when relaxed, without freaking out?

Have you done work with something like a flag, where you touch him all over?

The way he tightens his butt reminds me of the time I gave Hermosa a static shock with a quarter sheet. She didn't buck or kick out (luckily), but she skittered around the stable with her hindquarters defensively braced and tucked up. CCP's problem is obviously not that, but it could be that sort of twinging pain out of nowhere that suddenly happens when he's hooning around, bucking.

 

[DabDab]

It would be unusual here, but given he has been like this since day one, I should look into how rife it is in Sligo area. Having had neurological Lyme disease myself I know the devastating impact it has had on my nervous system. Even now that I’m better, I still can’t stand things brushing against my skin. So thanks for the reminder. You may have suggested it last year when I posted about him but then we found the liver issue and mild ulcers so I again moved it to the bottom of the list.

Sometimes when they have a lot going on you just have to tackle one thing at a time.

The trouble with a sensitivity around the back end is that there is so much going on there, it could be a variety of things. Dabs had pssm (1 definitely, but could have also had another myopathy) and he was extremely explosive as a youngster, but it would come out of nowhere when you were exercising him, rather than because of any external physical stimulus. Not sure how typical or not he was though. Definitely worth treating your boy as pssm while you work through other stuff it might be.

I did also know a horse once who was a lifelong companion because she had broken/severely damaged her tail as a youngster and had been explosive over anything touching her back end forever afterwards (presumed severe nerve damage from the injury), but I assume you would have seen something like that on X ray?

 

[little_critter]

I have absolutely no experience, but what you describe sounds to me like some sort of sensation issue. Like when your arm goes to sleep and everything feels weird. I wonder if he has some sort of nerve damage??
It sounds like any sort of touch triggers it, be that an expected normal touch or an unexpected flick of a tail.

 

[TheMule]

I had a rug phobic horse (we think it was triggered by getting tangled in fencing) who acted similarly when turned out in a rug (was fine with it in the stable). Never got him over it. He was totally fine physically (eventing at a high level very well) it really was a reaction to the rug. With your guy I would be very tempted to try banging his tail very short (I realize this is not an easy call to make on a lovely native, especially in fly season) to see if it is the tail, though I agree with the above posters that it is probably a symptom rather than a cause

 

[Boulty]

It does sound like a hypersensitivity to touch type thing but I’m not up on how much of a thing that tends to be in horses / possible causes. (Although if you’ve previously considered Lyme & PSSM well worth taking steps to test for them & rule in or out)

Just going to throw a few rabbit holes at you that I went down with my “WTH is wrong with you” pony.

Really random rabbit hole but with you saying he has some neck stuff going on have you ever thought of having him screened for ECVM? (The views of base of neck you’d need are very specific and you need someone decent to then look at them though). The hind end stuff wouldn’t really fit with that though but the struggling to co-ordinate / control his body might. (They tend to have some of the muscle attachments in odd places / possibly asymmetrically so can cause various weirdnesses and I think likely significance of different types of malformation is sorta ongoing research atm I think) Don’t think Connies are a “known” breed for it but apparently it has been found in some native breeds as well as TBs & Warmbloods

Another random thing I explored with mine was Somatics type work. (As an adjunctive thing to what you’re already doing, not instead of). My (possibly slightly bad) understanding of it is that it encourages them to gradually let go of tension patterns rather than hold onto them at a speed that works for them in a minimally invasive way / can help press the reset button if they’re a bit “stuck” in a cycle of always carrying tension in a particular place & also is supposed to help with body awareness which mine also massively lacked. It didn’t work for mine and I didn’t continue trying as some of the exercises involve being in positions that aren’t safe to be in with a horse with a history of dropping to their knees without warning (plus he also really struggled with any of the exercises involving the neck). People on the group I was on related to it got much more positive results though and if nothing else it highlighted to me just how incredibly braced he was in his neck / chest in ways I’d not picked up on until I was asking for very small, very slow movements.

Not saying either of those things are actually worth your time, just mentioning some of the weirder things I’ve explored, even if they didn’t yield the results I’d hoped.

 

[CanteringCarrot]

I had a rug phobic horse (we think it was triggered by getting tangled in fencing) who acted similarly when turned out in a rug (was fine with it in the stable). Never got him over it. He was totally fine physically (eventing at a high level very well) it really was a reaction to the rug. With your guy I would be very tempted to try banging his tail very short (I realize this is not an easy call to make on a lovely native, especially in fly season) to see if it is the tail, though I agree with the above posters that it is probably a symptom rather than a cause

On a similar note to this, you could braid the tail up into a knot, like they do for working equitation, and see what happens. There's also a vaquero knot that takes less braiding. Banging the tail short is simple, but if you want to try another route before you commit, I thought I'd throw this out as an option. It works with thick tails too, since Iberians can have a lot of hair.

 

[CanteringCarrot]

Whenever I have a horse with weird issues that can't be quite pinpointed I test for Lyme and EPM (which is debatable for accuracy, I know). However, I am in the USA now and those are far more prevalent here. PSSM might be worth considering too.

From a nutritional standpoint, 4000iu isn't enough for my horse and he still shows some deficiency signs at that dosage. So you could play with that. What's his magnesium intake like?

I can't remember, but did you dive down the ulcer rabbit hole? Or do anything for his hindgut?

How's his lymphatic system? Does he ever get stocked up or swollen?

 

[I'm Dun]

I had a rug phobic horse (we think it was triggered by getting tangled in fencing) who acted similarly when turned out in a rug (was fine with it in the stable). Never got him over it. He was totally fine physically (eventing at a high level very well) it really was a reaction to the rug. With your guy I would be very tempted to try banging his tail very short (I realize this is not an easy call to make on a lovely native, especially in fly season) to see if it is the tail, though I agree with the above posters that it is probably a symptom rather than a cause

it could be plaited below the dock and folded up like they do with hunt horses and polo ponies etc. That way its a very temporary thing.

 

[I'm Dun]

On a similar note to this, you could braid the tail up into a knot, like they do for working equitation, and see what happens. There's also a vaquero knot that takes less braiding. Banging the tail short is simple, but if you want to try another route before you commit, I thought I'd throw this out as an option. It works with thick tails too, since Iberians can have a lot of hair.

Oops. just seen youve already suggested what I have!

 

[I'm Dun]

The problem if it is PSSM is it will be type 2 and theres no real treatment and its very hard to get a diagnosis. Its very rarely cured by vitamin e sadly.

 

[Exasperated]

The problem if it is PSSM is it will be type 2 and theres no real treatment and its very hard to get a diagnosis. Its very rarely cured by vitamin e sadly.

Firstly, let’s hope it isn’t. But if a horse significantly improves on being saturated with Vitamin e, there is good reason to suppose it might be, and then OP would have some testing options and the future to consider, because it isn’t ever going to be cured - manageable at best and then if you are quite lucky.
So, fingers x’d while downing the vit e, and good luck.

 

[BBP2]

Sometimes when they have a lot going on you just have to tackle one thing at a time.

The trouble with a sensitivity around the back end is that there is so much going on there, it could be a variety of things. Dabs had pssm (1 definitely, but could have also had another myopathy) and he was extremely explosive as a youngster, but it would come out of nowhere when you were exercising him, rather than because of any external physical stimulus. Not sure how typical or not he was though. Definitely worth treating your boy as pssm while you work through other stuff it might be.

I did also know a horse once who was a lifelong companion because she had broken/severely damaged her tail as a youngster and had been explosive over anything touching her back end forever afterwards (presumed severe nerve damage from the injury), but I assume you would have seen something like that on X ray?

We only xrayed as far back as thoracic lumbar spine, so wouldn’t have picked up any injury to his pelvis or sacral/caudal vertebrae. One thing we have noted with him, which is classic in horses with some sort of back dysfunction or nerve issue, is that his tail is relatively static. He doesn’t have a lot of lift or wiggle to it when he moves and it tends to draw between his hind legs when he moves. He can and does lift it to swish flies, but it generally sits relatively heavy. I will leave him with the full length whilst the flies are so awful, but I will definitely consider banging it short as we head into autumn, just to see if it changes anything.

 

[BBP2]

Could be that first couple fly-bucks trigger some kind of sudden, sharp pain around his hind end, so he's kicking out at that. Either 'blaming' the tail, or not kicking the tail at all - the tail just happens to be there - but kicking at something which is hurting him. I assume you have some flies where you are, and he can whisk his tails at flies, when relaxed, without freaking out?

Have you done work with something like a flag, where you touch him all over?

The way he tightens his butt reminds me of the time I gave Hermosa a static shock with a quarter sheet. She didn't buck or kick out (luckily), but she skittered around the stable with her hindquarters defensively braced and tucked up. CCP's problem is obviously not that, but it could be that sort of twinging pain out of nowhere that suddenly happens when he's hooning around, bucking.

He can and does whisk his tail at flies, as I was watching him for a bit tonight, but he does tend to reach around with his head to get them in preference. I’ll have to study stuff like this a bit closer. As said in my reply above, his tail in movement is pretty static, it doesn’t have much lift and wiggle that you expect from a healthy functional back.

I think the tail touching him when bucking exaggerates his response to something that is always present. By which I mean I don’t think the bucking is the only time the discomfort is felt, he just responds more strongly because of the tail then hitting him repeatedly. I tried lightly touching him with a piece of hay on his quarters this evening and his response is to clench his butt and tuck it under him, and if you repeat it he will then get anxious and start stamping and swishing. You get the same response if you pat him on the quarters as you walk past.

I have done flag work with him and it’s always the same response, which is why I think it’s something physical that desensitisation can’t override. You can get him to a point where he will stand and accept it, but never to where he is relaxed and truly comfortable. And then you are right back at the initial response the next time you touch him. I don’t think he can help it.

 

[BBP2]

I have absolutely no experience, but what you describe sounds to me like some sort of sensation issue. Like when your arm goes to sleep and everything feels weird. I wonder if he has some sort of nerve damage??
It sounds like any sort of touch triggers it, be that an expected normal touch or an unexpected flick of a tail.

That’s exactly it, what I was just saying in my reply to CI. Grooming him is the same too, you can run a brush over him and he loves a good itch, but you still get the butt clench/tuck reflex. I have a different osteopath coming to see him on Wednesday as can’t afford to have the osteopathic vet each time, so will be interested to see what she says. She did see him a few times when he was younger, but he couldn’t tolerate the sessions at all, he would just break down into a hiccuping mess and would want to lie down the whole time (as if he is giving himself colic) just because someone was touching him. He is a lot better now than he was 6 months ago, so I’m hoping he can cope.

 

[Surbie]

It's very nice to see you back. Your posts have been so helpful in the past.

I am a little hesitant to post as my knowledge is a LOT smaller than many people who have already posted. But the video and your description are very similar to a horse I know who had a nasty tail/end of spine injury through a fall in the field and is now hypersensitive, with reduced movement in the tail.

I do hope you can get to the bottom of it, he's a stunning horse.

 

[BBP2]

I had a rug phobic horse (we think it was triggered by getting tangled in fencing) who acted similarly when turned out in a rug (was fine with it in the stable). Never got him over it. He was totally fine physically (eventing at a high level very well) it really was a reaction to the rug. With your guy I would be very tempted to try banging his tail very short (I realize this is not an easy call to make on a lovely native, especially in fly season) to see if it is the tail, though I agree with the above posters that it is probably a symptom rather than a cause

I agree with the symptom rather than cause, but I’m definitely open to banging it short once the fly season is over, to see if that changes anything (for example, I don’t know whether if he does have a back injury/nerve compression somewhere, if having a thick, full, long tail might be causing a little much traction? Might be me throwing out weird thoughts now)

 

[BBP2]

It does sound like a hypersensitivity to touch type thing but I’m not up on how much of a thing that tends to be in horses / possible causes. (Although if you’ve previously considered Lyme & PSSM well worth taking steps to test for them & rule in or out)

Just going to throw a few rabbit holes at you that I went down with my “WTH is wrong with you” pony.

Really random rabbit hole but with you saying he has some neck stuff going on have you ever thought of having him screened for ECVM? (The views of base of neck you’d need are very specific and you need someone decent to then look at them though). The hind end stuff wouldn’t really fit with that though but the struggling to co-ordinate / control his body might. (They tend to have some of the muscle attachments in odd places / possibly asymmetrically so can cause various weirdnesses and I think likely significance of different types of malformation is sorta ongoing research atm I think) Don’t think Connies are a “known” breed for it but apparently it has been found in some native breeds as well as TBs & Warmbloods

Another random thing I explored with mine was Somatics type work. (As an adjunctive thing to what you’re already doing, not instead of). My (possibly slightly bad) understanding of it is that it encourages them to gradually let go of tension patterns rather than hold onto them at a speed that works for them in a minimally invasive way / can help press the reset button if they’re a bit “stuck” in a cycle of always carrying tension in a particular place & also is supposed to help with body awareness which mine also massively lacked. It didn’t work for mine and I didn’t continue trying as some of the exercises involve being in positions that aren’t safe to be in with a horse with a history of dropping to their knees without warning (plus he also really struggled with any of the exercises involving the neck). People on the group I was on related to it got much more positive results though and if nothing else it highlighted to me just how incredibly braced he was in his neck / chest in ways I’d not picked up on until I was asking for very small, very slow movements.

Not saying either of those things are actually worth your time, just mentioning some of the weirder things I’ve explored, even if they didn’t yield the results I’d hoped.

ECVM, I’m not sure they did specifically X-ray for that (I had my young mare done earlier this year so have done a bit of research on it). We did standard neck and back X-rays and had his nuchal ligament ultrasound last year. His trot and canter are really uphill and balanced and gorgeous when he gets going, it’s his walk that has been an absolute mess mostly. But I will certainly keep that in mind.

Somatics is a word I keep seeing popping up and haven’t looked into much, but I’ll do some reading. One of the things he finds hard is truly lengthening and opening through the next and relaxing the brachiocephalicus muscle (or whatever it’s called!), he is just about managing it in walk and trot for short periods, but in the halt becomes quite stressed and bobs in and out of it (pillar one for those who do BTMM..I know it’s controversial on here but the principle is there) rather than softening and relaxing into it. Whether that is linked to his subluxating nuchal ligament I don’t know.