does anyone have a horse/pony with pelvis problems?

[laura_1983]

my pony has a problem with the left hand side of his pelvis, it needs put back into place by my back man, he says that he wont do it any more than every few months as its a waste of my money, he could do it every few weeks and it wouldnt make a difference, i fully trust him and go by what he says on the matter!

just wondered if anyone else has similar problems with their beastie and what way they deal with it / what symptoms their horse/pony has?

 

[Madam_max]

How do you think back people 'put things back', not being rude, just curious.

 

[laura_1983]

i cant say how but he def sorts my pony out! i notice a big difference in him after he's had his pelvis done, he dips the left hand side of his quarters quite badly after a few months which is why thats how often he gets it sorted, afterwards he goes for about 6 weeks without any dipping or stiffness in his back end!

i know alot of people are wary of 'back people', i never got any of my horses done until i moved to the yard i work on, my last pony it never made any difference on, that i could tell, but a tb x i had last year was in a bad way when he came to me and i noticed the difference with him also after having his back done.

 

[Bossanova]

'Putting the pelvis back in place' is impossible, firstly because it cant fall out of place, secondly because there's no way a person can influence enough force to shift it anywhere!

 

[siennamum]

What does your vet say is wrong with the pelvis.

 

[dieseldog]

I was asking a vet about uneven pelvises. And they seemed to think that the problem is usually found in either the hock or the stifle. For example a horse might have hit a fence hard with its stifles.

I agree that a back person can't put a pelvis back.

 

[OrangeEmpire]

When a pelvis is termed 'out' or 'rotated' what they actually mean is that the surrounding muscles have gone into spasm causing the pelvis to appear unlevel. For this to be reoccuring regularly there must be an underlying cause. Have you had this investigated?

 

[laura_1983]

im quite happy with what my back man does, whether its moving his pelvis, manipulating muscles, it works and my pony isnt in pain. i havent had it checked by the vet as it causes no problems for tinker, he still lunges, jumps, runs mad in the field with his pals. my opinion on getting the vet to look is that xrays/tests, you name it would be done( maybe only my vets would do this too make themselves money) and it could all be a waste of money or they might say i cant ever ride my pony again which i would disagree with totally. if my pony was in pain then yes id certainly call the vet in asap!

i only asked about other people with similar problems not a stone throwing contest at me!

 

[siennamum]

You're being very defensive.
Your back man is visiting you repeatedly and fixing a symptom of an underlying problem. Aren't you curious to understand what the problem is?
It's a simple fact that trials were done to move a horses pelvis (post mortem) - it was only found to be possible using lifting gear.
Whatever your back man is doing he isn't physically moving the pelvis. If he is doing that then you have a big problem as there is potentially significant muscle & ligament damage. If your pony is running around happily then that clearly isn't the case.
If your back man manipulates the area and gives a massage then he realignes the pelvis by releasing muscle tension.
You need to know what causes the muscle tension. Most likely it is a lower limb problem in the front legs, a problem in the jaw (teeth), a tack issue, (saddle fitting) potentially it could just be your riding or your pony going incorrectly and unevenly. Often it is a problem in the hock.
By burying your head in the sand you aren't doing yourself or the pony any favours. You asked if anyone had horses ponies with pelvis problems - I don't no, but I know lots of people who do - and they all say the same thing as you until they get a proper diagnosis.

 

[laura_1983]

sorry i dont mean to be defensive, i was wanting to hear from other people with similar problems and to see if any symptoms were the same as tinkers, instead i get the feeling everyone hates back people and im being made to feel like im doing wrong by my pony when i know he's happy and not in pain.

 

[OrangeEmpire]

none of us were having a go - just concerned that you've been mis-informed.

2 years ago my TB (1st horse in sig) had what the physio diagnosed as a 'rotated pelvis', did lots of work on him, got him feeling better etc etc. A year later he was finally diagnosed with arthritis in his neck which was causing the muscles along his back and in his rump to go into spasm. Muscles do not repeatedly spasm without there being an underlying cause. Thankfully due to my vets thorough investigation, treatment and a strict excersise programme my horse is now happy and spasm free.

All we were trying to do was suggest that there must be a reason why your horse's pelvis goes into spasm and that surely it would be better to find the cause and treat it, than continue simply dealing with the symptoms. There was no critism of the work back people do.

 

[lochpearl]

I had a horse with bad problems - I mean he would try and kill me when his pelvis was bad, i had many back people out, one every three weeks (to the day), this guy was a vet but then trained as a back specialist - he told me that the horse was twisting his pelvis, he must have been doing it in the field. Yes once he had been the bucking stopped and the horse was lovely again, then 3 weeks later it happened again. I then spent a fortune on a back guy that didn't throw the horse which the previous one had he just applied pressure to the muscles/joint areas and the horse would lean back into him and pop them back - he also said that there wasn't a pelvis problem - after 2 visits and £300 later I moved the horse and used the one onthe new yard - he is a qulaified osteopath (human) trained in equine and is an equine behaviourist too. What was actually amazing was that he confirmed that the horse did have a pelvis problem, but no rotation or movement, the problem was his posture. He was almost sitting back on his pelvis and this is why injuries kept occuring. He gave me a lot of exercises to do with him - he did slightly manipulate parts of him but when I started to do the exercise - all lunging for 4 weeks without sitting on the horse, making him lift himself in the lunge and work properly without training aids - and it was hard work!! When he came back to see him he couldn't believe the difference the muscles were working properly and in the right place and holding the pelvis and other areas together where they should be. I then noticed when riding the same thing, as long as the horse was working correctly and kind of being lifted up but moving forward it was amazing. Within 3 months the horse was almost normal and has not had any treatment since - the guy came out every 3 weeks to the other horses and he didn't have to do anything on my boy. You might want to see if your back man has any exercises to help you with strengthening the area as it could be that your pony is holding himself wrong because of incorrect muscle in the area and needs building up and this could make him go 'wrong' every couple of weeks like my boy? I agree with you on the vets though, i am good friends with one of the top guys at Rossdales in Newmarket and we were going to look into treatment before I had this back guy out and he said that for the testing that they do although it is very good and thorough it might not actually show anything up unless you have the MRI which most insurance companies wont cover. If you want any ideas on the exercise just to try then PM me and I will try to help.

 

[laura_1983]

that helps! tinker is quite lazy in behind and it takes alot to get him working properly, im pregnant just now so my riding cant be the problem and i cant force other riders to make him work properly all the time as its very hard work! what i said first about his pelvis being put back in, i didnt literally mean he was moving his bones, just that he fixed the problem, im not always there when back man is out so im not getting info etc about it straight from him or always seeing whats being done, im happy with the outcome and my pony isnt in pain, surely thats the main thing! il PM you lochpearl about the exercises etc. thanks

 

[Dressagebabe]

You have to do loads of lungeing on very small circles to build up and tighten the muscles enough to hold the pelvis in place. Once they have become lax then it will always be a problem but you can help Tinker by lungeing loads as I said above. Make sure you have warmed him up well before you start to reduce your circles and what I mean by small circles is you should see his inside hind leg cross over and under him to really work the slack side. My husband is a Vet and this is what he advises when it is not an injury but purely slack soft tissue issues. If it makes you feel better I too had a horse that this used to happen to, we, didn't hold back with diagnostic equipment - he had the works, x-rays MRI etc but found nothing other than less blood supply to his affected soft tissue. Hope this helps