I despair.

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seabiscuit

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I have had Woody back for two days- he went away to be schooled and evented but the rider asked if he could have some Bowen treatment to see if that would help his tension issues. Anyway, he ended up needing 3 weeks off and 3 sessions of Bowen. I left him there in the hope that he would get given the OK to be ridden again and then he could be competed.
In the end he was never ridden for the whole time he was there, & I had to withdraw him from 4 events. ( so lost £264 in entry fees?)

Anyway he has come back looking absolutely awful and is just skin and bone. I dont blame the yard as I did say turn him out, dont give him any hard feed, just give him his Mollichaff calmer and he normally looks good on that, but then I guess our grass at home is excellent,& I guess their grass must not be quite so good quality. But he cannot stand rain and wind and shivers like a leaf even when rugged to the eyeballs, so I guess all this recent rain just threw the balance.

I've ridden him twice in walk, just walking one hour on the roads, long rein, and he just feels like a plank of wood. Just completly on the forehand and a mouth like lead. He was so uphill and soft 3 weeks ago and I just can't understand how he has become like this. All I can think of is that he must have been galloping round the field or something and that he must have pulled a muscle or done something sinister, cos in my experience when they feel like a plank like that there is usually something major that has gone wrong.

So now I can't even advertise him because he looks awful and is going like a plank. And I will have to withdraw him from Tweseldown so have lost another entry fee. So now I will have to wait ages for him to recoup form and condition so will prob then be far too late to even advertise him this year :-( and then he also has a crap eventing form. I was so so sure and certain he could have got some good clear rounds which would have made him much more appealing and given him a better chance of finding the right person to buy him.

But maybe I am just jumping the gun and maybe he will look and feel ok again in ten days time
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and he just needs to get his muscles going again.After all, this Bowen treatment is supposed to be amazing.

If not then a lot of opportunities and money has been lost
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What does Bowen therapist say? This doesn't sound right at all
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To be honest a professional yard should contact you and say that despite your instructions they feel the horse needs a,b,c..... Perhaps a bit remiss of them not to do that? I don't know - it's hard to make a judgement without knowing all the facts and seeing the horse
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To be fair, before I even started riding him again the Bowen therapist did say he needs another week off and two more treatments. But she did say how much he had improved and how much better he was moving after the first 3 treatments. Initially she was saying oh he only needs the first three treatments, which he had. Where does the buck stop? How long do you go on pouring money at this for? I absolutely have to draw a line with him now and told her that he has to come back into work again to be sold- as I've already spent ££££ on top vets and physios checking him out. She accepted that and advised me to do 3 days walking first before starting normal work again. Will ring again tho to say about how bad he felt
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That is fair enough point about the yard
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The hardness in his mouth and being on the forehand makes me think that he could of pulled a muscle in his neck. Does he feel stiff through it? I've got a horse with the same thing at the minute - pulled it galloping around the field.
 
Oh dear!!
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Yes he feels completly stiff through it. He has always been a touch stiffer on his left side but now he feels completly rigid on that left side.

How did you diagnose this? whats the treatment?
 
Oh dear, I haven't posted in ages but your post has driven me to it!

You know O_B as well as I do that no professional yard, however much respect you have for them should let your horse get in that state, they are doing a job and they have let you (and Woody) down. He should be coming back better, not worse! Are you sure the Bowen treatment wasn't an excuse to leave him in the field?!

Woody may just be feeling totally rubbish all over which is why he feels like a plank when you ride him, quite sore and run down.
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Well i'm very lucky as my sister-in-law is an equine chiropractor and sports masseuse, so i called her out immedately on noticing the change in my horse. She said what he has is similar to whiplash - painful but not life threatening! However, you may need to get a vet out if you suspect a torn muscle. Mine's had a couple of massages, and was kept in for 2 days as he found it difficult to eat off the floor at first. Now he is having a week off in a smaller paddock to recuperate before my sister-in-law will check him again and i'll ride him to see how things are.
 
oh dear what a horrid situation to be in!

we sent our 5yro away in the spring to be evented and sold and neither happened! she was not ridden very often, rider said she was lame (no sign of it when she left here and back lady thought she was fine at the new yard).

when we went to bring her home she looked really crap- i know she is sharp but she still needs feeding! it took a good 4 months of slowly building her up for her to get back to shiny Millie with a topline

it actually worked really well for us as Millie came home and she is looking like a great prospect for me for next year now- so i am very pleased her 'pro' rider couldn't get a tune out of her and she didn't get sold.
 
Forgive my ignorance but I have never heard of Bowen treatment. Therefore not fully qualified to comment. However, sounds like someone is taking the mick. You sent off a horse with a few small issues and got back a far bigger problem. That is after parting with a not inconsiderable amount of cash for treatment that clearly can't have worked. The solution, more treatment.......
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Go with your instinct and common sense!
 
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I just dont want to say too much about what I really think with this being a public forum and all...
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I hope you're right about the cause of the stiffness!!
 
Hi peeps

Difficult to say without seeing him so just wanted to say hugs ((((((((((((o))))))))))))))) and don't give up just yet, if you don't want to spend any more on Bowen and you still have good grass how about turning him out to chill for a week or two?
Hope Poppy is all ok.

x
 
^^^Wot she said. A good yard should look after him properly and communicate with you early on when h started to lose condition, not just send him home looking miserable and bony. He is probably feeling a bit down in himself (and you and I both know what a sensitive horse he is) and not feeling up to much.

Here's a thought - get him eating and feeling better. Take him hunting to perk him up and give him something to look forward to. Then ask Kat if she'll take him on loan for a week or two at ours, get some decent photos and videos of what he really can do and get her to take him out competing once or twice (he can come with us, lord knows T needs the dressage practice!). Then get Phoebe to take him out once or twice at the start of next season and then sell him with some form.

Don't be in such a rush. I know you've made your decision and you want him sold but it will need to be to the right home or he'll get bounced right back to you! These things have a way of working out. Chin up kid, you're usually the positive one out of the two of us!!
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Sorry, I know what you saying re. the forum.
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The stiffness could be something or nothing - doctor green first though.

Are you looking for something to compete/event next year?
 
Thanks Starman, that is interesting to know...at least it sounds like a relatively minor injury if it is a pulled muscle!

Millitiger- another person that was in the same situ!
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Its unreal, can you not trust people? that sounds like it all worked out for the best tho!
 
i would be very very unhappy if a pro yard sent a horse back to me looking worse.
and fwiw if i had a horse here and was told to turn it out and only feed it x, but after a few days it was obvious it wasn't getting enough, wasn't looking right, etc, i'd be straight on the 'phone to the owner, and giving it whatever i thought it needed...
i've heard only good things of Bowen, and really want to try it on my lot, my McTim Chiro said he has seen it have amazing effects too...
but, putting my fatalistic hat on here, everything happens for a reason (even if it makes no sense at the time) so hopefully he will come right and you will get what you want with him.
 
Optimist-It wasn't quite like that-the Bowen was genuinely a last ditch attempt by both the rider and me to resolve extreme tension issues in the horse. But it has not worked, so far
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and yes, did part with a lot of cash..Muppet that I am..

Nikkirhia- thank you for the hugs!! may well just turn him away a bit on some good grass.. Poppy is doing good!
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Lol- thanks Kit, that does sound like a good plan!!!
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It would be awesome if you& Kat could take him on for a bit-if he does get out of his plank-like state!! Hopefully it is just muscle soreness from feeling run down. I was in a rush to sell because of the financial pressure of running 3 horses- as you know Poppy was supposed to be a quick sell on
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but I just have to re-think the whole stituation and work out how to afford it all... was also worried about selling him as a 10 year old..but hey, 10 is not all that bad..
Good plan tho, thank you!
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Eccles- I hope that the dr green works! Got another 1, maybe 2 horses to event for next year, but with Woody already being 9 years old and the parntership clearly not working between us- I did want to move him on this month, he is not getting any younger. Also I am just not sure I have the finanaces for a extra horse- the new eventer for next year was supposed to be a quick sell on project so I never budgeted/planned for quite so many horses
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Could you not chuck him away for a few weeks to recondition him, get him going to a point, and then send him to a sports horse auction type place? That way he'd be gone once and for all.....

Sorry to hear its not going well, but I'd be fuming with a pro - whoever it was - if they looked after a horse of mine and had sent it back in bad condition!

JB x
 
That is not good news at all, they should come back feeling so much better rather than feeling a lot worse!! I think i would chuck him out on some decent grass for a couple of weeks and see how he feels after that?
 
QR - I haven't read all of the resposnes but if he had his Bowen done at the other yard, did they do his follow up exercises/massage etc after each treatment? This could be one reason for the change in his way of going? I was under the impression they are not stand alone treatments and they should have done the follow up work?

Forgive me if any of this has been put into other posts!
 
Oh dear that does not sound good
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I wish you had sent him to RS I'm sure it would have been a different story, but you did what you thought was best, it's not your fault it has turned out this way, poor Woody. If i were you I think I would give him a little dr green time then bring him in clip and take him hunting and then sell him on as a hunter. People will still pay really good money for a hunter and it might make more financial sense to you instead of hanging onto him in the hope next season he will do well and add value. I would sit down and do some sums that always helps get things in perspective. good luck hugs and pats to you and woody x
 
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