EventingMum
Well-Known Member
Ash Tay: She had a tendency to be tight across her lumbar region, tight and tense in the poll, one sided in the contact ie held the bit on one side so very heavy and dead down one rein and much lighter and responsive down the other so generally a rather tense ride although from the ground looks super with many commenting on how easy she looks, however once you ride her it's a very different picture. She has a tendency to be girthy and also prefers to eat hay rather than short feed. Despite all of this she show jumped and evented, bred a beautiful foal and more recently has been doing the occasional dressage competition usually scoring 70+% at elementary.
I always felt there was more than one issue so checked for ulcers, did gastroguard trials and tried various other supplements to no avail and also had her ovaries scanned before and after being in foal. All the time we have owned her she has had very regular dental checks, saddle fittings, and as previously mentioned vet checks, physio, Mctimoney, massage and oesteopath checks and treatments. Eventually we tried a chiropractor who is also a qualified vet and she has done a little work on her neck and poll but mainly focused on her pelvic/lumbar region and has used acupuncture on her. The difference is astounding, she is much softer and more relaxed when ridden and a much happier horse. There was nothing majorly wrong she just needed some adjustments and regular maintenance checks as she had got so used to holding herself tensely as she had been sore for a long time so it became a habit and she naturally reverted back to holding herself like that. She'll now stretch a lot more willingly and allows us to work her in a way that helps maintain comfort whereas previously trying to get her to relax and stretch was a nightmare.
Whilst trying to be good owners and using so many well qualified professionals it did just take time to find the right person to deal with this horse, it seems amazing that no one else managed to help her. She will always have the tendency to get tense at times when ridden - that's just her - but now she allows us to ask her to soften and relax which makes her much more pleasant to ride and in turn she appears to be a much happier horse..
Ps just to say I always consult my vet first and ask permission to use a therapist.
I always felt there was more than one issue so checked for ulcers, did gastroguard trials and tried various other supplements to no avail and also had her ovaries scanned before and after being in foal. All the time we have owned her she has had very regular dental checks, saddle fittings, and as previously mentioned vet checks, physio, Mctimoney, massage and oesteopath checks and treatments. Eventually we tried a chiropractor who is also a qualified vet and she has done a little work on her neck and poll but mainly focused on her pelvic/lumbar region and has used acupuncture on her. The difference is astounding, she is much softer and more relaxed when ridden and a much happier horse. There was nothing majorly wrong she just needed some adjustments and regular maintenance checks as she had got so used to holding herself tensely as she had been sore for a long time so it became a habit and she naturally reverted back to holding herself like that. She'll now stretch a lot more willingly and allows us to work her in a way that helps maintain comfort whereas previously trying to get her to relax and stretch was a nightmare.
Whilst trying to be good owners and using so many well qualified professionals it did just take time to find the right person to deal with this horse, it seems amazing that no one else managed to help her. She will always have the tendency to get tense at times when ridden - that's just her - but now she allows us to ask her to soften and relax which makes her much more pleasant to ride and in turn she appears to be a much happier horse..
Ps just to say I always consult my vet first and ask permission to use a therapist.
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