Testimonials
Joy - an 8 year old registered thoroughbred mare.
Joy was brought to me in dire need of help. When she walked from the trailer her left hind fell under her body as she stepped that foot next to her right hind. Her new owner, Diane, who had purchased her in August of 2000, told me what she knew of her history. Joy was used as a foxhunter, for how many years we do not know. Diane told me the previous owners had gotten tired of dealing with her. She said Joy was lame on the right front and that the previous owners had had it x-rayed but found nothing wrong with it. The mysterious off and on again right front lameness. Yes Joy was definitely lame, but to me the right front lameness was due to the left hind. So began the therapy.
These photos are cropped but otherwise unaltered.
Day 1 (September 2000)
I went over Joy's body starting from her tail. I realigned her body and used acupressure to release the muscles. Everyday I checked her over adjusting a new piece or releasing a muscle. I took her to the arena and walked her on a lung line in a devise called nuro-strings to the right only (see therapy portion for description of the devise). She could only handle 5 minutes a day at first.
Day 30
Because Joy was so unstable in how she carried herself, she still could not be ridden. I continued the bodywork and added the trot to her therapy. One of the hardest parts of rehabilitation is changing muscle memory. Because the muscles are trained to work a specific way (good or bad), they either keep a body going strong or in Joy's case they keep causing her body to fall out of alignment. This is why each day before she worked she needed bodywork. Once the muscles are retrained and strengthened the bodywork gets less and less. Joy at this point was still traveling to the right only. By keeping her left hind to the outside of the circle I could control her habit (muscle memory) of traveling in with that left hind and force her to travel out with it. By the end of this month Joy was working about 20 minutes a day.
Day 60
Getting much stronger now I added the canter. I still only worked her to the right, but hoped I could get her to the left soon. Because her left hind was so weak she was falling in on the circle putting way too much pressure on her right front. I knew if I didn't get her strong enough for a rider or to travel to the left, she would develop a real right front lameness.
Day90
Patience paid off. Joy could now be worked to the left. She also looked strong enough to start carrying a rider. I started riding her every third day at the walk only and to the right only. Being on her back enabled me to eliminate her from diving in onto her right front. The rest of her therapy stayed pretty much the same. I would ask her with my right leg back behind me and under her belly ( I have long legs) to lift her right side up, drive her right hind under (reversing the left hind under habit) and lift her right shoulder up.
Horse Savvy Ranch
Cindy Schleuss, Trainer
4298 Bodega Avenue
Petaluma, CA 94952
(707) 789-9947
HorseSavvy@msn.com
Home | Training | Therapy | Saddle Fit | Testimonials | Facilities | Links |
Web Design by FatHawk
