Do you see anything?

[Samigator]

aww, thanks Aptor. I think he's pretty cute too.

Tonight we had a mini "lesson" with a lady at my barn who is a true hunter/jumper trainer/rider. We didn't do anything fancy, mostly just walk/trot, but we did a TON of 2 point, figure 8's, a few spirals in and out, then we went over a few ground poles and a few times about an 8 inch cavaletti. Louie was TIRED by the time we were done, and I'm going to be a hurtin' unit tomorrow too, but I think we got some really good hind end impulsion today and I think the exercises we did will really benefit Louie in building up some good muscle, balance, and coordination. And, he was sound through all of it.

Before we started working on any of that stuff, we did one left lead canter and he did that pretty well. we tried the right lead, but didn't push it too hard, Louie was clearly not happy about taking it, was fighting like he did yesterday, and today bucked and kicked the wall when I cued him. . . then trotted around like a bat out of hell Standardbred racer until we changed up the routine and started working on those exercises. So, I still gotta wonder if there isn't something going on causing his extreme dislike for the right lead. . . we never did get it, but I didn't push it much today and he took it a whole bunch of times yesterday and last week. I guess we'll find out if the vet can see anything accounting for our difficulties, as I certainly cannot see anything obvious either. . .

[Samigator]

I had a new vet out today (different vet than the one we've seen for work up thus far- wanted a second opinion). Anyways, she didn't see any lameness either. She palpated him really thoroughly and the only point in his whole body where he was mildly tender was his right front lower suspensory- but he wasn't lame. . . She did a chiropractic assessment and found him to be atrophed in his right hip- through the croup, and subluxed in his pelvis. She did a full chiro adjustment, he was off in his pelvis, withers, poll, and through his shoulders. This chiro adjustment seemed much more effective or at least "noticeable" than the last one we had last summer from a different vet. You could see Louie's expression changing from ouch to ahhhh. . . and he really liked parts of it.

Then she did a few accupuncture points and some injections at some of those points. He flinched a little when she put the first needle in, but after she got it in, his head dropped and he almost went to sleep. I was amazed at how much it relaxed him. We sat with needles in his pelvis, hind legs, shoulders/neck, and poll for about 30-45 minutes while he munched on some hay.

She also checked out our saddle fit, which actually wasn't bad considering I paid $50 for the thing.

She wants us to get back to regular work after a few days off, then re-check in 3-4 weeks, she's especially curious to hear how the canter is going by then, as that has been our main issue. Keeping my fingers crossed, but I'm so glad to hear that she doesn't see any overt lameness causing his issues with his right lead.

[ClassyRide]

Wow - no wonder his stride was different in that direction!

I'm so super glad to hear all of this, Leah - that's great news!!! And I'm sure Louie is a very happy camper now that he's not crooked anymore. Hehe!

[Cparker]

He is adorable...Im not picking up lameness in the video and at this point Im an expert(haha) after dealing with two VERY serious, mystery lamenesses AND figuring them out before vet! (SI and IR probs)

Curious to know if you ever go the second way first, to me just from watching the short video he seemed tired and a bit lazy by the second way..that could explain so of the issue. Do you ever ride with a whip? .... every horse Ive worked has a preferred way and lead.

[Samigator]

Thanks Cparker,

Yes, we often do go the second way first, probably 60% of the time. We try to change it up, not usually doing only laps around the arena, etc, though I must admit with the ?stifle issue that he had last year we did a lot more laps than I would like, just to get more straight aways and not as many circles.

I ride him with a whip sometimes- he's a whole 'nother horse with a whip! I actually rode him on Tuesday with a whip as he's been kindof hard sided lately since I've been working on my hunter equitation a little more and I'm uncomfortable with spurs. He sure had more energy both ways, just carrying the whip made a big difference. When I rode on Tuesday, the instructor that we've been working with actually commented on how much better he looked this week from last- and she didnt' know we'd had the vet out. Riding with a whip may have also played into that- more impulsion. So, yeah, between the two, he definately is looking even better than he did in that video.

[Brie]

My horse had the same symptoms. Turned out she had an injured Meniscus. The meniscus took a very long time to heal. Over a year. The most amazing part is she could trot around fine. I noticed that when she was let out she would only trot, not canter even when chased? After a long while I started riding her again and focused only on trotting. Low and behold she took off cantering one day while I was trotting. She told me she was ready. Now we are preparing to show this year. I'm not saying this is what your horse has obviously but my horse was doing the same thing. Bunny hopping, avoiding, she started sticking after trotting knowing what was coming next.