Had the Physio out today and the result is I am quite relieved that I wasnt imagining things !
The symptoms were subtle (he happily plays with the other horses in his field. will buck rear, play fight and roll all like normal) and I was told by several people ' Oh he's just trying it on, just give him a boot in the gut, dont waste your money' etc etc
The signs I noticed were an ever so slight head being drawn up even when the girth/roller was done up gradually, (I've never yanked it up) and once when riding 5 weeks ago (been on holiday since then so hence the delay in getting the physio to him) he got a little arsey at me (I had about 4/5 tail whisks when asking for a few circles at a walk in the school and he'd never done it before). After he got funny, I hopped off and booked an appointment for when I got back. So he hasnt been ridden for a little while.
So we did a walk up, trot up and turning tight circles in both directions, which she said he looked perfectly fine with, he was crossing over his hind legs on a circle very well and looked good, it was when she got her hands on him we discovered things. He's normally a happy chappy in the stable, but he was funny about being away from his field mates so he was a little arsey with me, but was shifting around a LOT in the stable, I had to resort to a bridle in the end to control him. After she did her intial 'tests/investigations she did what she called soft tissue work on him and he relaxed a lot more.
Anyway the end result, he's tight in his 'hamstrings' and was stiff down one side on his back, and a bit sore on one of the muscles behind his shoulder, right where the girth would sit I was told I could still ride if I REALLY wanted to, but to keep it to 20/30 mins, but I wont, and I've been given some stretches to loosen his back then after 4 weeks of loosening the muscles (he's even got his own massage ball now ) and getting him to lift his back, then we'll work on getting him to work properly, but that's step 2. For the time being he's just to do the stretches and if possible (purely on my time permitting) he's to be long reined over some poles in a 'fan' shape and also doing some serpentines on some poles in a straight line. That should prove interesting !! (My long reining skills are cr@p)
Part of me is quite relieved that there WAS something wrong, but at the same time I feel so horrible/guilty that he was uncomfortable, but at least he's on the road to recovery now. Next step is he's due for his teeth to be done now, so they'll be done in the next few weeks and then after the physio course, he'll have his saddle re-fitted.
Will post a update when she comes back in 4 weeks
The symptoms were subtle (he happily plays with the other horses in his field. will buck rear, play fight and roll all like normal) and I was told by several people ' Oh he's just trying it on, just give him a boot in the gut, dont waste your money' etc etc
The signs I noticed were an ever so slight head being drawn up even when the girth/roller was done up gradually, (I've never yanked it up) and once when riding 5 weeks ago (been on holiday since then so hence the delay in getting the physio to him) he got a little arsey at me (I had about 4/5 tail whisks when asking for a few circles at a walk in the school and he'd never done it before). After he got funny, I hopped off and booked an appointment for when I got back. So he hasnt been ridden for a little while. So we did a walk up, trot up and turning tight circles in both directions, which she said he looked perfectly fine with, he was crossing over his hind legs on a circle very well and looked good, it was when she got her hands on him we discovered things. He's normally a happy chappy in the stable, but he was funny about being away from his field mates so he was a little arsey with me, but was shifting around a LOT in the stable, I had to resort to a bridle in the end to control him. After she did her intial 'tests/investigations she did what she called soft tissue work on him and he relaxed a lot more.
Anyway the end result, he's tight in his 'hamstrings' and was stiff down one side on his back, and a bit sore on one of the muscles behind his shoulder, right where the girth would sit
I was told I could still ride if I REALLY wanted to, but to keep it to 20/30 mins, but I wont, and I've been given some stretches to loosen his back then after 4 weeks of loosening the muscles (he's even got his own massage ball now ) and getting him to lift his back, then we'll work on getting him to work properly, but that's step 2. For the time being he's just to do the stretches and if possible (purely on my time permitting) he's to be long reined over some poles in a 'fan' shape and also doing some serpentines on some poles in a straight line. That should prove interesting !! (My long reining skills are cr@p)Part of me is quite relieved that there WAS something wrong, but at the same time I feel so horrible/guilty that he was uncomfortable, but at least he's on the road to recovery now. Next step is he's due for his teeth to be done now, so they'll be done in the next few weeks and then after the physio course, he'll have his saddle re-fitted.
Will post a update when she comes back in 4 weeks
