Figuring things out

At the request of his owner, on Monday the equine CMT came out to look at *Relic.  I don't remember if I mentioned that since I began working with him a few months ago he has been quite distracted, he has improved a lot, but still quite reactive and difficult to get him to focus and keep focused.
So, a couple of weeks ago I had Anastasia riding him and she really felt like not only was he out of balance, but that he had a lot of muscle development on his right side and not much on the left.  Enough of a difference that we had to lengthen the stirrup on the right just to balance the saddle.  So I mentioned it to his owner and she agreed to have a CMT come out and assess and treat him.  The first time the CMT came she was very surprised at the amount of atrophy on his left side (no idea how this happened to him!) but she did a lot of massage work on him and he was quite sore after that.  She came back about a week later (this past Monday) and did some more work, including an adjustment of his pelvis (with help from Anastasia).  We were all very surprised at how much different his hips looked after the adjustment!  I worked him yesterday (Tuesday) on the lunge line and he was like a changed horse!  Hardly any attitude at all and he was focused and relaxed.
The plan is to have the chiropractor assess and adjust him on March 5th and in the meantime I will continue to work him on the lunge and try to improve his bend and help him to reshape his muscles.  Once he is really feeling better, I will continue with his saddle training.
This long story is for a reason.  One of my strong opinions is that if a horse is misbehaving or behaving in an unexpected way that the first thing that must be checked is if they are in pain.  It didn't occur to me that he was in pain as he was quite consistent, distracted but consistent - I assumed it was simply the way he is, but I broke my own rule in this!
So this is a lesson for me and anyone else who cares to listen to me - LISTEN TO WHAT YOUR HORSE IS TELLING YOU!

Okay - now that is out of they way, a quick update on *Flame - she is a star!  She is doing so well, calm, forward, trotting under saddle, she is nearly ready to take out on the trail.  Once it dries up on the roadways just a bit more I will be taking her out. 

Today I took my lovely little *Serenade out for a quick trail ride - she is just such a joy to ride and handle, I do love her to bits :)

Finally, this past Sunday I was so lucky to have (on loan) a tiny new addition to our farm!  Please everyone welcome little *Patty Cake - she is one of the smallest mini Curlies in the world, in fact she is one of the top three smallest!  I know I am not riding her :)  but I am working with her in hand to improve her training and prepare her for taking her places.  Here are 13 of my horses lining the fence to ogle the little girl LOL

 

Shelly in Summerland, BC

www.curlystandardplace.com