I snagged this picture from a little video of Gracie, the QH X Mustang who I bought as a weanling. She was fine under saddle for her first 2-3 years, then developed a bucking problem out of the blue. After over a year of giving her time off, restarting her from the ground, and many medical tests and procedures, the vets at Virginia Tech finally did acupuncture at the end of a week of full tests. She instantly was "cured".
In the process though, Gracie developed a habit of over-bending, which I'm sure she was doing to try to find some relief from her discomfort. She was never ridden with heavy contact - we just don't do that - and since I owned her since she was a weanling, I know her history. She's the only horse I have who will regularly duck behind the vertical. I don't think she has any pain now, not much anyway, but going BTV became a habit for her nonetheless. Her owner has to be aware of this quirk. I thought I'd throw this out since it seems to bridge the two topics, over-bending, and how do we know if the horse isn't comfortable. Karen Thomas, NC
<<attachment: GracieOverbent.jpg>>
