>>> Yes. I have an equine chiropractor with training in other soft tissue treatment work on him. He was so tight the first visit he kicked in pain at first and was like putty in the man's hands when he was finished. I also have an equine rolpher/energy worker seeing him on a routine basis. It may sound crazy but the results indicate progress.
That sounds great, and bless you for doing all that for him. It may be coincidence, but I'll mention it anyway: One of the rehab horses I had for a while (the now famous Tivar, or Teev as Janice now calls him) kicked out a couple of times...and he is the one who improved with the Gastrogard. Of course, the problem is that all horses don't react to their pain/issues the same way. I really wish they could talk, so we could KNOW and not have to guess. The other clue that made me think of ulcers with your guy is that you said he'd lost weight when you got him - that's pretty common in horses with ulcers. (But, then, on the other hand, Tivar was in good weight, with a good/huge appetite - nothing about this is easy... and horses can kick for many reasons...) I'm certainly not a vet, nor do I pretend to be, but I've been in situations where I was so depressed, because I couldn't think what to try next for a horse that was suffering. I'm only passing this on to give you something to think about. I could EASILY be way off base here. >>>I was using my Giacomini Dressage saddles when they fit and had a Bob Marshall treeless enduance saddle that a fitter called perfect on him when he tossed me. I use Herm Sprenger snaffle bits with the toy in the middle and Baldur has a Stubben bridle that does fit. I took the caveson off. Those bits and saddles sound good - but I wouldn't pretend to guess without seeing them on him of course. Well, actually I only know of one Giacomini dressage saddle and it's fairly wide - my cousin uses it on his Andalusian. I'm pretty sure it would be too narrow for some of my Icelandic's though, just as a thought. I know my very hard to fit mare, Sina, was fine in my first BMSS - but it was a 14.5" seat. When I outgrew it, and needed a 15 or 15.5", the base of the larger BMSS was too long for her very short back, and it extended onto her loins. Thus, I don't have a BMSS any more, even though I liked them. Does he by any chance have "dips" or "divots" behind his shoulders, or any signs of muscle atrophy where a saddle has been? Many people just write that off as the horse "having withers" but often it's a sign of muscle atrophy from past poor saddle fit. I've heard of the hard pommel of a BMSS jamming into the withers/shoulders of some horses when it slides forward into the "divots." Again, I'm just tossing out ideas - your saddles may not be contributing to his behavior. Some horses even have natural, conformational pockets/divots behind their shoulders, so it's not ALWAYS from saddle fit... Just a thought - if you haven't found this information already, here's a link to the Balance Saddles International website's download page. http://www.balanceinternational.com/downloads.asp It's chock full of information about muscle atrophy, behavior problems from poor saddle fit. I took Sina to a saddle-fitting a few years ago with Carol Brett, one of the founders of Balance Saddles, and I was blown away by Carol's knowledge, logic...and lack of sales pitch. She was quite blunt with me (but very nice) that Sina was a saddle fitting nightmare. She told me that she didn't have anything with her that would fit her that day and told me that I'd likely have to go treeless for her, even though Carol isn't particularly a treeless saddle fan. The next month, I rode in a clinic at Robyn's and found the Sensation saddles, and that's pretty much what my husband and I have been using since. They are treeless, but don't have a rigid pommel/cantle like the BMSS and some others. No saddle will work for ALL horses, but we've had awfully good luck with the Sensations - and we've had about 15 riding age Icelandics to use them on. May not be an issue for you, but thought I'd mention it while I was thinking about it. I just toss all of this out, because I think often these horses that have been troubled for a while have a lot of layered, pent-up problems, and I know it's hard to peel through the layers - I have a new problem horse that I'm starting with now. It certainly sounds like you've done a great job - you've certainly started by doing all the things I would have done. It's just when you are trying to break a cycle like your guy is in, every little thing has to be evaluated. Karen Thomas, NC No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.16.17/1176 - Release Date: 12/6/2007 11:15 PM
