So J has had two more days off, much to my dismay. Unfortunately I caught the nasty flu bug that is going around and have been carrying a 20 pound brick on my shoulders for the past two days. But I was able to lift my head off the pillow today (and not feel like my neck would break) and me and my mucous factory made it to work (thank god for sick time) and then the barn.
J was much better then I anticipated- not very "full of himself" and not as stiff as I thought he might be. It was a bit of a heat wave- reaching a whole 32 degrees, so definitely tolerable and J warmed up nicely. We worked on much of the same things we've done all week; straightness, quickness off the leg, turning off the seat, flexion and moving his inside hind underneath. J did some good grunting and groaning, so I knew I was hitting the right "spots". I have a lesson tomorrow, so hopefully we have done some improvement since last week that we will be able to build on.
But I really want to comment on the acupuncture, laser treatment and chiropractic work that J had done a couple weeks ago. My wonderful barn owner, Tawney, is a reiner and got a referral from other reiners for Interlaken Centre (http://www.interlakencentre.com/) out of Waconia, Minnesota for acupuncture and chiropractor work done by actual veternarians. I soon found out that not only do they work on reiners, but dressage horses, saddlebreds and many other disciplines. She first had them out in December, but with the holidays coming around, I had to wait until they came back in January.
So when they came out a couple of weeks ago, I promptly met Dr. Johnson at the barn to have J checked and worked on, if needed. Now J has had chiropractic and massage therapy done before, and has shown definite improvement with both, but never acupuncture before. Dr. Johnson was extremely friendly, professional and knowledgeable. He completed an overall body check on J, promptly finding that he was very sore behind his shoulders, what might be considered a person's "armpit" area. Then found that J was sore in his hind end/pelvis area. He felt that J was primarily sore in his hind end, which caused him to pull himself around with his front end instead of pushing himself with his hind end, so he was sore in the girth area as a secondary issue. He adjusted J's shoulders and even showed me how to do it, using J's own body weight to do the adjustment and advised me to do it before every ride. He then injected B-12 and almond oil into various acupuncture points in J's hind end, up both sides of his spine and into his chest. I wasn't sure how J would handle being a pin cushion, but he didn't even twitch a muscle! I was so proud of my little man! Dr. Johnson explained that while regular needles in the points are good, injecting the B-12 and almond oil was even better because it stimulated the point for longer and had quicker and longer-lasting effects. Dr. Johnson hoped that J would be able to hold this treatment for a very long time, as he was not terribly bad. He then had a laser, which he applied to acupuncture points that are located on the bonier points of his body, likes joints, fetlocks, etc. His belief is that the heat stimulates the point that might be otherwise sensitive to a needle.
He advised me to ride J that night and the more he can move, the better off the treatment will be. I tried to be very open-minded about this treatment, trying to not "imagine" results when none were really there- a placebo effect, per say. That first ride seemed much better, like he was initially less reluctant to go forward, softer in the bridle and pushing more off the hind end. But I stayed very cautious about claiming this a success.
But now that it has been a couple weeks, I feel that I can definitely state that it has helped him greatly. He is offering to lift his shoulders and drop his hindquarters, especially in his transitions. He is more agreeable in the bridle. He swings much more reliably, truly come from his hind. He is easier to bend through the ribcage. I am so pleased that I decided to do this treatment and feel that was the "missing piece" that we had in our training. Granted it was not exactly cheap (at least according to MY budget), but the hope is that it will last and as long as my horse is happier and healthier, that is what matters. Fortunately Interlaken Centre has agreed to put us on their regular rotation and will be visiting our barn every 6-8 weeks, no matter how many horses we have signed up. After seeing it for myself, I absolutely believe in this treatment practice and would recommend Interlaken Centre always! Thank you to Dr. Johnson!
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