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Amazing Progress

I have been riding this mare, Cider, for well over a decade. Around 5 years ago she started flinching whenever her front feet hit the ground. Her owner asked me to go on riding her (once a week for 30 minutes, 99% at a walk) in an unleveled grass ring to basically keep her moving. It got so I felt a flinch each and every time a front hoof landed on the ground. During this time I was using the BOT exercise boots during cooler weather, the BOT exercise sheet during cooler weather, the BOT/ThinLine Contender II saddle pad (center shim), as well as the BOT poll cap and Fenwick Face Mask with Ears, and she flinched every single step, worse down-slope or over the rough spots of the ring. Her owner tried CBD oil and some feed that was supposed to reduce the inflammation with minimal results (I could barely feel a difference.)

Three weeks ago it was cooler, and to keep her croup warm while grooming her her Fenwick 1/4 sheet was draped over her croup (it was removed for riding.) That started an amazing transformation, that ride I got a few steps with no flinching. Then I asked her owner to put the Fenwick 1/4 sheet on for the ride (over the back of the BOT saddle pad), and she improved some more.

Then I bought the mare some more Fenwick stuff, the pastern wraps and the leg wraps. The Fenwick leg wraps require leg bandages or boots to stay up (they are a rectangle sort of like the old bandage cottons) and I had to wait to try them. I did get to try the Fenwick pastern wraps, and OMG the difference was mind blowing though she still flinched down-slope, turns, and going over the rough patches in the ring. I asked her owner to PLEASE find the BOT exercise boots I had given the mare so we could try the leg wraps too.

Today it all came together. The lady who owns her found the BOT exercise boots and her old BOT exercise sheet. Cider ended up with the Fenwick leg wraps under the BOT exercise boots, the Fenwick pastern wraps, the Fenwick 1/4 sheet with the BOT exercise sheet over it.

Today, for the first time in over 5 years, Cider did not flinch AT ALL at the walk, even going down-slope, going down-slope over the rougher ground, or during sharp turns. Going down-slope over the rougher ground I could tell that Cider was expecting it to hurt more, but she did NOT hurt more and did not flinch at all.

I have tried maybe 3-4 short trots the last few years, and I had basically given up on ever trotting her again (quite noticeable head bobbing.) Today I asked her owner to keep her attention on Cider’s legs and general demeanor the next few weeks, with the idea that if the improvement continues I might get to trot this mare again.

Her owner also said that Cider looked more relaxed, carried her head lower, and looked more cheerful during the ride.

It took BOTH the BOT boots and the Fenwick leg wraps and pastern wraps to get this result.

I really hope this continues, I used to call Cider the “energizer bunny” because she was always willing to go forward and responded to all my driving aids immediately, until the flinching started. Maybe, just maybe, this will come back.

For the first time in 5 YEARS!!! I am so very, very happy about this.

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I’m glad you are finally seeing improvements however I don’t see you mention any vet involvement and judging by the small amount of info you’ve given us, it sounds like this mare desperately needs a vet in her corner. Flinching with every step at the walk is not normal. :disappointed:

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Agreed. I can’t fathom forcing an animal to carry a person when they are flinching every step whatever that means. Sorry to rain on your parade OP as I know you feel like this is a happy occasion but all I hear is FIVE YEARS?! of pain.

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It seems incredible that just that change made her sound?
I would look at other that may make more sense with what we know how biological processes work, have a definitive diagnosis, know what exactly is going on and then study what may have come along to help her move better.
It could be your new quarter sheet, but that would sure be a very rare zebra cause and effect with what we know today how all that works.

Just a suggestion, in case her moving better is temporary only.

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You should not be riding a horse in pain. What is the diagnosis here? Why is this horse in pain?

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That was my question.

she started flinching whenever her front feet hit the ground.
she flinched every single step, worse down-slope or over the rough spots of the ring

“Flinching” when front feet hit the ground sounds like she needs shoes.

I mean, other anti-inflammatory options might help, too, but…what is wrong with the horse?

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My, oh my, oh my.

This mare is in her mid to late twenties. Before Shannon got her 12 years ago she had been used as a lease horse for children who wanted to do 3-day events. Shannon was given the mare because all of a sudden she started refusing to do flying lead changes, especially to the right lead. This mare had some mileage on her when Shannon acquired her, with not very experienced riders. When she got to Shannon’s all jumping stopped, the long gallops stopped, the attempts at dressage stopped and she presented sound.

Yes, the mare got checked out by a vet–diagnosis arthritis. Her hooves are done regularly (at least every 6 weeks.) Her farrier is content with her hooves, nice thick hooves that are kept in balance with good heel depth, and periodically he uses the hoof testers on her sole with no signs of pain. She is out on grass 24/7/365. Out in her pasture she usually trots sound (no noticeable head bob) when she runs around and plays with her pasture mate for short periods of time (her pasture mate is a TWH mare so sometimes Cider has to stretch out her stride to keep up).

At the beginning of fly season I bought the mare a set of the Shoo Fly boots, which she has been wearing on her front legs ever since except for grooming, hoof care, and my very short rides. The Shoo Fly boots, with the absence of stomping with her front feet to get rid of the flies, have helped some in keeping her more comfortable all around.

This is not the first time since I got back to riding in which stable owners wanted me to try and bring their ouchie horses back. My riding teacher, after I told her I would ride whatever horse she brought out for me, begged me to take on an Arabian mare in her late twenties who had essentially frozen in place with arthritis (MUCH worse than Cider). When I first rode that mare I was afraid she would collapse under me at the trot, but she stayed on her feet. I got that mare back to being “serviceably sound”, able to take lower level riders out walking on the trail where she did quite well, and as an occasional walk/trot lesson horse. She even ended up trotting SOUND under saddle, especially after I found a supplement that worked on her particular case of arthritis. I rode that Arabian mare for years, walk and trot, no jumping, filling in the gaping holes in her basic training at the walk and trot. I remember the day the Arab mare told me “no more” at age 34, I told my riding teacher and that mare was permanently retired and has fun walking around to keep check on her boy friend the last few years. When my riding teacher has to introduce a new mare to the mare pasture this mare volunteers to befriend the strange mare and introduce her to the herd, so she is still contributing to the stable in this limited way.

Since I am so crippled by my MS the two stable owners feel safe in asking me to work on their horses who need SOME work and basic physical therapy to get them strong enough so that the horses felt more confident about moving around in the pasture. I am not ambitious, if the horse tells me that all they can do that day is walk, well all we do that day is walk.

Since both of these artritic mares had no hesitation to “cuss me out” when I did something that displeased them or made them too uncomfortable I take my cues from the horses. They WILL tell me when they cannot do any more, and I will listen to them.

Back over a century ago in England there was a term “serviceably sound” for a horse who could do limited exercise at some gaits but was definitely not sound enough to hunt, show or do long trail rides. Horses with gimpy gaits, heaves, and arthritis often ended up in this category. My aim with Cider is to get her serviceably sound for short rides in a grass ring, once a week for 30 minutes, lately all at the walk according to Cider’s desires (and this mare can get ELOQUENT if she thinks I am not listening to her enough.)

And since the alternative often is that the lame horse is sent to auction, bought by the kill buyers, trucked to Mexico in a truck full of strange horses, to be slaughtered inhumanely, well I will try and help these horses to get to a serviceably sound state in spite of all the people who say I am being unbearably cruel to the horses. Cider does not think I am unbearably cruel though she thinks that I can be very irritating at times when I ask her to stretch out just a little bit more at the walk (if she says NO I stop.)

We will be progressing CAUTIOUSLY and very slowly. Cider herself will set the limits as to how far she can progress. I am not expecting permanent improvement, the mare is in her late twenties and permanent improvement just is not achievable. Seviceably sound, however, is achievable, hopefully for a few years or until Cider tells us she just cannot do any more (and she will tell us this ELOQUENTLY and with vigor.)

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I don’t know - “flinching with every step” sounds like they are telling you something.

Arthritis is common, and I agree that exercise is better than standing in a stall. What else is the owner doing to support this mare? E.g. I would hope maybe something like Equioxx? (My opinion on CBD is that it can be useful but I wouldn’t start with it - it would be what I would try if nothing else worked.)

We all understand the concept of serviceably sound. I have a 26 year old TB mysefl. That means that the horse is stepped down from work, but is not riding in pain. You are describing a horse who is in pain with a rider, but apparently trots soundly. So…I would ask why you are riding, and/or whether something else should be considered if riding will occur (e.g. anti-inflammatory meds.)

It is great to have found some relief with BOT products as well.

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Sorry to have misunderstood your first post, that read like someone riding a crippled horse that now with this new thing it miraculously was sound.

All this new information helps put that first post in context, thank you.

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A horse that flinches every step is NOT serviceably sound and should in no way be carrying a rider. Getting a horse moving in hopes of making them fit may include hand walking or long lining but having a lame horse cart you around for years when she is in pain is unacceptable and you’re not likely to change my mind on that.

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If she can do this , why do you think she was flinching under saddle for 5 years? I can’t quite picture what you mean by flinching when her feet touched the ground?

I am glad that she is suddenly improved and I really doubt walking her once a week for 30 minutes was any worse than her walking in the pasture as long as you are a “light weight” person.

I really thought those therapeudic wraps and boots were a crock, but who knows? I hope she continues to be happy and unflinching for you.

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where’s the popcorn?

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Did these owners indicate that if you could not make their horses sound or tolerating the weight of a rider at the walk they would be sent to slaughter?

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@GraceLikeRain, of course not. These horses have a home for life, whether they are riding sound or not.

However, at 70 years old, I have learned through bitter experience that an ideal situation today can change rapidly for the worse. If these ladies died, well these horses’ futures would be very uncertain. The women are horse people, their husbands help a great deal, but do not have that all important bond with the horses than can help ensure a safe landing.

IF I can get them to the state where the horses are “pasture sound” (they might be lame but do not show great signs of pain and can hobble around without inspiring loads of calls to animal control) they would have a chance, admittedly a minor chance, of ending up in a tolerable situation. If a horse can live in a pasture in a herd, be fed properly, have their hooves kept up, and has necessary veterinary care, the horse can end up enjoying his/her live even though it isn’t ideal.

This often involves some type of physical therapy, mainly suggesting to the horse that moving like this is more comfortable than the way they are moving at that time, while developing the correct muscles for comfortable physical movement. This takes an enormous amount of patience, and a willingness to let the horse have a great deal of say as to what physical activity they do. This is probably not a project for a person who is aiming to show the horse at the earliest possible moment. Since I am too crippled with my MS to have any great goals as far as performing is concerned, these ladies think that I am a pretty good person to put on their horses that need some intelligent physical therapy for 30 minutes a week.

And the horses they put me up on usually improve. The correct muscles for easy movement get stronger, and the horses are able to move around better out in the pasture, in the herd (these horses are outside 24/7/365 except for the times when the veterinarians or these experienced horsewomen can see that the horse needs to be in a stall.) They keep their weight up (but not too fat), the horses are less tense when they are ridden (often because I was the first person to EXPLAIN to the horse what an aid means, including horses in their 20s who have been ridden for decades), and because I show the horse how they can move better when not inverted, that life is more comfortable when they use their back muscles properly, and teaching the horse that it is possible to consciously shift their weight from their front legs to their hind legs as needed. I can show the horse that being ridden does not have to be a torture session, and then the horses relax and cooperate with learning how to move better even if it does feel odd to them.

As a result they often end up moving better in the pasture and under saddle at the walk and trot (because, face it, that is the limit of my abilities, at the canter I am exhausted after 6 strides, exhausted as in not being able to do anything else all day and often the day after, MS exhaustion can be unrelenting.)

If all hell breaks loose and their horse heaven disappears from their life, these horses will have a chance of not immediately being put into a killer auction. Old age arthritis can be managed, but a full cure is never certain. I just try to show these horses a better way of moving that reduces their pain and confusion.

My lesson stable usually puts me up on sound horses (or horses which have their pain managed effectively–like good shoeing with navicular horses), which I enjoy much more. Of course I then find the often gaping holes in their basic training and my riding teacher thinks I am pretty good at putting a “mouth” on the horse and explaining the leg aids so the horse becomes a better riding horse for her lesson students.

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