I have alluded to Rydel's arthritis before but I have never really explained why it has been such a big deal. You see, Rydel's arthritis in her hocks makes her back sore because she tenses up from the pain. Before I had a diagnosis for her arthritis, I had no idea what was causing her pain, I just knew that something was wrong. During saddling she would try to bite me and move around a lot- something she had never done before. And when riding and I would ask for the trot she would pin her ears and eventually just stop and tried to bite. I never would have chalked all of that up to an issue in her hocks, but the vet did because almost as soon as I explained the symptoms he ordered a flex test. So Rydel went on anti-inflamatories, muscle relaxers, and a steady diet of no riding for a month. She also went on a joint supplement that she is to continue for the rest of her life. After all this, Rydel now has no daily pain, but a lot of psychological baggage associated with it. Now, even though she is feeling better, she associates saddling with the pain she felt when riding before we knew it was because of her arthritis.
Well, for the past few weeks I have been working on re-introducing the saddle to Rydel. Letting her know that it won't cause her pain, and that I won't force her into a bad situation with it. In order to do this, I had to be sure that the saddle really would not continue to hurt her, even though the back pain associated with her arthritis was gone, I had to be sure there were no other factors. This is what led me to make the decision to purchase my theraflex pad. The first time I put it on her with the saddle and let her walk around, even without having the proper shim pattern for her back, she immediately started blowing out and relaxing. This was a miracle! I had not seen her relax in the saddle for months! In fact, it was typically the opposite- she would usually hold her breath while riding! This was a huge step in the right direction.
After a few more weeks of approach and retreat with the saddle and doing a few passenger lessons bareback, she finally started to accept the saddle again. Today, I decided to see how she would do saddling again. I went to the barn with the attitude that I wasn't going to push anything and if she wasn't feeling ready, I would just retreat and try again another day. But when I began playing with Rydel she was really focused on me, She seemed particularly calm and was just waiting for me to give her something to do. After a few minutes, I decided to try saddling and she stood more calmly than she ever has as she let me put on the saddle and cinch it up. I did everything slowly and took time in between each hole on the girth. Because she handled everything so well I decided to get on and do a passenger lesson. I was careful to mirror her every move, which totally blew her mind and every time she got tense and looked around, I did the same and very soon I had a calm horse! Anytime she wanted to stop, I let her. I would rub her and then ask her to go using my seat (squeezing all four cheeks) which she caught onto really quickly. Pretty soon she stopped and started licking and chewing so much it looked like someone had stuck peanut butter in her mouth! It was the same thing she had done in our lesson and it is great to see my introverted horse licking and chewing like an extrovert! All in all it was such a big day for us! Everyday I hope to keep riding a little more where we can work our way up to doing a pushing passenger lesson at the trot and then eventually get to the point that we dont need the passenger lesson anymore!
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