Updates

So at the end of my last post, I mentioned giving Banner a few well deserved days off. I fully intended to give him like 4-5 days off and then launch into some work. LOL. He got nearly 2 weeks off. But we did stay semi-productive in that time - I bribed him into still liking my presence with many, many cookies, he had a chiropractic adjustment by our vet (and wow did that make a difference!!), and he got his fall vaccines & teeth floated. Phew.

I do actually ride sometimes though

First: His chiropractor appointment. Banner has this strange tendency under saddle to hold his hindquarters to the right, and fairly significantly to the right at that! Apparently this has been common for him for a very long time, since I mentioned it to a trainer who hadn't ridden him since May of 2017, and even she was like "oh yeah, he still does that annoying thing with his haunches?". Instantly, when I realized this was an ongoing issue with him (not just a me problem or an out of shape problem), I knew I should get my vet out! My vet is an absolutely awesome lady who is very active on continuing education in her field and has also extensively studied dental, spinal manipulation (chiropractic), and acupuncture. She was more than happy to make a trip out and really enjoyed Banner's quiet, kind, stoic behavior. Although one time he definitely did push her off the block that she stands when he had an itch and apparently it was really itchy you guys.

We had a chat about some of what I had been noticing with him under saddle. He can be a bit stiff in his neck sometimes, less left to right stiffness, but a lot of breaking at the 3rd vertebrae instead of at his poll. Also he definitely struggles "sitting down" on his RH, and obviously the issue of his hindquarters being permanently shifted right. She listened and took in all my information & asked me a few more specific questions, and then got to work. 

She pinpointed his couple of problem spots very quickly and explained them to me. The biggest thing was that his pelvis was rotated to the left, meaning his right hip was higher. That made a lot more sense as to why he carried himself the way he did! P.S. it has made a huge difference now that he is back in line. She also mentioned that several of his neck vertebrae were a bit out and his poll was also out. His TMJ and hyoid are also pretty stiff, so we got some exercises to work on to improve his flexibility there! Loosening up his neck has really helped with not breaking at the 3rd vertebrae as much, and actually getting his poll up and his nose out!

My vet also placed a couple acupuncture needles toward the end of the session to relieve some muscle tension. Banner had only had some fairly small reactions to the chiropractic work, but when she did the acupuncture? He licked and chewed and yawned for nearly a minute. She laughed and told me "I guess he's an acupuncture junkie". I loved that he was super easy for her to work on (especially since my vet is currently pregnant), and he maintained his very personable, gentle behavior the whole time, even if it was a bit of a new experience for him!

Our first lesson back after the chiro, Trainer SG commented "that is the straightest I've ever seen him move!". I couldn't have been more thrilled!

The week following his chiropractic, we had his teeth & vaccines done. She also did a quick double check of some of his problem spots from the chiropractic the week before & realigned him just a little bit. His teeth need some work, although they are not too terrible. He is going to be a 6-month guy with his teeth for a while. My vet simply commented "well we had to find something wrong with your perfect horse". She isn't wrong about the perfect part...

So anyways, there is an update on my life & Banner right now! On another note, we may or may not be entering a Karen O'Connor clinic in a few weeks so we shall see if that happens!