Lancelot -
Lancelot is a 20 something year old Cob Cross Pony that we were called to see at a farm in Eastern, CT.
His current owner had ridden him in lessons as a child of 7. She is now in her early twenties. While having lunch one day with a friend of hers, who was still affiliated with the barn where (Gwen ) took her lessons, the friend mentioned that Lance had suffered a serious leg injury and that he essentially had been abandoned as a lesson pony, and that the then owner was contemplating euthanasia for him.
Due to his injury and inability to move properly, he became the low man in the pecking order and subsequently wasn't getting enough food and possibly water, his coat was matted and bald in spots, and worse of all, he was unable to properly walk and navigate the pasture he was in.
The conversation with her friend prompted Gwen to go visit Lancelot. When she saw the deplorable physical condition he was in and his environment, she negotiated to purchase him and move him to a more suitable location.
That's where we came on the scene.
The first picture I have of this guy was his walk from the field to the barn. He walked as if he was Long John Silver, with a peg leg gait. His left hip was dropped six plus inches below the right, and his spine had a curvature to the left. His pelvis was frozen without the usual drop with each stride. His Muscle development was next to nothing in the left hind region of his body while the right was noticeable overdeveloped. This also led to an overdevelopment in his left shoulder / scapula area and an underdevelopment on the opposite side.
When he came to a stop, he parked himself out just as you can see in the picture on the left. Toe and stifle out, the hock in and his left leg positioned just as you see it, about 12 inches forward of the right hind and off laterally about six to seven inches.
During the initial evaluation, and assessment of Lancelot's condition, we were certain that a multitude of issues stood in his pathway back to any level of health. Fortunately for him, with the dedication of his new owner, and the connection we were able to make with him, he allowed us the opportunity to begin turning his life around. At every new treatment we utilized, he stood like a trooper for the work. Each session uncovered a new issue.
Lance had atrophied muscles, overdeveloped muscles, fascial restrictions, muscle spasms beneath the restrictions, and muscles so tight the joints were restricted in their movement. He was malnourished, and his coat was bald in many places. He could only walk with a choppy uncoordinated gait. His Cerebral pulse was at best weak, while undetectable in his left rear quadrant. He was a mess.
Gwen, his new owner, was determined to do everything she could to repay him for his service to her as a young child while riding him in her lessons. And so it began.
We opened with a Cranio Sacral treatment, followed by a deeper evaluation of his muscle conditioning with a focus on his back end, shoulders and mid back. Using both Muscle Manipulation, Myo-Fascial release techniques and Reiki, we began the attack on his traumatized body.
We scheduled visits at the week and a half interval, the next at a three week interval, the fourth and the latest at four week intervals. Between each session we had with him we outlined a plan of attack for Gwen, so she could keep the therapy ongoing between our visits.
As we worked with Lancelot, we continued to peel away a new layer of issues with each visit. Between body work sessions, Lance's owner diligently worked with us to address those areas that were identified, and in need of ongoing attention.
You can see from the accompanying photos, the before and after result. While Lancelot is not totally back up to optimum conditioning, he is in a far better place than he was back in May.
We continue to work on him, and look forward to when he will be as near back to his former self as he can be given the trauma he's been through.
Mid August--- Another visit to see Lancelot. He's walking slightly better, but found restrictions farther up into his groin area that may have been overlooked. We showed the owner how to address that and gave him a good working over ourselves. Every visit gets us closer and closer to better movement. Stay tuned.
Swirls, Swails or Cowlicks
The Stories They Sometimes Tell
We have been actively documenting swirls (swails or cowlicks to some folks) for the last couple of years. Prior to that it was something we made note of on our intake forms as an aside. However, since beginning to pay more attention to the horse’s responses, their stories, we find they tell us some pretty interesting ones.
Some swirls are documented as part of a breeds Registration process, but others not.
We believe swirls are formed when in the dermal and epidermal layers of the skin and the fascial layer just beneath the skin are disturbed in some way. When that disturbance takes place, the layers of skin and fascia shift in such a way as to take the follicle(s) of the hair shaft(s) and move them around in such a way that creates a swirl where there previously was none.
These swirls can develop in the womb or during the birth process, some are from increases in the training level of a horse, some from unseen changes to the muscle tissue beneath the skin, some from general stress, from muscle overuse or excessive use, or some unknown trauma or issue, past or present, that leaves a swirl in its wake.
One particular horse we have been working on for several years developed a swirl pattern along her neck as the level of training and work increased, requiring her to do more in her Dressage training regimen. It started with bilateral swirls at the poll, most horses have them there. These were there when we first started Bodywork on the horse in about 2006 About one and a half years later, she developed another set of bilateral swirls about seven inches further down her neck toward the wither at about the point of Jack Meagher’s stress point number one, the Rhomboid attachment. About three years after that another set of elongated swirls appeared along the Brachiocephalic muscle just below SP 1 and about three inches cranially. The final neck swirl appeared in early 2012, located in the center of the neck, about seven inches cranially from the Scapula, and this time only on the right side. With the development of each new swirl, we were able to detect areas of noticeable tension and with some, noticeable pain. The owner admitted entering a higher level of work / training with the mare as each new swirl pattern developed. We attribute these Swirls to those increases.
Conformationally, she is not what you would call the “classic” looking model of a dressage horse. She has good size, but her owner and trainers all agree that her neck is too short to facilitate assuming the classic frame looked for by judges. Her heart, however, says otherwise and she tries, successfully, to achieve some things that under other circumstances, she may never have been able to.
This brings us to 2013, when it was decided to start a more comprehensive documentation of the swirls we encountered and what they lead us to.
Gabe---
The first we’re sharing is that of an eleven year old TB gelding and former race horse named Gabe. One of this horse’s issues was that he would consistently, about every two weeks, tear his right front shoe off.
During our initial evaluation, nothing extraordinary jumped out at us. He did have one swirl on the L side of his neck in the Mastoid, at the C-3 location, which we treated. The Swirl that really pointed to something was the one coming down the center of his neck, starting at the C-5 / 6 junctions, and traveling down to just above the Anterior Pectoral muscle. At the lowest point of the swirl, for the last inch or so, it made an approximate 45 degree turn to the horse’s left (right as viewed from the front of the horse), pointing to a noticeably larger, more developed Transverse Pectoral Muscle.
This told us that the right side muscles in that region needed to be developed and brought up to the same condition and strength as the left side. This is what we zeroed in on and, during the next visit three weeks later there was a noticeable improvement in the development and tone of the R transverse Pectoral, and balance between the L and R muscles.
At this point, he had not torn his RF shoe off and after a total of six weeks, still hasn’t.
Reference photograph: Gabe 1.
Sashay---
The second is that of a seven year old Canadian Sport Horse mare named Sashay. She would on occasion, pull her right front shoe off. She also had recently recovered from a left front coffin bone fracture.
During the initial evaluation, it was noted that at the walk, her hind legs tracked true, but at the trot, her right hind tracked approximately three to four inches medially. This, we attributed to compensation from the left front coffin bone issue. (Diagonal Compensation).
During the Bodywork session, there was an unusual swirl at the base of her neck, on the right side only. As you can see from the photo, it is shaped like and upside down tear drop. Upon further palpation and exploration, we found a fairly large spasm at the forward edge of the scapula at a point where the teardrop swail ended. It was pointing to
the issue in question, which was at the junction of the Deep Anterior Pectoral, and Supraspinatus muscles.
After working on the muscle issues, we performed stretches, slightly beyond the normal ROM as well as some Masterson type release techniques to the withers, and massaged all the locomotion muscles associated with moving the leg forward and backward.
It has been seven weeks since initially working on Sashay with one session two weeks ago. So far, she is keeping her shoe on, and at the trot, her leg track is now straight.
Reference photograph: Sashay
We’re not saying that every swirl will lead a practitioner to a definable issue, but swirls should be looked at and considered as a myofascial change, and treated as such.
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All rights reserved
Doris and Ron Bouchard
Equine Bodyworkers
Equissage NE / NY
Reprint with permission only