SAGE

APRIL 2003

I used to brush aside anecdotes of lame horses that were magically cured by alternative and rather wacky miracle treatments; I was a happy and rather naive first horse owner who thought lame horses were other people's problem and it would never happen to me or mine.

How wrong can you be?! 2 years later it's me writing the anecdote…..and I can assure you - not all "alternative" treatments are wild or wacky!

Sage is a 15h Connemara x TB mare who is now 13 years old. Prior to her lameness problems we were competing at local level in dressage, show jumping and cross country to a maximum of 2'9" to 3 feet. We were consistently achieving dressage marks around 65% at preliminary and novice level and were successful in the local riding club. We were 10 days away from our first one day event when my horsy world was shattered.

The problems started in August 2001 when she either overextended or was kicked on her suspensory ligament on her offside fore. She was box rested and over the course of 6 months systematically and under vet supervision, brought back into work. I thought we were over the worst when in early April 2002 just two days after a lesson where she went really nicely she mysteriously went lame.

It appeared bilateral although worse on one side, and very concerned I called the vet. She was x-rayed and nerve blocked by two vets at the vet hospital and the nerve block to the foot was positive. One vet diagnosed pedalosteitis (inflammation of the pedal bone), although the other vet was more non-committal.

My instructor and a few other knowledgeable people who knew Sage were rather sceptical as her history did not predispose her to this diagnosis. As I had nothing else to go on I followed the instructions of the vet and was advised to let any bruising in the pedal bone subside, to have eggbar shoes fitted in front and then gradually increase the work, being particularly careful on hard ground.

This I did cautiously, and again she was working well. Then two months later whilst schooling, I let her stretch down, picked her back up, pushed into trot and she went very lame in front. I believed it was in the shoulder and that I'd inadvertently worked her too hard too soon and she'd pulled something. Within a week she was sound again and I started working her again.

At this point I decided to narrow down any potential problems and causes. I had her saddle and teeth checked by highly qualified and reputable professionals. I was told both were fine.

On 11th July 2002 I had a lesson with a top dressage instructor. I had explained about the previous problems and so we didn't do too much however during the lesson I let her stretch down, picked her up again, put her into trot - and just like before she was suddenly badly lame and again I thought it was muscular and in front.

I was nearing desperation - something was wrong with my lovely horse but no-one could tell me what.

I called out a highly recommended physio who found a couple of things in her back and neck, but nothing that would have caused the lameness. She did however mention that she thought Sage's foot balance was not particularly good. Willing to try yet another avenue of investigation I changed farrier and under the agreement of the vet went back to traditional shoes, although paying special attention to balancing and increasing the weight bearing surface.

I was still absolutely convinced in my own mind that there must be something underlying in her back and/or shoulder that was causing lameness. But I was faced with the differing opinions of so many highly recommended experts and I had tried them all to no avail; I'd been given a diagnosis that no-one agreed with, had her back, tack, teeth and feet checked and nothing was helping. I had run out of things to try.

I decided this wasn't fair on either Sage or me and I would retire her from all competition and schooling and loan her to someone for hacking only. Sage is an all round easy to do horse and if she were human she'd be everyone's friend. I wanted her to be sound, but if I couldn't have that I wanted her to be happy, and she loves hacking.

Despite my inherent scepticism, at my wits end I followed the advice of a friend and on 17th August took Sage to Tilley Farm to see TTeam Practitioner Sarah Fisher. It was a year since the initial lameness.

I was immediately taken aback by her intuitive but straightforward approach. The word "holistic" is one three years ago I would have sneered at but that is precisely how Sarah looked at Sage. Rather than looking at the problems in isolation like everyone else had done; feet, back, tack etc Sarah looked at Sage effectively as one large machine with many constituent parts. She picked up on areas where the machine wasn't working as it should and explained the impact of one part on the workings of another.

Sarah assessed Sage as being "blocked off" in her back, thought she was not using her offside shoulder as freely as the nearside and that her pelvis was crooked. She also remarked on muscle wastage in her back that mirrored the contours of her saddle, which also bridged and threw the rider's weight to the left.

She recommended I have her teeth checked by Lucinda Stockley as she had ramps and spurs, her back checked by Leigh Miller a McTimony Chiropractor and the use of a wider saddle whilst concentrating on hill work to improve the back muscles and in-hand and body TTeam.

My sceptical common sense side told me I was being lead down the garden path and paying yet more professionals to be no better off. I'd already paid for the services of numerous people to check these things out so how could this help? But lets face it, if we listened to common sense would any of us have horses in the first place?! However everything Sarah pointed out was visible and or logical. Something just made me trust Sarah and go with it.

Sage had the dental and McTimony work done, I borrowed an extra wide saddle that I used with many saddle pads, and concentrated on hill work and walking in straight lines for 6 weeks. Things seemed to be going well although I was terrified of increasing the work and it all falling apart again. I therefore decided to send Sage for some experienced intensive rehabilitation to assist in bringing her back into work. On 6th October Sage went on rehabilitation livery at Tilley Farm for 2 weeks. She was given a daily TTeam session of bodywork, in-hand or ridden TTeam and pole work. Finally she was fitted for a Balance Saddle. In for a penny in for a pound I thought!

It is now April 2003 - just 6 months after her stay at Tilley Farm. Sage is back in full work and we started competing a month ago at local unaffiliated dressage. Not only is she sound, she is working better than ever before and is so much more forward and positive in her work. She has gained so much muscle that none of her rugs fit anymore and I had to purchase new reins that were 2 inches longer!

We see people at competitions that haven't seen us for a while and they remark that she looks a totally different horse. Even dressage judges have commented that if they hadn't recognised me they wouldn't believe it was possible to see such a dramatic change in a horse's way of going. I have video footage of dressage tests before these problems and after - the difference is staggering. We have been placed at every outing so far. It has been suggested I affiliate her and we even managed to pop over a 6 inch cross pole last week and still come away with four legs intact! She has never since had any indication of any pedalosteitis. Above all she is happy and sound. Long let it continue.

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