shoulder? (sort of long--sorry)

[abowls]

I went to ride Nate on Saturday and he was a complete butthead. Every now and then he does this nonsense and completely loses his mind. So I put him on the end of a lunge line and let him work it out. He carried on like an idiot bucking, spooking, cantering for about 15 minutes. Then we he had gotten rid of the crazy bug we did some ground work and then I got on very briefly just basically to make sure he was cooled out(he was really lathered up and I always get worried that he'll tie up. Anyhow I then got off gave him a bath and did the whole linament thing b/c he had a pretty good self-imposed workout.

Sunday I went out to have a lesson. I took him out early to make sure that the crazy bug was gone by doing groundwork to get his brain on me. He was hitchy in his shoulder. He's not blatantly lame but his left shoulder just isn't right. He doesn't want to move through it like he usually does. If you try to stretch it he won't let go of it like he does the right shoulder. I've noticed this once or twice before but it was when he was getting over an abscess and I just figured that he had been moving funny for a while and was a bit sore from the different movement.

My BM/trainer thinks that though it's showing up in his shoulder there is a good chance that it's actually a manifestation of back pain. He does have an occassional sore spot on his back. She thinks I should have a chiropractor look at him. I've never dealt with this sort of thing before (this is the downside of all doing emergency veterinary stuff). I was just wondering what those of you that have had many many horses thought. Have you seen this sort of thing before and was it shoulder or back. BM also said that she had heard that racehorses often managed to hurt their sacrum (I think) when they spring from the gate. Do any of you racing people know anything of this type of thing?

MTA I was also wondering if maybe he was just sore from the day before.

[kelly]

I once spent $600 for leg x-rays on Rock before determining his injury was in his shoulder. I need to add that he has always had back issues too (scoliosis), but this was clearly an injury to that shoulder. One acupuncture appointment and he was 90%. I let him heal for another month, and no more problems.

I would have a qualified acu/chiro take a peek.

[TeachU2Ride]

Many, many, many muscles, ligaments and tendons are involved in front leg movement. A spasm or strain in any one of them can restrict normal motion. I'd start with an experienced massage therapist, then go to a chiro if necessary.

[abowls]

A massage therapist was my immediate thought and I do have a friend that is a massage therapist so that probably is the route I'll take first. My BM seemed to think I should try chiropractor first then massage therapist. Massage therapists are cheaper though so I think I'll try that first. I'm anticipating that if I go out there today he'll probably look fine. It was pretty subtle to begin with and as I said, when he did this before it went away pretty quickly. I'm still going to try to treat in some way though since it has come back a few times.

Maybe when I get my new saddle (any day now), it'll fix this .

[filly]

Funny, my horse did that when I first got her too. A horse got loose and she went berserk on the end of the lunge. The next day, she came up off on the shoulder. After 2 weeks of offness (is that even a word? lol) I called the vet out. He thought she had strained it with her shanningans on the lunge line plus she had no heels so we put her in wedge shoes to help relieve the pressure. I hope you can have a massage therapist come out. We don't have one of those but I do have an accu/chiro vet and he's awesome! Accupuncture works great for her and when he does chiro, her sacrum sometimes gets locked so he works with that and she's good to go for several months. ;D

Hope you find out what is bothering your pony. It sucks not knowing or being able to help.