Savy's progress part 1 - the search for a solution

Savy the first day after we brought him home.

I keep saying to myself everyday that I work Savy, "I cannot believe we have come so far." I mentioned to another blogger the other day that when I first bought Savy, I wanted a project horse but I really had no idea what I was getting myself into.

When we brought Savy home last February, we could not get him into the trailer. By the time we made the 50 minute drive home, he was soaked in sweat and a nervous wreck. Over the next few weeks, I came to a realization that this horse had never had any formal training and his movements were a mess.

Over the winter, I spent a lot of time just getting to know him and not riding. I really had no idea what I was doing because I had never trained a horse before but I figured it couldn't hurt to just spend time with him - he felt like a lost puppy who was just looking for a friend. Looking back now, even though I was clueless, I think it was the best thing I could have done because Savy and I are incredibly bonded and he trusts me instrinsicly.

In about April, I began to ride him more and realized that we had a bigger problem on our hands. I originally thought it was the saddle (which is a whole other story in itself) but after I had the chiropractor out, I realized that our problems were bigger than a saddle. The first chiropractor that I had out said that his hip was completely out of place. He did some adjustments and Savy seemed better.

But after a couple weeks, I realized that something was still wrong. A friend from the barn suggested a vet in the next county who is supposedly a leg expert and works on a lot of racehorses across New York state. She volunteered to drive Savy and I to this vet (he is only at his house 1 weekend a month and all visits have to come to him). This was one of the worst experiences that I have had with Savy since I have owned him. He was so worked up from being in the trailer (which we had to force him into again - another story for later) that he wouldn't calm down enough for the vet to look at him. The vet basically refused to do anything with him at which point I had a minor breakdown because I had no idea what I was going to do. I wanted so badly to make my horse better but he was getting in his own way. The vet allowed me to put him in a stall to try to get him to calm down. He did a bit, but still was so worked up that they vet ended up giving him a minor tranquelizer to get him to a point where he could approach him. Looking back on the situation, the guy was trying to work on the horses in his garage...with all this equipment and a car right there. I'm sure it looked like a horrible cave of doom to Savy with tons of objects that were going to eat him...not exactly the best enviroment for a high strung horse. It was also raining that day and there was no cover at this guys house other than the garage...it was miserable. I wasn't pleased with what this vet said. He said he didn't see anything wrong with him and that he might just be a bit sore. He suggested I put him on a regiment of Bute and also suggested that I think about putting him on a constant regiment of this mild dose tranquelizer to calm him down.

Leaving there, I was so drained and had no idea what to do next. I was hopeful that the vet was right and that he was just sore. Now, I have always been the sort of person to research anything that a medical professional tells me before I blindly follow what they say...and I am so glad that I did. Everything I read said that a constant regime of bute can cause stomach issues with horses. I decided to do a week of the bute and see how he was doing. No change. This is when I started reseaching his symptoms. I found information that I felt matched what was going on. It seemed that Savy had really never been taught how to use his body properly and being a tall, lanky 17 hh, he had been carrying himself inverted which had caused pain in his hind end. I decided to continue on my quest to find a vet or chiropractor who could help me.

I went with a different chiropractor (Dr. Hunt) who was recommended by another person in our barn. This was the second best decision I have ever made in regards to him. I love our chiropractor! She is an actual DVM (which the other chiropractor was not) but she also uses herbal remedies so her catalog of treatments is vast and varies. This is nice because if one treatment isn't successful, she usually has another trick up her sleave. Now, just a note about the other chiropractor that I used. I do believe he was correct in his diagnosis, but the more I learn and research about horse chiropractic, the more I realize that it is beneficial to have some who is a DVM. They have the knowledge and school to realize wether a problem is chiropractic or some other health related issue. They also the ability to prescribe medication, which is extremely helpful.

Dr. Hunt diagnosed him with a strained sacrum as well as his hip being out again (which is why I fell like the first chiro got it partially right). Holy cow! Doing more research, everything I read about a strained sacrum matched what I had observed in Savy. They did some adjustments and some acupuncture (which I swear by) and set up another appointment to come back in three weeks to take a look at him. Her instructions for me were to put some weight on him, put some muscle on him and do lots of hand driving to build up his back end. She said that if I expected it to heal at all, we had to build up those muscles to hold his hip in place because it had probably been out for quite a while and when that happens, it makes it easier for it to go out again.

I felt so bad for my buddy! I think he was in pain for quite a while and no one had noticed it until I bought him.

So now it was time for his rehabilitation/ physical therapy. Little did I know, not only did my bubba not want to do hand driving, he had no idea how to do it, OR how to lunge and would not respond to a crop what-so-ever. By the way, it was now July and I had only ridden my horse a handful of times.


To be continued....