Day 109

Today the osteopath came to take another look at Little Love.  If you have visited my other blog, you will know why http://www.equineinsanity.blogspot.com/.  Two weeks ago - exactly - she had a bad fall on the asphalt.  Her open wounds have healed but judging by the way she moved, I suspected something was a bit "off" in her hindquarters.  She wasn't lame perse, but just not moving in her usual elastic way. 

I was right.  She was stuck in the right side of her pelvis, which was then diagonally reflecting onto the left shoulder.  Among some other minor things... but all that was no surprise.  The way she went down on that asphalt had hip fracture written all over it.  There was a lot of luck involved that day...

The osteo worked on her for an hour.  Little Love was not exactly cooperative, she didn't want the osteo touching her right shoulder where the biggest cut was and was obviously a bit tender in the back end.  She did not want anyone messing with her body.  However, this osteopath is by far one of the most patient people I have ever met.  When Little Love did her "look how high sideways I can lift my hind leg and threaten to kick" routine, the osteo just said:

"Wow, she is expressive.  Look how flexible she is, that is amazing!"  Great attitude.  A lot of other people would have been freaked out.

In the end, after some negotiation, Little Love finally let the woman work on her shoulder, pelvis and spine.  The lady was gentle and soon Little Love realized she would actually feel better afterwards, instead of worse.  She did give Col the evil eye the whole time though.  Poor Col was hanging out in his stall next door for moral support, but all he got from her were mean looks.  Half way through the treatment I suddenly realized Col's head was no longer behind the wall and when I went into the aisle to look, he was crawling under the chain in front of his stall door.  No way!  For being such a massive horse, he is quite agile.  When he saw me see him, she slowly crawled back with a sheepish look on his face.  Sometimes I wonder if he really is a horse at all... (Houdini reincarnated?)

The osteo said that despite the fall, Little Love's muscles and body were in better shape overall than when she saw her the first time a few weeks ago. She also noticed that she was more balanced on her feet.  She actually asked me who had trimmed her in such a way!  I guess I'm doing something right :-)  She said that out of all the horses she sees on a daily basis, Little Love is really quite supple and healthy, which is great news.  I think in her case not riding her for months has made a difference.  She had such a bad saddle before, not to mention lots of tension in the riding situation.  Anyways, we are on the right track. 

Afterwards Becky decided that Col needed a check up as well, so the osteo worked with him, too.  He loved it!  He is a polar opposite of Little Love when it comes to being manipulated; I thought he was going to fall asleep at one point.  The whole time the osteo worked on him Little Love hung her head over the stall wall and watched.  I told her to pay close attention to how he was behaving.  I swear she was rolling her eyes at me.  My expressive horse.  It is never unclear how she is feeling; she lets everyone know loud and clear.