Cactus received his first ride here this week! We've worked on Lateral Flexion, One Rein Stops, & a bit of Lateral Bending. He struggled a fair bit with the Lateral Flexion under saddle. He was content to walk a small circle or hang on the rein rather than keeping his feet still & softening laterally to the rein. (I think that may have been a teeth & body issue that we ironed out at Knotty Equine.) I anticipate he'll be more comfortable when we continue riding next week.
As with Zakai, in order for me to be able to flip his switch from reacting to thinking when we're riding outside & going at faster gaits if that's where he may need most of his work, I need to know that he's confident in the things I'll ask in the arena where he's already pretty comfortable.
Today, Cactus was trimmed & did great!
We visited Jen at Knotty Equine on Thursday, May 5th.
Jen noted that he had a worm aneurysm (the deworming protocol will take care of this). His pelvis was rotated forward & along with his thoracic sling (barrel) being down & forward (this is one of the things I'm working to improve through the Balance Through Movement Pillars). He also had a double diaphragm spasm, bladder spasm, & likley some urine retention which should improve after having his sheath thoroughly cleaned. He was out on the left side in C1 through C3, on the right in C4 through C6, & his sternum was out to the left. He has a bit of cranial sheer & unlevel TMJs, but that's likely due to the imbalance with his teeth. He has a bit of compensation in front of the left scapula with a bit of right scapular displacement. Cactus sure enjoyed the MyoPulse machine!
Jen is VERY in tune with what's going on in a horse's body so when you see words like compensation, spasms, etc. it's not that he's hurt or lame or other images you might conjure up like I did when I first began working with Jen. I am quite particular about not continuing to work with a horse in pain so Jen & I will be very upfront if there's something going on that we feel would warrant a break or halt in training.
Cactus should feel much better after his dental! He was very unbalanced with sharp upper molars on the outside & sharp lower inside molars. He also had a pretty severe hook in the back on the right. Jen restored balance, removed the sharp points, put a bit seat in, & leveled up his incisors.
Next week, we'll continue to work on Lateral Flexion, One Rein Stops, & Lateral Bending while adding Cruising, Moving the Shoulders, Disengaging the Hindquarters from a Standstill, Stopping, & Backing.
Next week's update will be posted on Thursday night.