Alfie's Gelding Scar Manipulation
Janette and Alfie’s Story:
I purchased Alfie when he was 3.5 yrs age. He settled in well to his new home and I chose to take his training back to ground work and low level ridden work so his young body and mind could have a break from the work he had been doing which included regular jumping exercise.
From the outset Alfie appeared to not be full of enthusiasm for working under saddle! - he preferred to be very conservative with the way he moved his body and regularly dragged his hind feet on the ground. Getting him to move forward took a lot of effort at times although his energy level in the paddock regularly demonstrated that he had the capacity to move easily and with a lot of energy!
Initially I took the approach that being young and perhaps having been pushed along too quickly with his earlier training he needed time to build more strength in his body. In addition, I was aware that his body was in a rapid growth phase bringing changes in biomechanics and proprioception so thought maybe he needed time to work out how to use himself as he matured - so we took things slowly.
Our progression together has been steady and consistent. However in the time we have worked together it became evident when doing flexion and lateral exercises that he was finding it difficult to bring his right hind leg in particular across and underneath - he certainly was trying but it seemed he simply couldn't do it fully and was restricted somehow. He had a tendency for dragging his hind toes along, and it took him a long while to figure out how to pick up his right canter lead on the lunge and under saddle. During this time I noticed he developed a dip along his dorsal spine between his iliosacral area and tail. I took him to a very well regarded equine chiropractor who identified an old muscle tear in his Right psoas, malalignment of his lumbar sacral vertebrae and tight muscles in his hind quarters. Despite having these issues treated he still seemed restricted in lateral movement with his hind legs, particularly on the right.
I heard about Argo's story and with other anecdotal conversations with riders who knew of the Gelding Scar Manipulation done by Dr Louise Cosgrove considered this worth investigating. Alfie was booked in to a GSM clinic with Louise who diagnosed the following:
adhesions between his large colon and bladder
enlarged and congested spleen
an old tear with some atrophy in one of the psoas muscle branches on his right side - with adhesions
very tight psoas muscle on the left even under sedation
pelvis tilted forward and down rather than sitting level
She released the adhesions and gave us homework to be done every day that included carrot stretches, in hand work over poles and reversing in walk. These would help build strength in his hind muscles, get the psoas muscles activated again and help reprogram his neural pathways to those underused muscles so that he can be more confident that his body can now work without restrictions. Louise also recommended a body work session within 2 weeks of his treatment and we booked Naomi O'Brien to work her magic on his muscles.
It is now 19 weeks post procedure; Alfie and I have been diligent with our homework. I have noticed he can now move more easily in to canter transitions, and he is able to sustain his canter pace for longer without fatiguing. He has greater ability to bring his right hind through and underneath him in lateral work. Reversing is astonishing - he is flowing smoothly in reverse and far less hesitant when asked to do it. I believe his comfort and confidence in doing the work asked of him has really stepped up compared to before the treatment and am convinced this was the right thing to do for him.