Argo's Gelding Scar Manipulation

One of my students, Sam, solved her horse’s long term problems through “Gelding Scar Manipulation”. This story goes to show the importance of correct handling and care from a young age, and the value of listening to your horse.

Sam and Argo’s Story:

I purchased Argo in April of 2016 as a weanling off a paint horse stud west of Toowoomba. I had him gelded prior to picking him up as a 6 month old due to needing to keep him on Agistment on the Gold Coast and agistment was hard to find for a whole male horse. In my opinion he was gelded quite young.

Argo was left to grow and be a horse in a 10 acre paddock on the coast for a few years. During this time I did groundwork with him. He never came across as an energetic horse and was often referred to as "grandpa" because of his lazy attitude towards all things. When Argo turned 2 I started doing more in-hand ground work with him: lunging was an effort, he never was willing to move forward on the lunge and I was constantly asking for more. At any stage when I would release the ask, he would drop back to being slow and dragging his hind feet along the ground. When teaching him to yield his hind end, he would always step short with his offside hind. At the time, I had put this down to laziness.

Fast forward another year, when Argo was 3, I started him under saddle. Very gently, he was taught to accept my weight over his back, and we had a few gentle walks and a couple of trots under saddle before he was left to be a horse in the paddock again. In September of 2019 Argo was ready to be a ridden horse, well I thought so anyway. I started doing his groundwork again, getting him used to walking with me in the saddle and then asking for the trot. I was struggling a lot with getting Argo forward, so decided to send him away to a horse trainer for a few weeks.

I went and visited Argo 1 week into his time with the trainer, the trainer mentioned he was a hard horse to work as he was very lazy and not wanting to use his back end. I watched on as the trainer was pushing him hard into a fence and getting him to shift his weight onto his hind end. To me, Argo had heart he was trying but physically it just looked as though he couldn't do what was being asked. I brought him home 2 days later. I felt he just needed to build strength and muscle and would, in time, be able to use himself better.

Argo came home and I started getting weekly lessons with a local riding instructor. I had weekly lessons for 3 months and then gave up. I stopped enjoying riding him because every ride was such hard work to get him moving forward and by the end of a 45 minute lesson I would be physically exhausted, without having achieved much, if any, forward work from Argo. I decided to go on the search for a new coach and in the meantime would take it pretty easy with Argo's training.

From April 2020, I've had ongoing issues with Argo's health that has lead me to eventually have the gelding scar manipulation. On top of the lack of willingness to go forward under saddle or on the lunge, the list of things that have been Argo's health are:

  • dirty sheath - to the point you could smell it metres away and would require cleaning every fortnight

  • inability to keep his feet when on wet ground - he would easily lose his back end from under himself when walking on slightly damp ground

  • a dip in front of his Sacroiliac area which at first glance appeared somewhat similar to a hunters bump

  • colic - Argo had never experienced colic and was passing bowel movements and not gas colic

  • facial swelling - this would come and go and would form oedema/cellulitis

  • sporadic hind end lameness

  • muscle tightness/stiffness and muscles developing wrong. His neck began to crest, was tested for metabolic issues, all tests negative.

  • inability to pick up the right hand canter lead both under saddle and on the lunge.

I booked Argo in with our Osteo (Kate Shorter from Happy Horse Sport Therapy). Kate had seen Argo in November 2019, not long after he had come into work. Kate had mentioned in November 2019 that Argo had an injury where his Sacrum had been pulled forward and down and recommended Gelding Scar Manipulation (GSM). I never followed this up. Kate visited Argo at the end of August this year, there were so many things going on physically for Argo, that also indicated his major organs were struggling. Kate again recommended I have GSM completed, this time I followed through. I almost talked myself out of the appointment for fear of Argo having to endure another vet visit and yet another bodily intrusion (he had had multiple blood tests done prior to this appt). Argo wasn't at all phased by the procedure. Louise was able to diagnose the following:

  • his urethra had become restricted causing his bladder to be pulled all the way to his right hand side, his kidney to become lodged in muscle fascia, his spleen was congested and enlarged and his liver was also congested and enlarged.

  • In addition, she found a tear in his left psoas and his right psoas had complete atrophy.

Following this appointment, I had Argo on a 4 week rehab plan that included in-hand and ridden exercises to help build and strengthen his psoas and sacroiliac area.

Now I have a completely different horse. He is now forward at every gait to the point I now struggle to keep up with him when leading him out, before the procedure he would drag along a metre behind me. He picks up the right hand canter lead and is now developing topline and strength through his back end. His sheath hasn't needed cleaning once since the procedure and remains clean, or cleans itself. His organs are now back to normal size and is better able to keep his hind end under him when having a hoon around the paddock.