Osteo Report: 24/06/24

After the disappointment of Lavenham I felt like I had quite a lot riding on this osteo visit....

Chip

So Chip went first and this was actually the first time that the osteo had seen him. I've only used the osteo Christophe, for Fern so far. I gave him a brief history of Chip and then he watched him walk and trot up.

We discussed his RH adduction and obviously the RH lameness at Lavenham. Christophe immediately commented on his low arc of flight and started working on his pecs?!

Yes, you read that right his pecs - not his hind end. He said Chip has sustained a significant injury at some point in his pecs (true - he did a few years ago now! from a nasty kick) and as a result has been protecting himself by dropping through his chest. It's a bit difficult to explain, but imagine you are sticking your chest our forwards and notice what happens to your shoulders when you do it.

It's all been cascading from there with tension through his topline (which I've really been feeling so disheartened about because we do so much schooling and groundwork and I've just not see the improvement I would have hoped).

Anyway, Christophe continued to work a lot around his front end and sternum and within 10 mins I could see a difference in his topline and muscles particularly around the scapula and whither area.

He then worked a little on the LH and with just one major correction through the hips - not the pelvis.

We then walked and trotted Chip and the RH adduction was completely gone! I couldn't quite believe it!

Christophe says he will need a couple of days off and then to return to work. He thinks his topline will now build massively as he is not feeling trapped in the previous position anymore.

I've been worrying so much about his arthritis but Christophe feels confident that his movement pattern has been coming from his body and not his legs - again I hope you get my drift!

So the plan of action is for Christophe to see him again in 6-8 weeks and in that time to train as normal. All being well, we will be back on the endurance circuit mid-August!

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Fern

Fern actually saw Christophe about 8 weeks ago already and he identified a lot of issues in her poll and neck area. I had been worried about her hind limb bilateral lameness but similar with Chip, Christophe was confident that the issue was coming from the front end and that the hind limb was a secondary issue.

After the last treatment I noticed a huge improvement in Fern within days and it was only that she had her sarcoids lasered off that we weren’t cracking on as I hoped.

This weekend we managed our first two little rides back and Fern felt a) so incredibly sound and b) so happy and relaxed in her work. So I was really excited to have Christophe back and see what he could do this time.

This time he found a little niggle in her RH stifle and still a little residual tension in her neck and scapula but nothing compared to last time.

Within the treatment time he was completely confident that she is now 100% sound and moving straight. I could actually cry.

Fern hasn’t moved straight since she had KS surgery in 2021!

So now I have a very sound and happy Fern and I genuinely cannot wait to progress with her! We just need to worry about two more horrible sarcoids that have appeared this time right near her girth. So we will be a little delayed but I am going to make the most of the next week or so with her riding before I go on holiday and then speak to the vet for a plan of action on my return.

Overall a very positive step forward with both the greys and hope yet for both of their endurance careers!

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