Just Stop!

Have you ever gone online to one of those WebMD sites and diagnosed yourself with some sort of rare, chronic tricomylecardoitis? Yeah don’t look that up… you don’t have it. I just made that one up. But I’m sure you get my point.

Lizard lips says happy Monday.

You’ve got a random symptom and want to make sure it’s not serious and end up talking yourself into or out of the possibility that you’re having a heart attack.

Get your crazy ass off of Google!

Are you seeing where I’m going yet? No. Tucker started taking those wonky steps again. Naturally I googled ‘my horse’s sacroiliac joint keeps locking’. BAD idea!

He definitely has osteoarthritis, stress fractures, inflammation and strain.

Oh but wait, what were his symptoms again?

1. Lacking impulsion. Um nope. Impulsion seems the same, and he seems to have no problem when I ask for forward.
2. Deterioration of quality of movement. Not really. I only feel a shortening of some strides at the trot to the right. FEEL. Coach G couldn’t even see what I was feeling.
3. Change in behaviour. Maybe. He’s been moody during some rides… but wait a minute. During those rides I was asking him to do hard lateral work. Things he’s not good at (yet) and finds challenging.
4. Reluctance to work on the bit. No. Once he’s warmed up he has no problem working on the bit.
5. Trouble with lateral movements. Other than the fact that he’s uneducated and I’m still sorting out how to ask properly, no not really.
6. Swapping out behind in the canter or failure to do flying changes. Big no. He has zero problem that I can detect at the canter.
7. Refusal to jump. Another big no. If anything he’s been more enthusiastic about his job.
8. Bucking/kicking out. A little bit. This may go back to the moving forward point a bit. Every now and then he gets cranky when it’s his turn to jump and I ask him to move forward. He’ll throw a couple and then carry on as if nothing happened.
   

   The SI joint in question.

Soooo maybe I’m over reacting just a tad. But, to an untrained eye the horse may appear normal. Issues with the SI can be hard to spot. The joint is located so deep, you can’t really see of feel it.

OMG! He definitely needs rest, anti-inflammatory meds, injections, pole work, hill work, stall rest, paddock rest, acupuncture, massage, chiropractic adjustment… is it just me or did some of that seem contradictory???

I called Tuckers chiropractor and made an appointment. He’s made it since June without needing an adjustment. That’s not to bad. Maybe I need to calm down a bit. Surely if it was super serious he’d need treatments more often. Right?

“I love you chiropractor K”

So K came out. Found that his right SI joint was locked up again. She adjusted it and did some other minor adjustments. He also got a laser treatment. She said nothing was really that bad. Then she told me to calm the F down and get my crazy ass off of Google.

WebMDing your horse is a very bad idea!