Equine Seminar 1

On Saturday Energy Equine had a clinic at their vet practice and it sounded super good so I wanted to go and so I did.  Its a vet who is really trying hard to get vets, farriers and bodyworkers to work together.  So he is putting on clinics of everyone to get info out there.  It was 2 bodyworkers Saturday, one talking about the SI Joint and the other the Stifle.  Mainly focused on performance horses but talked about others as well.

I thought was very interesting as I have trouble with my SI Joint, I say hip/back cause no one knows what the SI Joint is and its just easier.  But my ligaments are too long and they don't hold everything together like they should.  But horses are different of course they walk on 4 legs.  They had a sample horse Posh and she was having a little trouble but nothing really serious and so it turns out her bones were quite unlevel and she said it probly caused the horse to push her hip out one way on a circle and the other had trouble not falling in, they asked the owner and that was happening.  She also showed us a bunch of stretches we could do and in her tummy tuck she saw no movement in the lower lumbar area and spasms in the SI Joint so said to get a vet check to make sure no other issues there and then she would work on it said was common and wasn't hard to fix.

Then we had lunch and visited and then Sarah talked about the Stifle joint, they are both in the same lecture cause they are quite often related in injuries.  She did a lot of the same stuff and showed us bad issues and how to keep them strong as well.  Then the talk kinda morphed into conditioning cause she said that is a big issue the horse seems fit but they ligaments and tendons take way longer than lungs and muscles do to get into condition.

The vet jumped in and said he agrees a horse takes 90-120 days to get to fit performance level.  A lot longer than most people give.  I had heard that before as well just not for a long time.  He also said he doesn't think horses (besides babies) should have more than a week off.  He says lower their work level but otherwise it takes too long to get back.  And I thought pasture would be good work and he said it is but wearing a saddle and carrying a rider is like weight lifting and they sure don't do that on their own.  I feel like I should be getting Easy in already yikes!

One other comment he made which sounds easy till you think about it was.  "We get fit to do the sport not do the sport to get fit"  Which I understood for my horse but I was doing the opposite for myself, gonna have to change that I guess.  Another one of Feb 11 on the neck and shoulder, I am already signed up.