Doc's Introduction
Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7	Week 8	Week 9
Doc's Decision

Horse Anatomy Reference

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Doc's Life or Death Decision
A Rehab with a deadline

Week 5, SUnday
Before starting to teach a clinic, I just happened to see Doc today as one of his riders was walking him back to his pen and it wasn't a pretty sight. He was stiff and looked uncomfortable. No swing in the topline, no connection back to front. She said he didn't go very well, and expecially felt weak in the right hind. No time to explore further today, but I'll plan a good long bodywork session for tomorrow.

Week 5, Monday
Well, after four weeks of steady progress Doc has officially suffered his first rehab setback. His right leg is swollen from the knee to the pastern and has a mild head bob indicating lameness on his left front (confirmed by his vet, who also noted he is moving much better behind.) Nothing particularly noteable in the bodywork -- just more tightness in the usual areas than he has had in the past couple of weeks. Owner found some of the summer-sore type scurfy spots on the right front, which might be cause of the swelling. I also wonder about possible systemic ill effects from last week's weed spraying on the entire property. I know I had swollen throat glands for about three days after breathing that stuff for a few hours. If Doc is as toxic as we suspect, it wouldn't take much to affect him -- and he couldn't leave the property to get away from it.

I generally believe that moving is better for the body than not moving, especially in the case of an animal that evolved to cover many miles each day. So Doc and I went for a walk around the property and did some very simple ground exercises -- yield the throatlatch and bend a couple of degrees to the right, then the left, then the right. For Doc, just this simple exercise keeps him from falling into a pacey walk that makes him seem to pound the ground with those front limbs. He gets a little annoyed sometimes with the constant reminder to get off his forehand, and I get "editorial comment" head shakes and shoulder evasions. He did pretty well, though, and we did get a little swing in the spine -- just a touch of the rope walk/wide walk exercise -- and the leg was less swollen. The reward for all this was he got to eat green grass (in an area not sprayed)

After some delay, he starts his regimen of herbs tomorrow. I'm looking forward to the next few weeks and hopefully seeing some signs that the gentle detox and tonic effects of these herbs is helping his body take better care of itself.

Week 4, WEDNESday
Doc's right fore is still swollen and he's still moving badly. Back to the basics. Bodywork and simple ground exercises that encourage him to get off his forehand. Seems like having a sore foreleg and a swollen one would be good incentive to do that. First a bit of free longe time on his own so I could watch him move. Not pretty. Head cocked to the outside and falling in. Hind end looks completely disconnected and the back is not swinging.

In-hand rock back and walk forward, halt, rock back and move forward. Then the same on a very short line along the fence, so he can't weasel out of the halt and swing his hind end away. After the in-hand work, another bit of time walking and a bit of trot at liberty. Looks a little better, or is it just wishful thinking? The video camera is dead as a doornail, so I couldn't do a before and after shot to study later. At least the swollen leg is about 1/3 the size it was to start with.

Week 4, ThURSday
More of the same today, just keeping the topline elastic and the shoulderblades open and just asking him to move. Rock back to find the hind end -- both sides, then with a tiny bend to isolate left, then right, then left, then right. He shakes his head in protest, then connects. I don't think he has spent much of his working life with this connection, so it's still a bit like a foreign language to him.

Right fore is still swollen, but less than earlier in the week, and I think he's moving fractionally better. Today I asked a bit more of him, reminding him to lift his ribcage and reminding him he has a waistline. Gentle belly lifts and backbends. Move it or lose it.

Some people would probably find this part tedious, but I'm endlessly fascinated with the nuances. How can I help this horse live in his body comfortably and make the most of what its capabilities are today? What can and can't this body be expected to do in the future given its unique history of use and injury, training and compensating, chemistry and will? How can we maximize its strengths and overcome or manage its weaknesses so this horse can continue to have a healthy, productive and happy life?