A certified massage therapist made a visit to the barn this morning...and he ranked Monte's pain level within the top 10 of his experience. Mike has been doing equine massage for 6 or 7 years and he said he could recall only 2 or 3 other horses who he deemed to be in worse pain than Monte was in this morning. (Hearing this made me admire our little man even more...he really has a great heart and so wants to please his young rider. Plus, even when he's in extreme pain, he has trusted us and has not struck out or bit at anyone. I couldn't ask for more in a horse!)
At first Monte did not like having Mike touch him, let alone massage his sore body, but gradually the horse understood that relief could be found in Mike's hands and by the end of the session Monte was actually leaning into the pressure.
Monte is still sore - but he is soooo much better than before. He will have the weekend off, just relaxing in the field. Mike will come out to reassess him on either Sunday or Monday.
We all think that most of this was caused by poor saddle fit. It was okay when E was going at a walk/trot but the addition of cantering - and hard turns - did some damage. So, we need a new saddle. And preferably before fair.....because we are NOT putting the old saddle back on him.
1 comment:
I so love learning all about this and following you all.
What a sweet and wonderful horse!
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