26/11/2023
Positive influence.
A possible or positive influence is not a cure. Marketing strategies don’t appear to grasp the difference. A negative palmar angle stresses the sacroiliac joint, but it is not the only stress. Recreating a positive palmar angle helps restore proper SIJ function but does not cure the problem. In several instances, I have restored proper SIJ function, correcting the low carriage of the trunk between the forelegs and inverted rotation of the thoracic spine. Simultaneously, the farrier worked on recreating a positive palmar angle. The stress on the ligaments stabilizing the SIJ diminished enough to allow the horse to function pain-free before the negative palmar angle was corrected, but it would have been a mistake to decide that the horse was cured and discontinue the correction of the palmar angle. The cure is a sound function of the whole physique.
A fetlock dorsiflexion that persisted while the metacarpal bone rotated forward was the kinematic abnormality that led to the development of Dominique’s navicular issue. When maximum forces loaded the forelegs, the abnormality induced intense pressure between the distal sesamoid bone and the deep digital flexor tendon. I showed the kinematics abnormality to the farrier, who proposed creating an earlier breakover. The idea could have been a possible influence but would not have cured the problem. The cure was to identify and correct the source of the right foreleg overloading.
The root cause was an inverted rotation of the thoracic spine. Dominique traveled bent left with the thoracic spine turned to the right. I corrected the muscle imbalance that caused the inverted rotation, and the kinematics of the right foreleg gradually returned to proper synchrony between dorsi and palmar flexions of the fetlock and forward rotation of the canon bone. Suppressing the abnormal pressure allowed the remodeling process to restart, and Dominique regained soundness.
Dominique was the first navicular horse who regained soundness, correcting the thoracolumbar spine dysfunction, but he was not the last one. Similar analysis and adequate gymnastic restored soundness to 26 other horses. More horses would have been rehabilitated if the usual paradigm could think outside of the hoof capsule.
Manchester’s nickname was “Doing Better.” Through eight years of lameness, Manchester went through numerous therapies. They all claimed the horse was doing better. Some therapies positively influenced the symptoms but did not cure the problem. The problem was a severe dysfunction of the thoracic spine. Manchester traveled with a right lateral bending of the thoracic spine combined with a severe inverted rotation. The hind leg lameness and hoove deformation resulted from the abnormal forces created by the thoracolumbar spine dysfunction. Over the years, a major psychological problem has developed. Manchester believed that he was a failure and deserved to be lame. He was low in the pecking order and submitted. Manchester acted like a rider who had lost self-confidence and surrendered to a system that was the real failure.
The beginning of his rehabilitation was difficult because he did not try. Voltaire stated, “It is difficult to liberate people from the chains they Venere,” Manchester veneered the concept of obedience to the rider’s aids, even if it was the obedience to the rider’s aids that led to the thoracolumbar spine dysfunction. Manchester’s mind needed to explore different closed kinematics chains and fascial tissue functions, but he acted like an unintelligent human expecting to be told what to do. I triggered Manchester’s initiative, asking him to respond to subtle adjustments of my muscle tone working in hand. I always did it at the same place in the ring. I knew he felt my tensegrity adjustments as every horse does, but he did not respond because, in his mind, he was not allowed to explore initiatives. Horses have a very good photographic memory, and approaching the spot in the ring where I adjusted my body tone, Manchester knew that I would do it, and one day, his curiosity took over. He responded adjusting the work of his back muscles and slowing down the walk. I rewarded him, and his first initiative led to the discovery that walking could be pain-free.
Manchester took over a week to explore this first initiative, but rehabilitation started that day. Muscle synergies and closed kinematic chains belong to the horse’s initiative; they cannot be created and orchestrated by the rider’s aids. A horse willingly explores the coordination of his physique, allowing the performance. When Manchester realized that coordinating his back muscles allowed pain-free motion, Manchester’s demeanor changed. He evolved from painful slavery to a pain-free partnership.
A horse is comfortable at a level of refinement and subtlety at the high end of human perception. If we develop our knowledge and experience, most of us have the skill and intelligence to meet the horse in his comfort zone. Rehabilitation can then be a partnership where our capacity of analysis based on knowledge of the horse’s body function guides the horse’s mental processing toward sound and efficient body function. We can regard possible influences as useful tools but remain concentrated on the source of the horse’s problem.
Jean Luc
