Wow!

That visit from the equine chiropractor yesterday was amazing!  He worked with Lizzie first and for much longer.  I have been concerned ever since I got her that she holds her neck strangely.  I was afraid she had a real problem of some sort with the disks in her neck.  As it turns out, though, she does NOT . . .  what she DOES have is a problem with her right hip.  So what she has been doing - apparently for years and years and years - is holding her neck forward in order to take some of the weight off that hip!  And as a result, the muscles in her entire body have either overdeveloped or atrophied and that's why she carries herself peculiarly.  AND IT CAN BE FIXED!  The chiropractor gave me exercises to do with her every day for the next month, then he will be back to work with her again and we will update the exercises she does daily accordingly. 

He also worked with Duke.  This is the only video I've managed to upload so far.  It's sort of a middle one of him working with Duke - not all that informative but you can see more or less how he dealt with him.  I was hoping to find out why Duke has taken to kicking himself in the tummy and forcing his feet back down whenever someone picks up a back foot.  The doctor was not able to say what's causing the kicks at this point, but he did say that Duke also has a hip problem of sorts - but it's very recent in his case and has not affected his muscles, so it won't take nearly the effort it's going to take to help Lizzie recover.  Basically, all Duke will need after a few weeks of exercises is to be RIDDEN -- a LOT!  (Hey Mark?  Helloooo??)

I took videos of them being examined and treated, but the videos are so large that it's taking forever to get them uploaded to YouTube.  But I'll get to it this weekend.  It really was fascinating!  And surprisingly, both of them absolutely LOVED it!  Lizzie particularly.  She seemed very happy to have him there working with her from the start.  And eventually she just about went to sleep while he "adjusted" her!  Amazing.

That doctor, Lance Cleveland, lives in Colorado, but he comes over here to Louisiana once a month, so he will be back to treat them both a second time in July.  He is definitely not cheap, but if Lizzie becomes rideable once again it'll be worth every dime!  (She is sooooo comfy to ride.  Even more than Arthur, I hate to admit.)  And once she's back to "normal" she will probably be even better! 

So check back -- I'll be posting those videos as the "before" demos.  And hopefully down the road you will get to see both of them being ridden - once more in excellent shape.  Lovely.