… we’re hunting pwogwess.
Wodney, er Rodney, may not be a waste of pasture space for the rest of his days? It’s too early to break out the tack, but Hubby may have made progress on Rodney’s back. As one might expect, his back is turning out to be central to his whole way of going.
After much poking & prodding, I had reduced the original lump of scar adhesion [Daddy Dearest] to a much smaller knot [Other]. Unfortunately, this is a nasty, tight patch rather like the causative lump in the middle of a yarn snarl. Then again, I thought this back in March [Changes].
Over the weekend, Hubby used the stiffest of our fleet of currycombs (I’m a bit of a brush junkie) to get purchase on the skin and give it a hefty yank, almost getting himself bit in the process. Anyone who has had to break up scar tissue on themselves knows the kind of benevolent violence required. I estimate he managed to loosen 10 to 25% of what was there. A huge leap forward given the overall pace of improvement. I will spend the week keeping Rodney’s back warm & loose to prevent re-adhesion. Another PT session is scheduled for Saturday.
Most importantly, Rodney lunged differently with this change to his back. He still ran about & fussed & hopped, including at least one maneuver with quality hangtime. But he was calm part of the time. The truly significant aspect is that he was calm AFTER acting up. This is new for him. Usually, once he gets tense he keeps ratcheting up until we stop the exercise or the roof blows off. Plus, it was hard to tell if the acrobatics were due to tension, tiredness, training, or just plain Thoroughbred.
As always, the signs of changes are slight enough that it could be wishful thinking.
Later: Awash in positive vibes, I felt inspired to attempt one of his exercises [360o box]. He felt inspired to jump out of the box and run back to the barn. And thus does my tiny diamond chip of hope convert to a coal lump of despond. Sigh.
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Gratuitous Kitten Pic
Virtual Brush Box 
Me thinks you have a naughty horse who has trained you very well …. 😉
progress comes in baby steps, 2 steps forward, 1 step back. hang in there, i’m pulling for you.