Monday, August 1, 2011

My New Hero

To make a long story short...Moon was sore in his back again on Sunday after running 2 days in a row, so I called my barrel racing buddy and got the number to the other chiro she has used in the past. This guy is a manual manipulator. L had used him before but due to costs preferred the previous guy she recommended. At this point, I didn't give a flip what this guy cost. Something was up with my horse's back and it needed to be remedied. I was just praying that this guy was a valid manipulator because my experiences over the last 10 years has been that a lot of them 'claim' to be equine chiros and few ever manage to even get a single pop.

Lord have mercy and hallaluya!!! I have just found the best equine chiropractor I've been able to locate since I first stumbled on this phenomena back in 1999. I was spoiled you see. The very first equine chiro I ever used was one of the best in the country. Probably still is...I could ever find him. Last I heard he was somewhere in Texas. (Texas is a big damn state ya know. ;-)

Anyway...This guy located Moon's locked vertebrae in nothing flat. A couple of pushes and...pop! Has it back in.

He got a nice big pop in his right hip as well. He continues to go over Moon and gets a good pop out of his right shoulder. As he is working his neck, the chiro asks me if have trouble with our right turns. Uummmm..kinda...but I don't think it's so much Moon as it is me being late to the rate. He thought about that for a second and asked me if he traveled straight. Huh...now that has been something that has bothered me about Moon for a couple of years now...the darned horse constantly fades to the right when he is walking out in the open. I had him checked over by a vet/chiro last year and she didn't find much. The chiro braces himself and says, 'This should help.' and Whop! He gets a massive pop out of Moon's neck just in front of his shoulder. He says, 'I think he'll turn better for you now too.'

O.
M.
G....

This is the kind of chiro I have been looking for since my other guy disappeared!!! This guy can fix things...not dink around, pushing here and there and end up telling me that it will take several more treatments to get the horse right. Uuggghhhh...I am so sick of the 'wannabe's'.

Sooo...Moon's week will consist of being ponied for the next two days. If things are back to normal, I can ride on Thursday and haul to my only rodeo on Friday. If Moon still seems sore, the chiro will come out and re-adjust him on Thursday and I will have to ice (which has become part of my routine anyway because I think it works better than cold-hosing). He said either way, running one run on him isn't going to hurt anything. Next week, we will see how things are and go from there.

I know Moon did this on that Tuesday run 2 weeks ago. The damn ground was shallow and he stabbed those hind toes into the ground and gave himself a jolt. That's why I already had him scheduled to be shod...we figured out his hind fetlock tenderness was because he was stabbing his hind toes and not getting full flexion when he set to turn a barrel.

Well...all that is fixed now. Shoes on and adjustment accomplished. Moon was so relaxed after his adjustment, he just stood where I dropped his lead rope and went to sleep. Now that's the miracle of a good chiro!!

Sooo...as the chiro was writing up my bill...Amazingly it was only $70. I have paid twice that for some of those faux fixer-uppers (Uuggghhhhh)...I asked him if he was in a hurry or if he had time to take a look at another horse. He said sure, so I run and got Turk out of his pen. Turk is scheduled to have his front shoes reset tomorrow and of course, this morning, I notice that his G-shoe is loose. So he didn't get to go out to pasture with the big boys today, he got lawn-mower duty...
The chiro took one look at Turk and said, 'You have some issues going on with this horse.' That assessment just from watching the horse's demeanor. Awesome!!

I showed him Turk's foot and his shoe and a bit of the history of what we have done in the last year to get where we are. The chiro nodded, walked straight over to Turk's shoulders, lifted his right front leg (the injured hoof leg), got his hands on the horse's withers and gave a tug. Turk's shoulder gave a massive pop and he about bugged out. The chiro apologized to Turk for hurting him and told him to give it a minute and it would feel better. Not more than a minute or two later, Turk dropped his head and started licking his lips.

People like this fascinate me. They are sooooo good at what they do, so quick and efficient and so sure of the outcome. They truly have a gift.

The chiro got a big pop out of Turk's right hip, turned around and told me I shouldn't have as much trouble with him picking up his right lead anymore. My jaw just about dropped. I NEVER said a word about having to work at getting Turk to pick up his right lead.

The horse was too rigid in his poll to get the adjustment that he needed up there, so the chiro recommended that I have the other gal I use do acupuncture on him to see if those muscles can be relaxed enough for an adjustment. He said then he won't be as heavy on his front-end...Again with the jaw dropping. I never said anything about Turk being heavy on his front-end.

That's it...I have a full book of everyone I need...Veterinarian, Farrier, Dentist, Acupuncturist, Chiro. I am set. All I gotta do is feed 'em and ride 'em. I'm in freaking heaven!!!

18 comments:

cdncowgirl said...

Awesome!! Truly good equine professionals seem to be harder and harder to come by.
Can't wait to hear about how you & Moon turn'n'burn now! :)

Leah Fry said...

That is so awesome! I've been trying to find a chiro for the past year and the only one I can find is far away, charges a zillion dollars to travel, and won't see less than x # of horses.

SunnySD said...

Fantastic! When you find someone who knows what to do, the results are amazing.

Fantastyk Voyager said...

He sounds great!

Mikey said...

Awesome!! Now that makes me think. Quinn is always fading left and has trouble picking up that left lead. Damn. I should have him worked on. But chiros down here are hard to find!!
Very interesting stuff. Now I have something else for my list of things to do :)

Shirley said...

Can you just clone this guy? We could all use him!
Can't wait to read about the effect on Moon's runs.

kestrel said...

Wow! That is soooo cool!

You do a great job of explaining the lengths that you have to go to, to be really competitive.

Laura said...

Wow - that guy sounds like an awesome find - don't let him leave town! lol

Glad that Moon and Turk are getting sorted out! Hopefully you'll be running that rodeo this weekend.

BrownEyed Cowgirl said...

Being adjusted may or may not have much effect on Moon's runs. His back was only out for just a short time and we actually made one of our best runs ever while it was. Weird right? I think the neck adjustment will make a difference. Two other 'chiros' never found that.

Turk is the one I am really anxious to see how things start to come together. He's going to need some acupuncture and another adjustment as soon as I can get that lined up to coincide, but I'll get his teeth worked on first.

Now that I have everyone I need to do everything but bring a horse back from the dead...I can get back to my normal process of 'miracle worker'. LMAO

Sherry Sikstrom said...

Awesome! Great news for all, get a GPS on that dude so he doesn't vanish too

Pinzgauer said...

I've been trying to find a chiro that can work on my horses. I have a couple that need it, and need it bad. But no matter how much Leah and I have looked, we can't find anyone decent! Really sad in the middle of horse country, TX!

Unknown said...

Very cool! It's always nice when you find the help you need. Those guys are in short supply up here too.

Cut-N-Jump said...

Just got to thinking, I have a guys card that I seen work on horses long ago and far away, I think his first name was Dean or Dan? I will have to hunt it down and try to find him. Sounds like things are finally clicking for you. That's awesome!

BrownEyed Cowgirl said...

It's tough all over. 'GOOD' anything is in short supply-farriers, dentists, chiros...trainers...There is more technology than ever available to improve our horse's lives and performance and it is most discouraging to have to wade through the crap 'til you someone who is gifted with real talent.

in2paints said...

Send him my way!! I've been looking for a chiro and a massage person for Lilly who actually knows what's going on a doesn't take 4 weeks to get it right.

I'm so glad you've found this new guy and I can't wait to hear how Moon does on Friday! :)

joycemocha said...

Sounds great!

Maybe Miss Mocha needs some chiro...

Great news for you and hope the run goes well~

Funder said...

That's so awesome. I had a people chiropractor in my hometown who was that good. I've never found anybody else that good, people or animal, and it makes me sad :(

Funder said...
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