Meet Junior, our vet Amelia’s horse.
When Amelia purchased Junior she knew he had kissing spine. She x-rayed him as a 4 year old and again at 7 years old. The second x-rays showed some improvement.
As a 7 year old he was given steroid injections in his back which gave him about a 10% improvement.
His main symptoms (‘bad’ behaviour) were predominantly on the lunge. He would buck when going into canter, change behind in canter alongside lots of tail swishing.
Junior has a varied programme of work from lungeing, schooling, hacking, lessons and he also competes.
His regular schooling work has a strict regime:
- a good groom to help promote blood circulation
- lunge/in-hand work before being ridden which will start with 10 minutes in walk followed by 10 minutes in walk & canter with regular breaks
- 20-30 minute ridden schooling work
This regime is only for Junior’s schooling work which might be once or twice per week. However, this means that Amelia can keep a close eye on him and when the ‘bad’ behaviour starts again it’s time to book him in for his next acupuncture session.
Junior is doing really well and he’s loving his jumping, thanks to Amelia’s strict routine and his regular acupuncture sessions.
