Why is my horse (more) sore after medical treatments?

This week I am answering the question from Claire. Do you have a specific question you would like to get answered? Feel free to send me a message through Facebook Messenger, Instagram Messenger, E-mail me at [email protected] or drop the question in the free Facebook Group. I reply to all messages personally!

The question

My 7 yo TB was very recently diagnosed with KS. I had owned him for just under a year and his symptoms were really quite subtle - consistent difficulty picking up right canter lead, that was basically it. On discussion with my vet, I  opted to have his back injected and also mesotherapy. We are now 3 weeks post injection and if anything, he seems worse, unsettled in the contact, some hamstring and glute soreness. Is this normal post injection? Is it his body readjusting? I’ve taken a step back with him and we will be focusing on groundwork until I feel he improves. Any advice or experiences I would love to hear. Thank you

What happens in the body before treatment

In order to answer this question, I first like to point out what happens inside the body prior to any medical treatments. Your horse is having some discomfort in his back. Maybe it's always been there and it's slowly getting worse. Maybe it's quickly increasing through an illfitting saddle or training above the baseline level of your horse. Please don't take this personally that you're doing a bad job or haven't paid attention, it happens with a lot of horses simply because we're not taught how we can recognize this. I never learned this either! 

Your horse is still asked to work and will try to find ways to make itself comfortable by compensating. These horses are more 'suffering in silence' and will show little discomfort. Which makes sense because in nature a horse showing physical weakness will be earlier targeted as prey. So many horses will chose to show as little as possible. The other horse is screaming out loud something is wrong and will be nervous. tense and eventually will become a dangerous rodeo horse.

And then there is everything in between that.

So there is discomfort and then there is the way your horse is handling this discomfort. A horse that is has a bit of discomfort always compensates and this can be shown in various, subtle ways. Leaning a bit more on the right or left shoulder. A slight shorter stride on the left or right hind leg. Easier bend left or right, tilting the head a bit or taking the contact a bit more on one side. It can be so extremely subtle that sometimes it's hard to pick up. But it's there. 

Not because they're trying to get out of the work! But because something is causing discomfort. Then take into account that each horse it's skelleton is bend in a certain way, depening how it laid in the whom of the mare, straightness itself will always be 'a thing' with any horse.

With this compensation, the body is trained, working and developed to move in a certain compensating way. Muscles and tendons have gotten used to this compensation and that there is more pressure in one place and less in the other. The brain makes different connections to 'automate'. Since automation takes less energy than constantly dealing with something. It's comparable with right handed people being stronger and more developed in the right hand than the left. Even if it's minimal, it will always be there. Simply because the right hand is used more than the left. 

Survival is key

So with little discomforts, once they've found a way to function with it, they get used to it and the body moves on. It's survival instinct. If the situation allows it and the body is not under THAT amount of stress, the systems moves on. it automates the adaptive movement and quietly it will start to generate more bone tissue to eventually fuse the dorsals. Inflammation takes energy and what the body does is solve this energy drain by fusing. This way the inflammation is gone and the body can go back to other survival problems. It's really genious if you take a different perspective.

What happens in the body during treatment

So in Claire her case she got the back injected in order the fight the discomfort from inflammation. This helps to stop the periosteum to push for bone tissue to be created. If the body is moving in a different way so the tissue is not as stressed anymore the kissing spine process can be stopped. She also helped her horse with meso therapy to help the back muscles relax. Tense back muscles contract the topline and pull the dorsals more together. For obvious reasons we want the exact opposite so this treatment can do a LOT for your horse. In Rehab & Ride I go deeper into the Rehab Strategy and I also explain more about the different functions of medical treatment from painkiller to surgery.

So there are two processes started up with these treatments. Fighting the inflammation with external influence instead of letting the body take care of the issues. And relaxing the topline muscles so her horse can create more length in the spine.

What happens after the treatment(s)

Below I will point out the most common situations I see happing. But first I want you to understand that with these treatments either the horse barely responds and just keeps going in it's compensating way. Or the horse does respond and the body realizes something has changed. Your horse will start to move differently and use muscles that are not as developed. The overdeveloped muscles will relax more and other muscles need to work harder. If you continue working your horse you always did or maybe a bit lighter, this can still cause soreness and discomfort. Not from the back, but from getting out of compensation!

This is why I ALWAYS point out how important it is to systematically build up your training. To keep watching your horse and that no medical treatment is usefull if you're not adapting the work you're offering to your horse. 

MORE UNDERNEATH THE PICTURE

Most common situations

Over time I've learned there are a few situations that happen most often when horses are being treated.

The horse is being offered the same work right away
You invested a lot of money in medical treatments and then you go back to your normal training routine. What happens is that these horses often just continue moving the way they've been doing before. Simply because the body is so used by moving that way it does what it normally does. Thanks to the 'automation' it has set up. The neurological connection the brain has made. It has no clear reason to put energy into making a change. It has become a habit. 

Even more if these horses are being offered the same type of work. With such a horse, if you don't teach how to move differently, he won't. So what happens is that the horse is treated and then the work just continues. So the horse is not really changing anything or very little. In the end the horse gets sore again, the treatments wear off and you're back to the point where you can book an appointment for a new round of treatments.. 

The horse is offered time off and then offered the same type of work
So yes, it might sound like a great idea to give your horse time off and let the treatments sink in. Then the body can take it's time to heal. But if in this spare time, your horse is moving in the same way.. Nothing really changes! Or worse, due to lack of training he will collapse more and the irritation will not go away. Then you start working your horse again and in the end your horse will become sore agian. Ending up with the injections wearing off and you can book another expensive vet visit. 

The horse is being treated and then offered different type of work
This is already a better situation for the horse. These horses are often offered a lot of groundwork exercises, polework, lunging. At least some time without a rider on the back giving them time to adapt to the change in their bodies. Yet, the work is not really adapted to what the horse can handle. There is no system. There is strategy. There is: 'let's do it all because then at least my horse is working which compensates for the lack of ridden work'. Or maybe the work is being alternated. One day in hand, the other day lunging, then maybe some poles. But since there is no logical build up it's harder to establish a baseline level and therefore monitor your horse's progress. 

Eventually these horse's also very often end up being overworked or underdeveloped because the work is not adapted to what the horse can handle. There is no clear development. Then they're brought back into the ridden work which is often very similar to what it was before.. 

And guess what.. a few months later the problems come back. Yes the horse might be in a better shape than before, but again another round of treatment is needed.

The horse is being treated, offerent different type of work that fits the horse
This is the most succesful and sustainable option if you want to rehab your horse in general, but also if you do anything medical. To survive we're all creatures of habit. There are certain neurological paths created so we living beings can do things on autopilot. This way they costs less energy. Because.. this energy can be used for other survival skills like finding food and running away from danger. That's why learning new things is hard, takes practice, costs energy and then all of a sudden it becomes easier. Because our brain made neurological connections. This is why you can teach a horse to pick up feet, respond to cues and so on. 

So when the horse has been treated, you want to start changing these neurological paths by offering them other work. Making them more aware of their hindlegs. Teaching them a different way of moving and responding to aids. When you put your leg on, that they connect this with activating and engaging the hind legs. If you take contact with the rein, their response is to move towards the contact. Creating length over their backs, creating space between the dorsals. Doing work from softness and relaxation. 

Once the horse understands this hindleg and core engagement you need to give them time to become stronger and more and more balanced. So you want to gradually build up the work systematically while monitoring when you lose your horse. Or actually, when your horse loses his body.

And you simply need AT LEAST 3 MONTHS of this type of work consecutively to create new neurological paths and then things become more automatic. After this period you will also notice your horse starting to move differently in the pasture, in the walking mill and so on. It has become more natural for your horse. And this is where your training has become sustainable. 

Not just a way of moving your horse does in training, but your horse learning how to use the body differently all the time. 

These are the horse with success stories. These are the horses who are doing amazing after being diagnosed. 

Conclusion

Yes, your horse can get sore after treatment and to make your Rehab Journey a success it's vital to make sure your horse is changing the way he moves. And with that, that you offer a level of training that fits the strength of your horse within this new way of moving. Making sure that underdeveloped muscles and tendons are not getting overworked. Giving your horse trust back in it's body and giving it time to develop in a new way.

Do you want to get started with a training system that helps you support your horse in the rehab? Get into Rehab & Ride now! Do you have a specific question you would like to get answered? Feel free to send me a message through Facebook Messenger, Instagram Messenger, E-mail me at [email protected] or drop the question in the free Facebook Group. I reply to all messages personally!