Books with Spirit - Horse Riding

You can usually see sacro-iliac damage easily.  The vertebra (spinal bones) behind the saddle are lifted up behind the saddle.  Instead of a nice, flat, continous line of spinal bones, they look lumpy and bumpy.  The horse is also usually swollen over the croup (the highest point on the hindquarters). 

This joint problem is particularly common in jumpers and has been called “jumper’s hump” for that reason.

This damage can happen from a fall, although I have seen that incorrect feet shape can be a contributing factor and from what I’ve seen in our Spirit of Horse clinics, I also believe that the horse’s relationship with their rider is a significant contributing factor.

I’d better explain that before you all start bristling!

Every time we’ve had a horse with this injury come into one of our clinics based on the e-book Bobby’s Diaries - Straight from the Horse’s Mouth to You - with no specific treatment for the injury - the injury has visibly (sometimes dramatically) improved at the end of the four day clinic.

Why is this so?

Using the approach, philosophy and method in Bobby’s Diaries, that gets the horse deep into his comfort zone - the horse goes into self carriage quite quickly. 

In self carriage, the horse’s back is both relaxed, yet bowed up powerfully - which enables them to carry the rider’s weight with a relaxed strength.

This combination of relaxation and strength “opens up” and lengthens the spine.  We could speculate that this “lengthening” process is what is actually contributing to healing the injury. 

What is NOT speculation is that every case of this injury (at the time of writing) has improved as the horse’s relationship with their rider improved, quite visibly.

If I had a horse with this injury, I would be buying Bobby’s Diaries and finding out how I can get such a wonderful relationship with my horse that he can heal an injury while I’m riding him!

I would be looking hard at his feet too.  The way the angles of the horses skeleton act like a fulcrum, a small amount “out” in the feet can put a lot of pressure on the sacral joint.  Barefoot or not, see optimum angles at www.barefoothorse.com 

I would also be getting some muscle work done.  I’m biased, but I think Bowen muscle therapy (often in horses called Equine Muscle Release Therapy) is the best in the world.  I’ve developed some Bowen moves specifically effective on this injury.  You are welcome to get your Bowen practitioner to ring me for instruction on these moves.

Shaitsu, acupuncture and massage therapies are also useful techniques.

Homeopathic Arnica Montana, in a mm potency (I would probably use 1mm) to help resolve inflammation could also be useful when this is an old and serious injury.

For those of you with a horse with a serious injury in this area, do not despair.  Check out the photos of Bobby on this website.  He had serious sacral damage and and he looks and rides pretty good now!

If you need any additional help from me, hit the “contact” button at the top of the page and follow the prompts.

Later addition to this article:

More than a year later, I have seen dozens of horses heal this injury while being ridden, which is really quite amazing when you think about it and I have personally ridden yet another horse, Matt, while his sacral damage healed and then his back got stronger and stronger.   It might sound silly that I’m telling you that a book is the best healing option for a horse’s back injury, but I give you my personal guarantee “love this book or get your money back”.  Click here to get the electronic book “Bobby’s Diaries - Straight From the Horse’s Mouth to You”.  You could be reading this book in five minutes through one of the most secure financial websites in the world.