He freed himself, looking stunned. Woozy even. I worried he’d really brained himself, but after a minute or two he shook it off and went back to pestering me to let him in the barn, already. I didn’t worry too much. He seemed fine.

For the next couple of weeks, I rode him, but we seemed to have taken ten steps backward. What had been a beautiful, collected and active canter with lots of jump had deteriorated into a strung out, floppy mess. What had been soft bend through the jaw and poll became grabbing the bit and turning the head sideways. And then, while I was in Europe, he launched the trainer I’d asked to ride him while I was gone.

Not that B hasn’t been known to misbehave, occasionally rear, sometimes try to rub me off on the fence. Not that he hasn’t bucked me off once, and almost bucked me off more times than I’d like to count. He did all that and more for the first year or so that I owned him. But over time his behavioral issues have become fewer and fewer, and now, on 99 out of a 100 days, he’s pretty happy to work. So this was odd.

The vet, who also happens to be a chiropractor, came out to check on him on the advice of the trainer.  He found his mandible swollen, his jaw totally out of whack, and his right hip in spasm. Poor guy, I say again. I felt badly that I continued to push him through the work without noticing that something was definitely wrong. Sometimes my own insensitivity to horses is my greatest downfall when it comes to training. Although I know intellectually that I can’t blame myself for not noticing, especially given the fact the B really was a pretty bad boy when I first got him, I do anyway. For days I’ve felt guilty about sometimes getting angry at B for being so stubborn when he was really trying to send me a message, “Hey, I’m hurting here.” Unfortunately, he must have really been frustrated with us insensitive humans to finally and definitively toss poor Nicole on the dirt in my arena.

After his adjustment, he was miraculously better. I mean, it was really amazing. I have been skeptical of chiropractic adjustments for myself, but I’m pretty much convinced of their value for horses. I rode B lightly right after the adjustment. He was soft, and much more willing to go forward. He’s gradually gotten better, straighter and more willing, and the chiropractor is coming out again on Wednesday for another adjustment. The canter isn’t back to where it was before the incident, but at least he can maintain it and stretch over his back.

Lessons learned, I guess. When there’s a change in behavior, best to check that pain isn’t involved.