LAUREN DEROCK, DVM
EMPOWERING YOU TO HELP YOUR HORSE
EMPOWERING YOU TO HELP YOUR HORSE
HOW HORSES WORK
THE “SACRO-SCIATIC SYNDROME ” - The Upside-Down Horse
The “Sacro-Sciatic Syndrome,” is a term I coined several years ago. It is one of the most pervasive problems in the horse, and is at the root of most of the symptoms eventually treated by the conventional veterinarian. I know these are bold words, and they will be deemed as nonsense, with concurrent rolling of the eyes, by many of the other conventional and “scientific” veterinarians in the field. However, these words come from my 20 + years of treating the EXACT SAME PATTERN OF DYSFUNCTION IN HORSES, no matter what the discipline, with great success.
This syndrome will be evidenced by pain in the back, at the girth, at the base of the neck, discomfort when being ridden, especially at the canter or going down hill. If you see a “ewe-neck” neck, a sway back, a dip in front of the withers, and in front of the top of the croup, this will be part, or all, of your horse’s problem. If your horse is traveling crooked, lopsided, dragging one or more feet and generally unhappy, this is part, or all, of your horse’s problem.
I learned how to effectively treat these horses, and the success ratio was, and still is, amazing. Owners and horses are happy, the results are immediate and have been very long lasting. With the new tools we have in the Lifewave Patches, we see even better results. It has been my mission in life to understand how htis comes about and how you can help your horse to recover.
I remember treating a horse, early on, that had had a trailer accident and had some severe damage to the neck and front legs. This had been correctly treated by the attending veterinarians, and yet, months later, the horse was in pain, underweight, and basically un-rideable. There was no obvious reason for this, and regular work-ups provided no clue. In fact, the veterinarian in charge told the owner “I give up. It’s now time for the 'quacks' to take over.” I guess that meant me. Again, I found the same pattern as in so many horses, corrected the problem, and the horse resolved its issues after one treatment, gained 100 lbs. that first month, and that was that. She went on to her normal activities with no more problems.
Over the years, what started as a mystery to me, unraveled for me in a very logical way. My experience with crawling around on all fours gave me a start of an abiding insight. Remember when your kids wanted to play "horsie" and ride around on your back? You found out quickly that if you hollowed your back, this was painful, and if you arched up like a cat, it was better. Try the same thing leaning to make your back crooked. It will quickly become unbearable.
About this time I met a practitioner who was gifted in non-force manipulation, similar to "indirect osteopathy." I learned to translate this method to horses and we gave seminars together for several years working on both horses and their owners. From my studies of dissection anatomy in the horse, I learned how the Iliopsoas Muscle worked and had a strong sense that it was paramount in this syndrome. I learned to adjust the Psoas in the same manner we adjusted other muscle groups. I put my finger on the tendon, formed a curve by directing the stifle medially, and then gave a bio-feed-back signal to the brain. It worked like a charm but has one caveate. Don't try this at home. The horses are extremely painful at the insertion of that tendon, and will kick you into tomorrow. It's nothing personal; it's a reflex. I have since learned a safe way to release this huge muscle.
BUT THAT IS EXACTLY WHY I KNOW IT IS THE PSOAS MUSCLE SPASMS THAT IS PRIMARY IN THIS SYNDROME. There are many muscles and ligaments in the pelvis and hind quarters of the horse, and probably all of them play a part in this painful condition. The reason that I coined the term "Sacro-Sciatic Syndrome" is anatomical. It is my opinion that when the Psoas spasms, it and other muscles lock up the entire pelvic girdle. This is what the body does to prevent possible further injury. I find the insertion of the Sacro-Sciatic ligament (which is huge and underlies all these muscles) is on the point of the Ischium. This is almost always extremely painful and spasming as well. The Sciatic Nerve goes right through a hole in this ligament. Horses act like I used to feel when I had a Sciatic pinch -- like some is jabbing you with a hot shot. Often, they will act spooky, and/or blow up. You may wonder what they saw, but it may be what they felt that caused the spook.
The ridden horse MUST develop the muscles underneath the backbone to carry himself correctly before he can even BEGIN to carry a rider. In order for that to happen, the vertebrae from C7 to T4 and T5 must have normal, functional movement and must be able to hold, when necessary. The Iliopsoas must be strong and balanced. If you see a “ewe-neck”, sway-back horse, a dip in front of the withers, over-developed Rhomboids, a dip in front of the croup, a hunter bump, an under-developed hind quarter; you are looking at an “Upside-Down” horse with a “Sacro-Sciatic” problem.
What you see next will potentially get worse and worse as attempts are made to “fix” the problem without understanding what causing it. That is a disaster and quick "fixes" with various gadgets can make things much worse. You have all seen a “broken neck”. This does not mean that there is a broken bone, but rather damage to the ligaments between the vertebrae. This means that you have actually created a false joint between the neck vertebrae, with an ugly bulge, followed by a flat area. Many people do not realize how pathological this is, and I have even seen this displayed proudly on a tee-shirt. You also need to realize that a hollow back puts the hocks into an anatomically bad position and will ultimately damage the hocks.
Now you might have thought the horse is collected in this case, but he isn’t. He has jammed the base of the neck, hollowed his back, and broken at the wrong place in the upper neck. Usually this happens at C2-3 but can vary. Many people really don’t understand true collection, but it means that the base of the neck is lifted – not jammed – and the horse is then able to bring his hocks under his center and balance himself properly. His head can be up or down; it is the base of the neck that is the key to this movement. From the two-year old, ridden before his bones are even ready, to the “finished” dressage horse, the response to pain is to hollow the back. That just makes everything worse. The horse must develop the correct muscles to be able to lift the back.
The old masters knew what they were doing.
The horse below is typical of what you will see in every barn, in every pasture. This is a horse that experienced the painful areas shown on the right side drawing. He was my horse and this is what happened to him after being ridden for 6 months by a trainer who did not understand "up-side-down." Since I did, I worked on him and he went on to be an outstanding event horse who was right-side-up and would jump anything and everything. He is having a wonderful career last time I heard. You can help these horses if you understand how they get this way and learn how to release the Psoas and utilize the Lifewave Patches.
