Yesterday I wrote about the routine we use with Sugar and Morgunn when we ride. I mentioned we do spine lifts before and after the ride. Our good friend Lisa asked what are spine lifts.
Actually one is a spine lift and the other is a spine straightener.
To do a spine lift, we press with our thumbs on their rump about 3 - 4 inches above the tail. Our thumbs are an inch or two on each side. You have to press in pretty hard and hold it for about five seconds. When you do this the horse lifts the lumbar spine, rounding the back.
The spine straightener is to pull on the horse’s tail by holding the tail with both hands and leaning back – again holding for about five seconds. When you pull you can see the spine stretch. When you release slowly you’ll see the spine release back into position.
So, that’s what I meant by spine lifts. Probably clear as mud.
2 comments:
I'll have to give it a try. Now if I can just find my tail...
Thanks for the explanation, Dan. I've seen Dr. DeBlanc do that on Apache but didn't know what it was called.
~Lisa
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