Hello Everyone!

Results. 7-letter word that quantifies all that I care about regarding performance issues and limitations with sport horses. It is why I have developed the treatment techniques and rehabilitation protocols so that horses can be easier to train for the trainers, thus better for the amateur to learn how to and enjoy riding their horse. If a trainer in my program, after treatment and rehabilitation, is able to start to ride/drive the horse again and does not feel a difference riding or is able to drive straighter…I AM THE REASON WHY!

As a veterinarian, one needs to have some self-reflection if your patient is not getting better. This self-reflection entails going back to the basics of anatomy, doing research, and most importantly, being curious about why your patient is not getting better instead of making excuses and giving up. It is also important to simply think for yourself and read and reread and reread what you may not know. This is called RESEARCH. RE-SEARCHING again and again for a logical solution to a problem. Then RE-SEARCHING again for another solution to the problem when the horse hits a wall in progress and regresses.

There is also the factor of the person owning the horse. IF you, as the owner or a trainer with the horse, do not follow the instructions of what the veterinarian says, then YOU ARE THE PROBLEM OF WHY THE HORSE IS NOT GETTING BETTER. We all have to take responsibility and be honest if we want the horse to get better. That means, most importantly, that the timeline that we want is not the timeline for the horse to actually heal. This case is a prime example of this important factor. As this horse’s treating veterinarian, I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA HOW LONG THIS IS GOING TO TAKE! Yup, honest truth, absolutely no idea. The plans were for the horse to show in January. Well, that was trashed due to the severe sciatica episodes. The plan changed to maybe for February. That plan is trashed because the horse is still clinical but healing and being treated. Now the goal is for April. Will that happen? I DO NOT KNOW, nor do I care when the horse will show again personally and professionally, because all I truly care about is that he stops showing the clinical signs of sciatica and feels better. It is hard to watch.

Before I go to bed, in the wee hours of the morning when I wake up for whatever reason, and first thing in the morning with my first cup of coffee, I am watching “The ______ Channel”. The horses name is the _____. Each horse has their own channel that I watch to evaluate so many things that we as veterinarians do not realize are problems in our performance horses or horses in general. These past few days I have had a veterinarian training with me. She told me that few people had “that sort of attention to detail and commitment for their patients to do it day in and day out.” I was like, what? Why would you not? Why would you not want to know every single day? I can, with cameras, watch your patient to see how they are clinically. It was an interesting comment that still sticks with me in my own curiosity of why.

Every day (morning, evening, and wee hours), as I watch “The ______ Channel,” this horse for the past couple of months has been at times hard to watch. If people think that veterinarians do not care, they are wrong. WE CARE. Maybe a very small minority do not care, but the reason why is because of the unhealthy grind of being in this profession. They cared at one time and had the same purpose that we all have, to help animals with their medical needs. Back to what I was saying…as I watch “The _____Channel” I question myself: Will I be able to fix this horse? What am I missing? What else can I do to help him? Is it enough? Is it too much? Should I do this or that? What if? All these questions? And to me, very simply, they are questions. I care, and it is very hard to watch when this horse is uncomfortable and having a sciatic episode, not sleeping or standing comfortably, and not able to get up easily or move easily. Whatever is happening, it is hard to watch as an individual, but as a veterinarian AND a blue-collar worker who is a journeyman lineman, I have to find a solution to the problem today, for it will possibly change for the better or worse tomorrow. That is my job, to fix or find a solution to a problem, whether I am on a 50-foot pole in sunny or icy snowstorm blizzard with my feet and hands freezing and non-functional to get someone’s power back on, or a horse with severe sciatica. It is “the attention to detail and commitment,” no matter what I do for a living, that this horse will get better and someone’s power will be restored to their house in an icy snowstorm blizzard. Because I have done it before, many, many, many times. How fast the job gets done depends on the healing time of the horse or the weather.

The before and after video is attached to this blog. Please watch the entire video if you want to learn. Social media research from millions of people online states that the attention span of most people is about 10-20 seconds. This video is 1 minute 55 seconds, so if you have to watch it in 20-second time periods, it is good practice to increase your attention span.

December 4, 2025, 3:08am: The severe sciatica episode started.
December 4, 2025, at 7- 8pm: Treatment procedure
December 5, 2025, at 1:04am: Five hours after treatment.
December 5, 2025, at 3:10am: Seven hours after treatment.

The next blog for this case will be more history, answers to clinical signs, and a timeline of treatment. Results and success are based solely on answering the questions of the day to see if the pattern stays the same. Listen to the latest podcast episode of “The Horse First” and learn more about sciatica.

Please share this with all your horse friends to help more horses and to always put “The Horse First.”

AJD