Photographic Examples

Trauma: fall onto nearside, causing possible neck, wither, lower back and pelvis problems. See examples below of horses treated with pelvic problems.

Example A

Pelvic rotation ventral (down) on near side (left).  Muscle asymmetry - greater on right gluteal.  Pelvic tilt caudal (towards tail) on near side (left).
Symptoms:  Sore back, difficult to canter on left rein, sets neck right, tail held right.

Example B

Pelvic rotation ventral (down) on off side (right).  Muscle asymmetry – reduced right gluteal – over developed hamstring on near side.

Example C

Wearing of near side hind toe

Secondary effects of Pelvic Rotation
ventral near side

Rider imbalance, falling to near side and wasting underlying muscle.

Over development of offside shoulder

Example D

Atlas dorsal right, 1st cervical vertebrae
Narrowing between atlas rotation, lower on left but higher right causing a head tilt and stronger in the left hand.

Neck Problems: Head tilting, head shaking,
preference of a particular rein,
stronger/resistant/ locked
on one side

Pony with severe atlas rotation. 
Dorsal (higher) on the right. 
Very sore and reluctant to flex to the left.

The same pony pictured from behind.
Note the effect on the mane

Both photos show a horse with uneven wear of incisor teeth.  This will affect the way the horse eats and its jaw movement, placing uneven pressure on the TMJ joint, the poll, neck and lower back.  Most horse with such uneven incisor alignment will often have an atlas rotation.

Example E

Picture taken from above the wither facing the hind quarters.  Observe the asymmetrical wear of the hair.  The saddle is slipping to the near side (left) or right side as you look at the photo.  This is cause by a pelvic rotation ventral (lower) on the near side (left).  The movement of the horse due to this rotation causes the rider to weight bear more into the left stirrup and therefore slip the saddle over to the left and cause the uneven rubbing.

 Example F 

Splints

The majority of splint problems occur in the medial side (inside) of the forelimbs. The medial splint bone is the one usually affected, because it has a flat surface next to the knee. The lateral (outer) splint bone has a more slanted surface. When the weight is transmitted to these bones, the medial splint bone probably bears more weight than the lateral splint bone; therefore, the ligament between the medial splint bone and the cannon bone is subjected to more stress than the outer ligament.














Example G


Old fracture to the Tuber Coxae (point of hip) on the nearside.











Example H

Trailer accident on A1 travelling to Richmond

The horse on the nearside was thrown onto the road out of the hole in the roof and the horse on the offside remained in the trailer.

Both horses survived with only minor treatment required. INCREDIBLE

So watch your speed.