Q I purchased my Thoroughbred gelding when he was 5 years old. Within the next two years we were doing really well at entry level dressage. He looked and behaved fantastically. Then the problems started. It took me a while to figure out that his refusing to go (forward), bucking, and general naughtiness was not disobedience at all, but serious pain from a saddle that was a bad fit. We trekked five hours down to Johannesburg for a new, properly fitted saddle, X rays of his spine, and physiotherapy... It was on my fifth saddle fitting with the same qualified saddle-fitter that she noticed his spine is skewed to the left... Can scoliosis be corrected with work and stronger muscles to support the spine?
As you prepare for the world's largest auction of yearlings, Alan Porter, Byron Rogers and the TrueNicks team offer tips to get you from the sales ring into the winners' circle.
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