Ridecamp: Re: [RC] [RC] hunter bumps (was Sore Backs)

Hey Gang~

I am currently competing in CTR on a POA gelding that has a mild hunter's bump.  He had it when he came to me (at 6 years old, in 1995) and I suspect that it is from the fact that he was used for a certain amount of barrel racing at 3 and some open jumping (=high fences) at 4.  I found out these dates from his lifetime-point-accumulation papers that I received from the National POA office....it lists every show he has ever attended (many with me) and right on the last 2 pages he's got Open Jumping points in 1993 (eeek!) and Gymkhana points in 1992. And these papers show only POA-approved shows; I wonder sometimes how many open shows he did with these first owners, and did they take him jumping at the open shows?  Poor guy.....
BUT, other than having some insecurity (maybe pain?) when he has to jump larger logs, branches, etc., there are no problems.  It isn't even a visible thing.....only way I know about it is that my vet had some suspicions and low and behold, there it is.  Sonny is 13 now and  this is our 3rd year in NATRC/CTR -- it never is a problem at all and never was for the POA show circuit either.  =)

Kaity Elliott <going back to lurking now....;o) >   


<><><><><><><>><><><><><><><><><><><><>><><><><><><><><><><>
> And it's not muscle injury.  The upper part of
> the pelvis is called the ilium and the lateral points of that are what form
> the points of the hip.  Right underneath that is a chunk of fused vertebra
> called the sacrum.  If a horse is really thin, this is part of what forms
> the bony ridge over that part of the topline.  Between the ilium and the
> sacrum is an immovable joint with ligaments attaching and stabilizing the
> two together.  If these ligaments are injured, then the attachment between
> the two destabilizes and upper portion of the pelvis (the tuber sacrale)
> moves upwards and forward to form the hunter bump.
>
> There are a lot of horses that have them, mostly in horses that use a long
> forward stride in doing whatever they do (in Dakota's case, being a dork in
> pasture).  There was a study that said harness horses returned to racing
> after one of these injuries earned less money, but there are a lot of other
> things that might have contributed to that as well.  Certainly any joint
> (although the sacroiliac is not a true joint, just an attachment)
> post-injury is weaker than the original joint, but it's not a death sentence
> or anything, obviously.
>
> Susan G