Pro-Stride APS treatment - week 1

For those that have not seen Cassian's story on Canter Haven's facebook page, here is a short summary to get readers up to speed. He was purchased by a local rider and soon after his arrival, it appeared that his needs may be more than most owners could handle and his future as a competition/riding horse, questionable. His knee was very swollen and there were concerns about tendons, ligaments. His new owner connected with Canter Haven and US Deputy ( aka Cassian as CHF calls him now) joined the farm.

His first week with CHF consisted of dietary needs ( he was a little thin ), a visit to our vet, full work up, and a plan. His knee showed an enlarged carpal accessory bone, a few small tendon tears behind the knee, a hoof that had several pedal fractures, and some additional lameness in his rear hock. First goal: improve his body condition. Restricted movement for 60 days, anti-inflammatory and pain medication. Second goal - re-evaluate and possible HA injections.

During his first 60 days, Cassian seemed to eat non-stop. Also learned that he is a stall walker, even with an attached run. He had his designated circle. As I have cameras in their stalls, spent time watching him to see what increased the stall walking. Well, pretty much anything. Noise, food, food getting low between meals, other horses, me cleaning stalls - the possibilities of stall walking triggers were endless. So, solution to this? Well, there really is not. I did know that I did not feel that his preferred tight circle, always to the left, was doing his knee any favors. Thus when he appeared to be escalating his stall walking, I put him in the round pen while I got meals ready, cleaned his stall. At least the circle was a lot bigger. I also reached out to our PEMF practitioner and he got a series of PEMF treatments with emphasis on his knee.

After his 2nd treatment, his knee was less swollen. Even our PEMF practitioner noticed when she came out to do his third! 60 day mark arrived. He gained weight and not it was time to decide next steps. I went with Pro-Stride therapy. Interesting enough, just a few days before Cassian came to Canter Haven, I attended a Pro-Stride symposium to learn about the treatment. Basically, it uses the body to heal the body. The 20-minute process uses the horse's own blood to create a concentrated solution that amplifies the healing process when injected into the injured area.

Once again, Cassian was an angel at the vets. It is always the sweet souls that seem to have been dealt a bad hand. But I believe that there is hope! He is only 3 and has given indications of improvement in the first 2 months.

Today was exactly one week after his Pro-Stride treatment. We did our normal daily routine of out to the round pen while I cleaned stalls. And he did this for the first time since arriving - he trotted around. He bucked, a couple of times! Cassian has only offered up a quick walk, even when in the round pen where he could move out, until today. He trotted, he snorted, he bucked. He was alert and bright. I take this as a good sign that the regenerative therapy is working! I hope so. He deserves it! Some slo-mo trot https://www.youtube.com/shorts/sU9sqP2zEMY

The first buck: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/nrRz3Slq5I8