On Thursday, Sheldon got a treat — an acupuncture session with vet Carol. It’s not that Sheldon has an obvious problem. He’s actually in pretty good shape. But acupuncture can help with inflammation, boost the immune system and just make a horse feel better. I can get some pretty good releases using acupressure points and I was curious to see how he’d react to having more direct stimulation.

He loved it.

His initial exam showed that he had some tenderness in the SI and tightness in his right hamstring.

He stood like a champ when the needles were inserted — quite an improvement over Freedom who tries to body slam Carol when she treats him (he likes the results, just not the needles). At first he didn’t react much, but there were dogs and kids distracting him (he’s remarkably good about small creatures around his legs). Once they moved on, he gave some huge yawns and then his eye got soft and sleepy.