17th July, 2008 Perhaps we'd better pull the other one

A man goes to the doctor's and says he has a pain in his leg. The doctor examines him and says, that's because of your foot. Over the years the man goes through a series of treatments - they put the foot in plaster, break the bones and re-set them in a different order, advise him to run marathons and to train for four hours a day, they even turn his foot completely round and set it on backwards before stamping on his other foot to even him out. Some people believe there was nothing wrong with his foot at all and tell him to shut up or tell other people that he is making it up and trying to get attention or just being awkward. Then one Saturday he puts the words "fed up leg hurts" into Google and Google says, that'll be your knee then. Question - will anyone say sorry we misdiagnosed your foot, sorry we didn't believe you? Sorry we made you go through all that pain and we made you worse? Is he entitled to feel bitter, angry, or sad? Should he trust the same people to help him with his knee? At least they were interested in his leg!

Well, that's how I feel about my Sensory Perception Disorder. Will knowing what it is make any difference? Hopefully it will mean I can spot when someone's about to smash my toes. Looking back and feeling angry probably isn't going to help me but whether I have got the energy or trust (or even finances) to explore any treatments available is another matter. SPD is not a well known (or even recognised) condition even though it has been written about since the 1960's.

How must it be for horses then when they are so often misunderstood and perfectly natural behaviour is labelled as naughty, difficult or even arrogant and we try this gadget that gadget and get cross with them for our own lack of understanding. Yet horses will try and try again for us.