Tetley update, poor boy.
Tetley is unsound in both hind legs. On a hard surface he is struggling, and just occasionally one of them "gives way". I took him out for a slow walk, but I don't think he was happy and I will keep him on the flat and more giving surfaces in the barn and on the arena until he is. He appears sound at trot even on a small circle - because he is equally lame in both. The only way you can tell what's going on is that if you know him you would know that he has a huge stride. The stride he is producing now is probably only half as long. The other way I can tell is his heels - today I took a moulding of the heels in his worse back foot and this is the result:
The height of hoof wall at the seat of corn is identical. The heels are level from the outside. This difference in height is entirely internal, in the collateral groove next to the frog. The higher one is the one on the inside of the hoof. His other hoof would produce a very similar result. Until these level up, I will know that he is having problems.
I tidied Tia up today for her competition tomorrow. It was a little warm to need a rug but I couldn't face the possibility of what I might find at six tomorrow morning if I didn't! I hope she does as well as she did at Wilmslow's local event. We will both enjoy ourselves if so :-)
I hacked Caddy out but he was very lacking in forwardness and felt like a pony. We spent a lot of the time in a bend to stop him dropping his shoulders and stiffening his back.
Let me know what you think of the Tetley pic.
C
posted by cptrayes @ 5:06 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Tetley pic? Its looking a bit rocky!
I don't know enough about the feet to make comment. Still, poor Tetley's lameness speaks for itself. I would think his hoofs would be showing some serious changes. I feel so sorry for the guy, but maybe the crisis is a turning point. We can only hope.
Tucker was bit naughty in my lesson today, bucking into the canter on the right in two attempts at depart. He doesn't do this regularly, so I'm not sure what it was all about, but part of it was not being foward enough at the point of departure. I guess I have some work to do as I thought he was over that kind of behavior. *sigh*
Horses...they never cease to amaze me.
You build up more concavity by work and pressure so it sounds like one side of the hoof is doing more than the other. Have you checked the digital cushions and lateral cartliges, are they even? My guess is that the side of the foot with the deeper concavity would be the stronger side.
Is he growing more heel on the more deeper side?
From a trimming point of view it's interesting, do you continue to balance the foot regardless, or do you let the foot come out of balance if that's what it's trying to do itself because of the hock?
I think I'd keep the foot in balance myself.
I'm about to rehab a new horse who has got arthritis in one hock. The shoes haven't come off yet but it will be interesting to see how the hind feet compare a few months down the line.
Sorry guys I should have reminded you. Shoeing for spavin is to build up the inside of the shoe or thin the outside. Tetley simply does this for himself when he is in trouble with it. So Tracey, no I don't balance them. If you look at the sole, they are already balanced, the hoof wall height is level to the seat of corn. I tried taking the inside down once and he absolutely scalped the outside edge of his foot :-000000!
Bucking in canter depart can be high spirits, lack of balance or pain can't it Jean - or all three in Tucker's case maybe :-)
Trish you remind me of a test I did once when the leg which wasn't visible to the judge was digging a spur into the horse as hard as I dared and he still wasn't moving forwards! Perhaps better what you got than what he might have done as a stallion in company, I guess?
C
Not sure if you are talking about Tetley's prospects or my drystone wall Mandeigh! I agree with you either way.
Interesting point Trish - in the UK she wouldn't be allowed to do 4* on a horse that size in the old days, the height limit was 15 hands. I went to check the rules and it's changed to 148cms (I think about 14.2hh) If you get a truly exceptional one, they can do it though, can't they? I'd still rather be on a biggun.
C
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