Flying changes on the top of a hill with a view for over 50 miles in the brilliant sunshine and a cooling breeze. You can't beat it, can you? He finds them difficult on the uneven ground but I figure that it's good practice as long as I don't get at him if he doesn't get them right.
Jazz has suddenly produced a very, very deep central sulcus in the frog of each front foot. One is far too high up his bulbs for (my) comfort, but he does this on a fairly routine basis over the years. His back feet do it every single spring, and then shed the frog completely and throw up a nice flat new one. I will be using peroxide 3% on them to keep them clear of thrush down in those murky depths, until they fill up.
I nippered off Butties extra hind foot height. He was such a good boy, I didn't even tie him up! It must have taken all of two minutes a foot.
I decided that it was time for some roadwork for Ace. I think I mentioned that I felt his feet were growing too slowly and that I wanted to keep him off the road for the week. He has developed more concavity in the hind feet, his worse pair, so out we went. He didn't nap once and he was very sure on his feet, even across some stones which the rain had washed out across the tarmac. I can't help but wonder if the two are connected - did he nap because his feet ached? It seemed a bit excessive as a reaction when he was completely sound, but he's a sensitive boy, so who knows.
He still has some appalling quality white line at the front of his foot, and the hoof itself still splits into inner and outer hoof wall as it gets to the floor. The back, shorter, part of the foot is fine, and I think this is the last of the foot he grew before he came to me and got his diet straight. I certainly hope so, because if he grew this with me them we still have something badly out of kilter.
He also appears to be growing in a steeper angle with the top half of the foot, which is interesting because no-one would have suggested that there was anything wrong with the foot angle before. He is also growing extensions, just small ones, on the inside of each front foot. I think this is to compensate for the fact that his cannon bones turn out slightly from just below the knee. You have to look quite hard to see it, but his feet reflect it clearly if you know how to look (mostly lying flat on your face in the dirt :-)
It will be fascinating to see how he moves when he finally has a foot the shape he wants
C
ps OK OK I know, you want some photos!
Of course photos!!! Particularly interested in the inner wall/outer wall separation. That's tricky to diagnose treat, and so far I've found that its due to a diet too low in protein. Fixed it in two different horses by increasing the protein in their diet.
ReplyDeleteOoh, interesting! Diet at the time that hoof was growing, for a growing young horse, was low quality big bale haylage only with no balancer or any other food. Protein deficit would fit that, I think! It would also explain why he has taken an absolute age to gain any stamina, especially so for a lightweight horse, who usually get fit on my hills in an instant. His muscles must have been severely depleted, hence the poverty lines which he still has on his rump.
ReplyDeleteI love this horse game, you just keep on and on and on learning.
C.
Yes, indeedy...photos. And don't think they won't be exciting enough. I posted pics of mown lawn and sleeping cats on my blog!
ReplyDeleteWorking on the uneven ground should be good for Jazz's schooling, actually. He will learn much better balance and master the exercises since they are a bit more difficult in the footing.
Ace and the napping remind me so much of Tucker. He is sensitive too and must make any discomfort clear me. Better to listen and look for a cause than force things along until you are sure it's not physical.
How nice to hear how well Buttie behaved. So many people with little dogs think they don't need to be trained to have manners. I wonder if little equines are often treated the same.
Yup, my yearling was the first one I fixed. Of course perfect care as I'd bred her, so you can imagine how shocked I was when her wall started to separate. Called Jackie Taylor, and she pinpointed the issue. I put her on Red Horse Growcare Balancer, 30% protein - much better than the rest on the market and it came right in 3 months. Her coat and topline improved also and she's now 2, still on that balancer and has grown so evenly throughout that people don't see that she's young, she's so well made.
ReplyDeleteI told KC La Pierre, and he said of course its protein, its the body's building block, and when its in short supply the feet are last in the queue as the body uses if first for vital organs and bone growth. Makes sense eh?
xx
Exactly Jean. I take a lot of stick on a forum I use because I physically discipline my horses, but Buttie only bit once in his life and never again and everyone loves what a well behaved litte man he is, even people who hate Shetlands.
ReplyDeleteHoof wall separtation due to protein deficiency isn't widely known, is it Tracey. You're the first who has suggested it to me. Ace's feet look like we've reached the end of the bad stuff, so fingers crossed I had his diet right back in January. The cubes he is on are over 10% protein as I recall.
C
ps SH's birthday today so on Slave Duties all day.
I'm just reporting my own findings on protein, but I'll continue to test it out on any more I come across :)
ReplyDeleteMy youngster only bit once too, she got a sharp smack on the nose and that was that. If they are reprimanded immediately with physical intervention, they understand it and learn from it. Its what their mothers would do to them after all.
I just don't understand what the current horror of hitting horses is. I say online "they do it to each other" and most people tell me that they don't. And the rest tell me that just because they do it to each other is no reason for us to do it to them, but as far as I am concerned all I'm doing is talking in their language.
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