We were snowbound yesterday and only saved from the same fate today by the snow plough. On the plus side, it's very pretty! On the down side it makes life physically hard work and the temperature is killing my chest with coughing, just as I have managed to get some decent nights' sleep.
Neither Ace nor Radar are getting any work and of course hunting was cancelled today. But it hardly mattered, Radar is unsound with a probable abscess. He has a warm foot and a soggy bit on his heel that will probably pop by tomorrow. I have no idea why he gets abscesses like this. He gets one every 6-9 months. They don't bother him much and he'll probably be sound on the road when this one opens up.
I am concerned about Woody. He is totally sound in front, but I have had some suspicions that he is not completely happy on his back legs. The difficulty cantering right on the correct lead is one. So is the fact that when I get on, he will usually attempt to walk away backwards, not forwards. It was difficult to tell while his mouth was so unsteady, but as that gets better, the feeling I am getting from the back end is not improving equally.
I rode him in walk in the barn tonight and he was much better in the mouth, but when I jogged him on at the end to test his soundness, he was sound in front but he did not feel completely happy to me on his back legs.
When I finished, I did a flexion test on him on his left hind, and it certainly made him lame and it didn't wear off quickly either.
I need to repeat them on both legs out on a flat hard road and see where we stand. Of course the most likely issues in a hindleg lame horse with nothing to show for it, are hock spavins, followed by suspensory ligament strains below the hocks (PSD), or both at the same time. He does not toe drag, does not appear to have any problems walking downhill, does not put his feet in underneath him as he walks, and has great hock flexion when he trots in the field, none of which suggest spavins. On the other hand, PSD would be just as bad, or even worse because it obviously can't be cured with rest - he's already had a year.
This is a wait and see situation, and just one of those things that horses throw at us. It may be nothing at all and he may be as sound as you would expect of a ten year old horse when I repeat it. It may be that he is lame on flexions but stays sound in regular work, plenty of horses are like that. It may be a disaster waiting to happen. We'll just have to see.
Oh dear, that is a bit of a worry about Woody. One of those things you lie in bed and thing about. Hope it turns out to be nothing serious.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, fell asleep with it in my head last night of course :-)
DeleteHe walks so well by himself, I am still hopeful that it is just nothing. The barn is not a fair test, it's too small and the surface is lumpy. But the road is still iced over so further investigation will have to wait.
There are stifle issues too. Hopefully it's something easy to treat either with proper exercise or some kind of therapy.
ReplyDeleteThe snow is always pretty to look at as long as you don't have to do any kind of work out in it. Once again, I am trying to send you some sunshine, but it's been pretty scarce here too, so there's not much to give.
Don't go there Jean! As you know the stifle is the human knee, which you know to your cost is a very complex joint and even worse in a horse. Thankfully, it's much more likely to be lower down, statistically speaking.
DeleteHopefully we will find it was a temporary tweak from something he has done messing around with the others.
C