Hi all. I’m a returning horse woman. One of those, grew up in saddles with horns, learned to ride by osmosis, never took an actual riding lesson, rural cowgirl until I moved to the big city for college type girls. Now, after 20 years of not having horses, I have Mac.
I bought Mac two months ago from a local stable that offers, boarding, leasing and trail rides. I was told his owner walked away from him, and from paying his board, about 11 months previously. They had used him on trail rides occasionally and leased him for one month as well.
Not surprisingly, he was underweight, but still fairly well muscled, albeit unevenly (lots of rear from trails but little across the back). All in all, I felt he just needed some good groceries. I skipped the vet check (yes, I know -- dumb!) because they had the SOAP notes from the vet visit only three weeks before that showed all his shots, floating and general good health. Thus far I've kept his exercise pretty much to a walk and trot, with only an occasional canter, and he’s gained about 45 lbs.
The Cliff Notes: He's an 16hh, 11 year old (approx.) Appendix Quarter that looks completely Thoroughbred. He's tattooed so he presumably raced at one time, but he’s also mildly pigeon toed on the front, so I can’t imagine his racing career lasted too long. We discovered last night he has had some solid basic English training before he became somebody’s backyard horse. He’s now shod. His hooves were worn down but he’s seen the farrier every four weeks while we’ve worked on getting some growth for shoes. So he's had a farriers eye on him regularly which leads me to think it's not a farrier fixable issue.
Finally… the question!
Last night Mac and I had our first lesson with a trainer. It became apparent at a canter that he's not sound. When she was riding him I could see, and she could feel, that his left hip seemed to drop out from under him with every stride. This was obvious in the canter but I couldn't specifically see it at a trot. After seeing it happen with another rider, I could recognize that I have felt it myself on the few times we cantered in the paddock so I don't think this is a recent injury. Paying very close attention walking him today I noticed that as he lifts off that hoof, it has a rotation of maybe 25 degrees just before it picks off the ground. In the dirt I could see a slight twist in his hoof track. Visually the leg looks straight from the front, but I don't really know what to look for. There doesn't seem to be any swelling/heat in the leg or the hoof.
The trainer didn’t offer any suggestions on what it might be. Advised keeping to a walk and trot and have a vet check him out.
I have vet coming out Monday, but I'm obviously pretty concerned. I’m curious if this sounds like the traits of any common old injuries for a working horse. I'm not very knowledgeable at this point, but working on it, so don’t shoot me for my ignorance if I’m way off mark. Could this be a bowed tendon that healed improperly? Do you recognize it as any other type of injury?
I bought Mac two months ago from a local stable that offers, boarding, leasing and trail rides. I was told his owner walked away from him, and from paying his board, about 11 months previously. They had used him on trail rides occasionally and leased him for one month as well.
Not surprisingly, he was underweight, but still fairly well muscled, albeit unevenly (lots of rear from trails but little across the back). All in all, I felt he just needed some good groceries. I skipped the vet check (yes, I know -- dumb!) because they had the SOAP notes from the vet visit only three weeks before that showed all his shots, floating and general good health. Thus far I've kept his exercise pretty much to a walk and trot, with only an occasional canter, and he’s gained about 45 lbs.
The Cliff Notes: He's an 16hh, 11 year old (approx.) Appendix Quarter that looks completely Thoroughbred. He's tattooed so he presumably raced at one time, but he’s also mildly pigeon toed on the front, so I can’t imagine his racing career lasted too long. We discovered last night he has had some solid basic English training before he became somebody’s backyard horse. He’s now shod. His hooves were worn down but he’s seen the farrier every four weeks while we’ve worked on getting some growth for shoes. So he's had a farriers eye on him regularly which leads me to think it's not a farrier fixable issue.
Finally… the question!
Last night Mac and I had our first lesson with a trainer. It became apparent at a canter that he's not sound. When she was riding him I could see, and she could feel, that his left hip seemed to drop out from under him with every stride. This was obvious in the canter but I couldn't specifically see it at a trot. After seeing it happen with another rider, I could recognize that I have felt it myself on the few times we cantered in the paddock so I don't think this is a recent injury. Paying very close attention walking him today I noticed that as he lifts off that hoof, it has a rotation of maybe 25 degrees just before it picks off the ground. In the dirt I could see a slight twist in his hoof track. Visually the leg looks straight from the front, but I don't really know what to look for. There doesn't seem to be any swelling/heat in the leg or the hoof.
The trainer didn’t offer any suggestions on what it might be. Advised keeping to a walk and trot and have a vet check him out.
I have vet coming out Monday, but I'm obviously pretty concerned. I’m curious if this sounds like the traits of any common old injuries for a working horse. I'm not very knowledgeable at this point, but working on it, so don’t shoot me for my ignorance if I’m way off mark. Could this be a bowed tendon that healed improperly? Do you recognize it as any other type of injury?