Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Pony-Sore

I promised a "Textless Tuesday", but that will have to come later tonight when I upload a couple pics from the show this weekend.

Instead, I have a more important matter; Moon's "soreness". Below are two videos of him moving yesterday in the round-pen (10m?). Thoughts? Ideas?

My best guess remains (or my first hope really), that he's experiencing sole bruising from the hard ground and bugs, coupled with his flat-footedness. I'm awaiting word back from the farrier if she thinks there's anything we can do.

Does it look like anything else to anyone else? I'm trying to pinpoint the affected foot/leg, and *think* left hind?



5 comments:

  1. I can’t see very well from the videos, but it looks like his nearside fore leg is a bit uncomfortable, I also think it could be his back I noticed that the saddle hits the side of the pen a few time during the video when this happens he looks to react badly, like weaving his head, the saddle looks to be a bit too far forward and it doesn’t look to have a very good fit, but I may well be wrong, without being able to feel and look him over in person I can’t be of much help. I think your best assuming it’s a sore foot from hard ground, but you may want to consider his back if the feet prove to be sound, let me know how he gets on.
    Regards
    Edward

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  2. : ) Thanks Edward. I've been thinking about my saddle since Monday as well, knowing that it really isn't a good fit and since I've been using it more lately...add to that the fact that he seemed a bit better when I rode him bareback...My current saddle sure seems to pinch in the shoulders, and chronically runs forward, even if I girth it further back. Never mind it gives me the worst dressage position ever! And of course, Mr. Moon is rather 'curvy', with high withers, little topline and a long back...

    I took out a Wintec gullet measurer, and it pegged him at a medium-wide gullet; this saddle is a medium. I have a sinking feeling that I'm gonna need a new saddle long before Christmas, though I'm going to test out some horse boots tonight and the farrier is going to come out Saturday to have a look at him and see if she can deduce anything.

    Thanks again for the thoughts (apologies for the video quality...someone (ie. me) misplaced their HD videocamera, and was stuck using their camera from 2001! : P ). I'm gonna start my investigation and see what I can figure out!! Horses!

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  3. I believe the head bob is co-inciding with the front left absorbing and transferring his weight as he places the hind right down. Your farrier will be able to pinch his sole and check for bruising. I think that's the most likely cause - drought conditions producing very dry ground, coupled with heavy fly nuisance and lots of stomping.

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  4. He still looks happy and willing - he can't be in too much pain. Don't stress about him too much :)

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  5. Thanks Kiirsten. He's my boy, and I can't help but worry over him...horrible thoughts of navicular and founder and laminitis keep swirling through my head. : (

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