Post by Allyson on Jan 12, 2009 10:17:58 GMT -5
So Cassie has this weird high/low thing going on with her 2 front hooves. Her left foot is upright and clubbish, and her right is long. The right shoulder is also over-developed. She's been this way ever since I've known her. In fact, I remember noticing that the day we picked her up from her temporary foster care hotel in Yakima.
It has never really bothered her, and through the trimmers I've used, its never gotten better or worse. And then last year, I noticed that she was intermittantly lame on a circle. Definitely more lame when girthed up. And she started acting pissy if i got on the saddle.
I think her high/low hoof and shoulder things bother her. So, I talked to this farrier back in December about it, and I'm pretty sure he'll be at the barn in February, so I am going to have him look at Cassie. I know the problem doesn't originate in her hooves, but I do want to see if we can make her comfortable enough so I can work on balancing out her body.
However, she just had a trim 2 weeks ago, and since then, she's been sound. And graceful. And really calm, cool, and collected. Noticeably different.
I read this book last year Straightening The Crooked Horse. And I remember the authors saying that horses will be pissy, unconfident, and spooky when going in a crooked way. Back then I thought "ahh, hogwash"...but now i'm wondering if that has any merit. So I took out the book again last night, this time with Cassie in mind, and sure enough, she sounds like a text-book right-sided individual. There are things I can do to help her, and one of them is trying to help from the hoof-up. The others are exercises on the longe. Unfortunately they do not go into too much detail about those, so I'm not sure if i will be doing them right. But I guess it is worth a shot.
So our next bit of training, per the farrier's request, is to get her used to metal tapping on her hoof. Also her hoof being held between the legs like a farrier does. I know she's had that done before, but lately she's trimmed with her hoof resting on the leg of the trimmer who is kneeling. So she needs to get used to the traditional ways again.
So stay tuned!
It has never really bothered her, and through the trimmers I've used, its never gotten better or worse. And then last year, I noticed that she was intermittantly lame on a circle. Definitely more lame when girthed up. And she started acting pissy if i got on the saddle.
I think her high/low hoof and shoulder things bother her. So, I talked to this farrier back in December about it, and I'm pretty sure he'll be at the barn in February, so I am going to have him look at Cassie. I know the problem doesn't originate in her hooves, but I do want to see if we can make her comfortable enough so I can work on balancing out her body.
However, she just had a trim 2 weeks ago, and since then, she's been sound. And graceful. And really calm, cool, and collected. Noticeably different.
I read this book last year Straightening The Crooked Horse. And I remember the authors saying that horses will be pissy, unconfident, and spooky when going in a crooked way. Back then I thought "ahh, hogwash"...but now i'm wondering if that has any merit. So I took out the book again last night, this time with Cassie in mind, and sure enough, she sounds like a text-book right-sided individual. There are things I can do to help her, and one of them is trying to help from the hoof-up. The others are exercises on the longe. Unfortunately they do not go into too much detail about those, so I'm not sure if i will be doing them right. But I guess it is worth a shot.
So our next bit of training, per the farrier's request, is to get her used to metal tapping on her hoof. Also her hoof being held between the legs like a farrier does. I know she's had that done before, but lately she's trimmed with her hoof resting on the leg of the trimmer who is kneeling. So she needs to get used to the traditional ways again.
So stay tuned!