Hind Leg Mystery

How do you know...?


It was almost three years ago when I bought Grace and she joined my herd of two to become three.

She was perfect - met all my criteria, (OK was a little taller than I'd planned...), passed my trainers keen eye and so she came to live with us.

The great thing about getting to know a horse is how suddenly all the small things that you take for granted with your other horses, become noticeable in the new horse, especially when absent!

With Grace one of the first things I noticed was that she wouldn't pick up her hind feet to have them picked out.

She's a heavy girl, and to say the least it was quite a battle.  Not many of us, enjoy battling with back legs on a horse we barely know.  Bottom line was the only way I (or others) could pick out her feet was to let her rest her foot on its toe.  Then with  my head almost on the floor, I'd try to see what I was doing and pick away.

She was barefoot behind (and still is).

This troubled me.  At first I thought 'is she lazy'? Instinct said that was a pretty lame excuse.  It was only six months later that suddenly things changed.

The cause of the change?  I removed her front shoes too.  It was a stressful, worrying time, going barefoot for the first time, with your dream dressage horse, against the vets advice.  What faced me underneath those shoes was horrific for a 6 year old, and convinced me that barefoot couldn't be any worse!

Right Fore at 6 years of age, when I removed her shoes.  No part of the foot is healthy! March 2012

Left Fore. Awful structures - lack of! March 2012

However, within just a few weeks of those shoes coming off, I suddenly noticed she was able to lift her hind feet actually off the floor.

I still had to do the work and hold her legs while picking out.  She didn't hold her own weight voluntarily but there was definitely air clearance off the floor!

For the last three years, she's become very responsive and helpful and offers to lift each foot as you approach.  I can only conclude that as she became more comfortable in her front feet she was able to weight bear on them more, in order to lift her hinds up.

However, last night, two and a bit years on, and there was another small but significant change.  Suddenly not only did she lift her hinds as I went from foot to foot, but she actually held her own foot up in the air, without me having to bear all her weight of it and her back end!

It was very noticeable - just ask my poor old back!

So, I'm posting about it.  Why? What's different?  The only thing that has suddenly changed is the fact that for the last week she has been living out, with very little stable time.  She has a large paddock to roam around in.   Nothing else has changed.

Grace on the right (Solar over on the left)

I can only conclude that with more room to move, and more time out moving, her back end is toning up and she has less tension and more ability for self carriage - (not the way dressage riders dream of) but hey ....!

Thing is, last night she also lunged like a schoolmaster - a total pro, I was so proud, (somewhat surprised too given we've only been at our new yard for one week).  The old woman was watching and commented that "she looked so relaxed" and she did - throughout her whole body.  For example I had noticed (and this was before the feet picking out experience) how much more movement she had through her hocks and how much she was stepping underneath herself.

So, how do you know ...when your horse is getting enough turn out?  When small things shift and change especially in areas that you previously took for granted.

I share these observations assuming others may have noticed similar 'small things' about their horse, that defy explanation, but which surely if we notice them, when they don't seem right - probably aren't!  That in itself beckons us to keep looking for solutions and not to quickly assume we have a 'lazy' horse or 'disobedient one'.

I can't take credit for knowing these benefits would be realised, although I can take credit for being obsessed about giving my horses turnout above all other priorities.

One very pleased human.

Presumably one comfortable horse too!

For completeness the same front feet photographed on Friday August 15th  2014....

Right fore.

Left fore

Back to Basics

Some days you can't beat a good old fashioned Party Political Broadcast! Today it's my turn...

 

This weekend I moved my small herd of horses.  It's not a decision I take lightly.  In fact its a tough call given how stressful it can be for horses.   Any lifestyle and relocation change can be thwart with potential minefields and sometimes....

 

"the Devil you know" can be better than the devil you don't! 

 

That being said, I made the decision for all the right reasons and so we moved. 

Arriving to 'healthy presents' for the horses, a welcome card for me, horse beds to die for, the freshest looking water and more hay than I've ever seen..... the Pièce de résistance waited outside - huge paddocks with post and rail fences, with rounded corners and naturally growing Plantain.

None of which is the point of this blog.  The point is that just like politicians can be accused of lacking creativity sounding like an old record banging on about 'the basics' to win votes, I find myself guilty of the same.

What I loved about keeping my horses DIY apart from it being all my responsibility, was the belief that it didn't need to be complicated.  Keeping horses can be simple and easy - rarely cheap, but when we get it right, it can be low maintenance.

Giving horses dry, clean beds, daily fresh water and ad lib hay means we are going a long way towards maximising their  health. Add to this plenty of fresh air, turn out (24 x7 ideally) and their physical system and emotional well being are given movement and stimulation.  When it comes to prevention being better than cure this is the golden formula: 

Fresh air + Fresh Water + Forage + Freedom to move + Friendship  

= A horse chosen lifestyle!

 To go back to basics has reared its charming head today in three small ways:-

1. Do horses need feeds?  

If I strip it down then my herd only needs food for two honest reasons:  Firstly so that I can administer some James Hart Tonics and their probiotic powder daily, and secondly, when they have weight loss issues, but if health causes are ruled out then the cause of weight loss is often man made.

Bottom line: if they have enough forage (grass and hay) 

why would they need man made food? 

2. Stable or Paddock; Stable or Paddock?

Most of us crave a natural lifestyle for our horses where they can live out,  24 x 7 (age and condition dependent during the winter months).  So, why then when we have a massive paddock do we still bring them in at all?  They aren't going to school or work like we did or have to!  

Why not leave them out, check them over of course, 

attend to feet, etc but leave them out?

3. To groom or not to groom?

Ever noticed how good horses coats can look when left to nature?  Allowed to roll in dust, sand, have the sun on their backs (not through fly sheets) and have the rain massage their skin all help nature do it's thing and keep a horses skin oils in natural balance.  

Grooming the way horses do with each other for mutual gain makes sense, 

I'm not sure other motives are as justified

There are no guaranteed answers.  Each horse is individual.

As carers, we can offer our horses different levels of what they are born for, due to many different reasons.  If however, moving yards gives us an opportunity to re-assess how we keep our horses, and re-examine the basics, then the stress of moving and the uncertainty may just be well worth it.

Essy and Solar are in this scene I promise!