Mackenzie J.
09-20-2004, 10:45 PM
I have a 12 yr. old 1/2 Quarter Horse, 1/2 Arab mare that is used as a lesson horse. She's an easy keeper...a little on the heavier side. I wouldn't call her fat, but she does hold good muscle and is...well, an easy keeper. (Her diet is 2 flakes of hay am,noon,pm, and a handful of grain [to help her from feeling left out] am/pm. She gets 3 hours of turnout from 6-9 in the morning on good grass pasture).
When we got her just this past June, she had a thin, shallow vertical crack running from toe to coronary. At the coronary band was a scar, to which we attributed the crack. She also has thin soles.
Just recently, within the past several days, I have noticed a good deal of widening of the crack. It is also getting deeper, and chipping at the toe. When looking at her walk, one can almost see the crack expand/detract as she walks. The opposite foot is also starting a crack at the toe.
My farrier said that her feet have been of good moisture content; not too dry, not too wet. She does come in with very wet feet in the morning from all the dew in the grass. She has long toes and no heels, windpuffs at the fetlocks. The first time we got her shod by my farrier we thought that there'd be a ton of toe to take off from how they looked, but there was almost nothing to trim. She was basically on an 8 week schedule because she grew nothing...until now--she was shod 4 weeks ago, has grown a lot of toe, and the cracks have developed.
As we're still building our lesson program, she is used for 2 lunge lessons Friday mornings and is ridden lightly during the week. She's definitely not getting a lot of exercise now that I'm back in school, but isn't just sitting around either. She plays in turnout with her buddy, and has never turned up lame.
What I was wondering was why the sudden worsening of the crack? What could this be attributed too. I'm assuming that we'll have to clip her this time around because of the crack. She's shod in plain steel all the way around. Any other suggestions? My farrier will be here on Friday.
Thanks so much for your time and help. :)
Mac ;)
When we got her just this past June, she had a thin, shallow vertical crack running from toe to coronary. At the coronary band was a scar, to which we attributed the crack. She also has thin soles.
Just recently, within the past several days, I have noticed a good deal of widening of the crack. It is also getting deeper, and chipping at the toe. When looking at her walk, one can almost see the crack expand/detract as she walks. The opposite foot is also starting a crack at the toe.
My farrier said that her feet have been of good moisture content; not too dry, not too wet. She does come in with very wet feet in the morning from all the dew in the grass. She has long toes and no heels, windpuffs at the fetlocks. The first time we got her shod by my farrier we thought that there'd be a ton of toe to take off from how they looked, but there was almost nothing to trim. She was basically on an 8 week schedule because she grew nothing...until now--she was shod 4 weeks ago, has grown a lot of toe, and the cracks have developed.
As we're still building our lesson program, she is used for 2 lunge lessons Friday mornings and is ridden lightly during the week. She's definitely not getting a lot of exercise now that I'm back in school, but isn't just sitting around either. She plays in turnout with her buddy, and has never turned up lame.
What I was wondering was why the sudden worsening of the crack? What could this be attributed too. I'm assuming that we'll have to clip her this time around because of the crack. She's shod in plain steel all the way around. Any other suggestions? My farrier will be here on Friday.
Thanks so much for your time and help. :)
Mac ;)