pepps001
01-14-2005, 02:01 PM
I work for a ranch that runs drafts on concrete pulling a heavy trolley. One of our horses, a 5 year old Belgian mare (approximately 18hh and 2,000 lbs--she's a big girl) has always had a good deal of bruising in her feet ever since she arrived (prior work was Amish farm plowing--unshod, untrimmed). She works in steel kegs with toe clips all the way around and four uniform borium welds, two on the toe quarters and two on the heels of each shoe. We have two farriers that provide her care--one CJF on CF--both with a good deal of overall and draft experience. Her shoes are hot seated. Of the 28 horses in our herd, the farriers cite this mare's feet as having exceptionally good horn quality. She does have four white socks and four white feet. She does grow a lot of hoof each time and is trimmed and reshod or reset every 6 weeks. We feed her primarily oat and bermuda hay with a one pound scoop of beet pulp/oat mix. She also gets 2 ounces of Grand Hoof daily. We put no hoof dressing on our horses and will treat thrush if it arrises with an effective amount of Thrush Buster.
This mare has had no problems with her feet since we have owned her--almost two years. She is a good worker with good work ethic. Several people that drive her have become concerned that she is lame. At first these people suggested she had hip problems. She was then vet checked twice very thoroughly. Her feet/lower legs have been x-rayed and she shows no sign of sidebone or ringbone. Nor does she show any deformity that might cause lameness issues. The vet found her perfectly sound.
She is slightly pigeon toed in the front and has a bit of a hotter attitude. When she works (we are meant to always walk our horses on the concrete), she walks with a short, animated stride, and her feet make a stabbing motion as they hit the ground. Many drivers cannot keep her at a walk, however, so depending on who is handling her, she can be prone to bouts of jigging or outright trotting.
Pulling up slight hills and through turns where it is more difficult to pull the care, the mare will cross over from right to left (making left turns) with her hind end. The vet examined this as well as examining her pulling the trolley on a normal work day. His suggestion was that it is definitely not lameness but that some amount of cross over in turns is a sign of a healthy and sound horse and that this mare generates her power train from her hind end--chosing to push with her quarters rather than pull with her shoulders.
At maximum the mare will work 3 days a week, not consecutively, 2 hours each shift, for a maximum of 6 hours each week. She also gets a lot of vacation time. Last year she worked a total of 92 days (about 20% of which were not on concrete at all). She is kept mostly in dirt pasture or in a large box stall with 3/4" rubber matting over concrete bedded 8"-12" deep with pine shavings.
Concerned drivers are now suggesting that bruising is causing her "lameness". However, the bruising has never appeared to affect her work or even cause her to be tender. The farriers are aware of her bruising and have been questioned about it on several occasions but are not very concerned as they do not see it is affecting her work.
What is the probable cause of her bruising? Does it appear to be affecting her work? If so, what can be done about the bruising?
Thank you for your feedback. I apologize for the wordiness of the post--just want you to have all the facts to make your best educated guess.
This mare has had no problems with her feet since we have owned her--almost two years. She is a good worker with good work ethic. Several people that drive her have become concerned that she is lame. At first these people suggested she had hip problems. She was then vet checked twice very thoroughly. Her feet/lower legs have been x-rayed and she shows no sign of sidebone or ringbone. Nor does she show any deformity that might cause lameness issues. The vet found her perfectly sound.
She is slightly pigeon toed in the front and has a bit of a hotter attitude. When she works (we are meant to always walk our horses on the concrete), she walks with a short, animated stride, and her feet make a stabbing motion as they hit the ground. Many drivers cannot keep her at a walk, however, so depending on who is handling her, she can be prone to bouts of jigging or outright trotting.
Pulling up slight hills and through turns where it is more difficult to pull the care, the mare will cross over from right to left (making left turns) with her hind end. The vet examined this as well as examining her pulling the trolley on a normal work day. His suggestion was that it is definitely not lameness but that some amount of cross over in turns is a sign of a healthy and sound horse and that this mare generates her power train from her hind end--chosing to push with her quarters rather than pull with her shoulders.
At maximum the mare will work 3 days a week, not consecutively, 2 hours each shift, for a maximum of 6 hours each week. She also gets a lot of vacation time. Last year she worked a total of 92 days (about 20% of which were not on concrete at all). She is kept mostly in dirt pasture or in a large box stall with 3/4" rubber matting over concrete bedded 8"-12" deep with pine shavings.
Concerned drivers are now suggesting that bruising is causing her "lameness". However, the bruising has never appeared to affect her work or even cause her to be tender. The farriers are aware of her bruising and have been questioned about it on several occasions but are not very concerned as they do not see it is affecting her work.
What is the probable cause of her bruising? Does it appear to be affecting her work? If so, what can be done about the bruising?
Thank you for your feedback. I apologize for the wordiness of the post--just want you to have all the facts to make your best educated guess.