About this Blog

Meet my very 1st horse, Lazarus.
I couldn't wait for Santa anymore or ask one more time for a pony for my bday (after age 30 it got embarrassing). I took matters in my own hands and I finally decided to pick a pony that needed a new home. Laz found me as I contemplated with this idea. He was sweet yet very sassy, fresh off the track, Thoroughbred (OTTB).
Join us for our re-training, rehabbing from laminitis and testing all parts of mixed up horsemanship and partnership, and luck...

Monday, July 11, 2011

Clubbin' it

 Hives are much much better!
In fact, dare I say, they aren't Hives right now...they are just bug bites.
The vinegar/water trick is amazing.
I went this morning to spray the Big Brown Boy but a down pouring storm (lighting!!!) came in a flash.
I had bought a new spray (Endure) that I've read good things about to test out.
I so wish I could continue with the natural horse spray but they really aren't enough for his protection.
If this doesn't work any better, I'll go back to the natural.
See below, glossy skin and less bumps. Still has some along belly and shoulders and rump but neck is clear
 No more swollen neck-thank god.  That really freaked me out.

So, let's change gears and talk about Club Feet.
Laz has a club foot on his Right Front.
See below; that is his grazing stance....always.
ALWAYS the RF back.
Always.
I can about a billion pictures of him grazing and they all look like below.

 So what creates a Club Foot?
Seems there may be more to it than we know.
Bowker mentioned he's researching more about it.
Michelle and I talked about it.
Either the one leg is shorter (ie the clubbier) and so the hoof grows at a steeper angle, to get to the bottom quicker.  An example was the fastest way from A to B is a straight line.
What is interesting is how it effects the shoulder.
See below; his non club leg/shoulder
 Below; his club shoulder, pushed back as he was grazing
 Back shots

My personal theory...Laz has a short neck in comparison to his long legs.  So, he has to extend one leg back, and being he seems to be Right handed, that is the leg he chooses.  I'm sure I could be way way wrong...it's just MY personal theory.  
What are your thoughts?
Does your horse have a club?
I'm willing to bet, it's on the right leg.
***
Saturday, was HOT.
Mason got hosed off about 17 times
 
I scrubbed the boys water tank clean and replaced with yummy fresh water

"Hi Mom...I'm hots again....more pwease"
 Rainbows bring Chocolate :)

 I rode the sweet Lazaroo for about 45 minutes.
We walked (except for one tiny canter up a hill on grass-it was our 1 second of xc'ness) lol
I rode bareback in shorts/flip flops/tank top yanked up to tan my WHITE stomach and a helmet.
yikes.
Thankfully no one saw me except for some country bumpkin hauling his 4 wheeler than made Laz spook out in the front yard.  
 We had a great few property trail rides very successfully
Look at this happy ears!

And a little video for you:


And..do you all drink this?
Coconut water (not milk)
It re-hydrates you wonderfully (oh, and it also cures a nasty hangover)

11 comments:

  1. I love this post! Very interesting about his conformation. I don't know much about club feet but your theory sounds solid to me...

    I am so glad the hives are retreating. Such a good trick, that vinegar bath!

    Your ride sounds so relaxed and happy. I am also cursed with the forever white legs and farmer's tan.

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  2. Yep, every horse I've known with a club foot has had it in the right front. A lot of people believe, as you said, that it all starts with the grazing stance. And I recall Pete Ramey saying something about the club foot possibly starting from a problem higher up, like in the shoulder. Fascinating, right?!

    My old boy Mac had a club foot, yep, right front. When I first got him, the farrier was doing such a horrible job that his front knees were uneven by an inch!! Seriously, now that I have learned so much about hooves, I feel really, really bad for Mac -- I'm sure I could have gotten him much more comfortable if I had found Candy sooner!

    I'm sure it feels great to be back on your boy! (Although I do shudder at the thought of riding in flip-flops, lol!)

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  3. Club feet can be caused by a million different things. It comes down to tendons in the end with the flexor tendon usually being contracted which causes the foot to grow that way and they aren't always on the right foot or the front feet even. A club foot is defined as a foot of 60 degrees or higher. Normally in foals it could be injury, nutrition (BIG BIG BIG ONE! I seen 5 foals at this farm one year of completely different breedings and horse/pony breeds and all 5 had club feet by the time they were yearlings on different feet. They didn't feed very good forage and had a strange grain system for broodmares) Because the knees are immovable after 6 months of age a young horses leg will continue to grow that way, much like a toed out or in it's how the horses hoof grows when they are young. Injury when they are older to tendons and ligaments can cause club feet. Improper shoeing, short shoeing and the list goes on.

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  4. the knee bones* not the whole knee. Thats a whole other ball of wax in the area of angular limb deformities.

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  5. Yes, I think there are MANY contributions to what can/could create a club foot. I'm sure it's different for each horse too. What is strange though, is if you ask people; the majority of the club feet are in the Right Front, I didnt say ALL where. I think nutrition has SO much to do with hooves, SO much. It seems there could be a small issue that turns into a larger one thus creating a club.

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  6. My Pie has a Right Front club foot. That hoof always flares as it grows. He is a gorgeous mover from the side, but straight on, he wings on that foot. He also goes lame on that foot about once a year.

    So glad Laz's hives are better. Bugs are bad. Hate them and nothing works for me - I'll be interested to see if your new spray works.

    Mason is the cutest rainbow swimmer.

    What a great ride! Way to go!

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  7. Tucker does have one front that is a little more upright than the other, though I wouldn't call it a club foot, and yes, you guessed it -- it's the RF. Very interesting post, now I am going to have to look at my grazing photos of Tucker too! Loved the video, your boy's ears are so adorable. Yay no hives!

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  8. Both of mine are clubbed on the LEFT fore, must have been a gift from mama.

    I tried to trim my gelding's club foot down to match the right fore and he went lame. I checked his knees and his left knee was 1/4" lower than the right with the lowered heels. I won't be making that mistake again! His left leg is definitely shorter than his right.

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  9. Chrome has a rear club hoof. It's probably partly genetics (Friesian seem prone to it in the rear), partly nutrition (was feeding starchy feed the breeder used until I learned better) and partly because he wasn't trimmed until he was too old to change anything (again lack of knowledge on my part since I've only been around one weanling in my life lol). So there are probably a lot of factors. The grazing theory does seem common and probably exacerbates a tendon issue for sure. I've read somewhere that the main problem is that people don't trim their foals.

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  10. Yup! And actually, Gogo's clubbier foot is on the left! She, like Laz, always stands in that neverending one-foot-forward-one-foot-back position.... that short necked warmblood foal problem. Never has given her a problem, never has really changed. Probably never will - she still stands like that when she eats.

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  11. My Napa has a club right front foot. It's not only higher, but smaller than the left, and has a thin sole. She's recovering from a nasty stone bruise right now, and in the future will be wearing EasyBoots on rougher terrain, which is most of it, since we live in the desert.

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