Bryan H.

Columbus, GA, United States

Posted

15 Jul 15:12

Have a great 7 year old gelding part Hancock QH.  Smart, curious, all the things you'd want except one.  He already has arthritis in right hock. Nothing in a PPE and no real issue for nearly a year but now it's a clear issue.  He can walk all day up and down small hills but with a rider anything more is painful...he'll do it if I push after extended warm up but it doesn't go far.  

I'm asking for some recommendations.  

1. He is protective of that side(his right) so I've been doing more from that side to help him get more comfortable with it. On his left he is great with sidepass...but his right is just sticky.  Any recommendations with that?

2. Since he has arthritis, I've focused on making him the best at what he can do and that's led to obstacles. I don't have access to much land and we're usually riding alone. Would love recommendations beyond the standard obstacles and any other activities to engage his feet and mind.  

Thanks very much. 

Lucas Truax Much better.  Still on anti inflammatory but is back to be great partner.  We're slowly working up to trotting. He has a little difficulty transitioning from firm to a soft surface so we're doing some short light training and then trail walks. Thanks for asking. 

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Richard Boatwright Finally got a full wellness check and X-rays. Some wear on his right rear tarsal bones.  A bit of treatment and meds.  Looking forward to first (very light) ride with him Sunday. 

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Richard Boatwright    Good checkup with the vet. Was due for dental but that wasn’t the issue. Looks like strained right (primarily) hip, left is a little tight but more pronounced on the right. Good news is he is recovering well, relatively quickly, and getting behaviorally back to normal; though I am not riding him yet. I think the injury may be from working in an area with very soft and relatively deep sand which affected his footing.

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Richard Boatwright I do take him out on trails and am getting him introduced to cattle slowly. Based on yesterday I made an appointment for a vet check.  He's dragging that foot a bit more and has a pretty good chip in his hoof from doing that.  Think there's something going on with right rear leg. The bit chewing/ constant mouth action is back without me even touching the reins. 

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I’ve been working with him for over six months. I essentially restarted him because he had so many holes in his training. I used the snaffle bit basics series to help with this. Lately, we’ve been working on roll-backs and smoothing out setting up the lope and transitions. I don’t see any changes in his demeanor until I am mounted. I did notice lunging yesterday that for the first time he was dragging his right rear toe a little at a trot to the left. No resistance to trotting, but a slight drag. He did have a little protest when trotting right but got over that quickly and no toe dragging. Thanks much.

Didn’t video it yet…need to charge the Pivo. I did try a basal yesterday. No more constant mouth action (not really a surprise), no resistance to moving in a particular direction but still heavy resistance to trotting. 

Posted

24 Sep 19:52

Looking for a little advice. My 6 yo has become a little fractious lately. Great attitude from the ground, including at liberty. No issue saddling and he takes the bit without any prompting.  We’ve had a few changes at the barn and between that and weather I have not been riding/ training as often as usual (2-3 times per week vs 5). He has started resisting right turns (head down and pulling, tail twisting a bit). I’ll make going to the left more work and he’ll return back to the right for a bit and then the struggle begins again (slight rearing and protesting). He’ll also trot a few circles when asked but after a few will start to tighten up a bit and lope. I’ll bring him down before he gets too tight and things get a little interesting. Throughout this, I’ve noticed he is constantly working his mouth and I mean constantly.  He doesn’t have a foamy mouth, and I like to think I’m giving gentle cues, but his mouth doesn’t stop. The bit is a D-Ring snaffle with a full bridle. I’ve made a dental appointment and well-check but looking to see if anyone has any  other advice. I am going to take a video of the next ride to see where it starts to shift.

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Richard Boatwright Thanks for the advice.  Quick turnaround with no drama.  

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Richard Boatwright Thank you very much.  Will follow up on how it goes.  

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