Sound enough for light riding?

[Juliane]

When I brought Buddy home, he was walking strangely - his hind end seemed wobbly and stiff at the same time. He wasn't lame, necessarily, but he had a funny 'walk' in the hind. His left hind pastern is very enlarged, though not hot to the touch. He doesn't react when I press on the enlarged area. He does seem to have some heat in his left hind hock, and that is painful when palp'd.

I was told that he may have ringbone in his left hind pastern, which could be what caused the strange walk. Though, it could also be due to his very, very long hooves.





I have had Buddy trimmed by my farrier, Margo. He seemed to be in immediate relief when she was done. I also asked her to watch him trot and see if she saw any lameness or him being 'off' at all. She was not able to detect any lameness!!!

So, then we decided to do a flexion test on both the pastern and the hock areas and see if he trotted off sound. He did! So, maybe the long feet were what was causing the stiffness?

Here's his feet after the trim:





I will ask Dr. Deward his opinion tomorrow morning, but may need to have x-rays done to see if Buddy can be sound enough for a light riding mount. He is apparently well broke, though this has not been confirmed yet.

[Altanera]

Wow his feet looks much better! I wonder if he does not have a minor case of scratches as that is his only white leg and it is a tad swollen.

I hope it is nothing serious!

[RockinCircleC]

If he ends up being sound enough, and level-headed enough, then there might be a home for him closer than you think. Just thinking out loud on that one!

[cat_67]

He must feel so much better with those feet fixed!

[kidholly]

Wow! Nice trim job! Hopefully, having such long toes was the biggest part of his problem.