Re: RC: hoof flight path

[Marv Walker <Marv@MarvWalker.com>]

> Had someone else ride my horse today so I could observe his stride.  He has
> been nicking the left rear leg  at the coronet band for a few weeks.
> Almost every ride same small raw area.  Started using a no turn boot to
> protect the leg but wanted to see what is going on.  He breaks over
> straight in front and on the left rear hoof.  Right rear hoof he breaks
> over to the left of center and the leg travels inward coming very close to
> the left leg each stride.   He also appears to travel narrow in the back,
> by that I mean his feet are very close - maybe two to three inches apart
> while moving.  When standing still and square his feet are more like 8
> inches apart.  He is 6 years old and tall 16'1 hands.  What types of
> training will help him develop a wider base to his strides?   We have been
> doing more hills to strengthen his rear end but I notice my other horse -a
> 15 year old mare who is very strong up hills- gets very wide behind and
> pushes with both legs.   How can I encourage this in the 6 year old?

Before I would look for ways to develop a wider base to his 
strides I think I would look for causes as to why he travels 
narrow.

You say in the beginning of your email that he has "been nicking
the left rear leg at the coronet band *for a few weeks*".  I would 
wonder if anything unusual happened between the time he wasn't 
clipping and he was.  Your description, as sparse as it is, sounds 
almost like he's lame.

Are his hips "level"?  Are they both equally developed?  Are either 
of his hooves more rounded at the toe than the other?  Is his stride 
the same on both sides?  Is one side straight and the other tipped 
in?  Is his tail centered?  Does he have any lumps or swelling in 
the loin/lumbar area?  

Before I tried any training techniques or exercises I'd have an 
equine ch*ropr*ctor examine the horse.  About half of the horses 
who are brought to me for problems need chiropractic attention.
Whenever possible I arrange to have a chiro at my appearances and
the positive differences the chiro makes are dramatically apparent.
Hopefully, the Murfeesboro TN clinic Nov 11-12th will have one on
the premises.

One of the horses at my last clinic had one hip a good inch higher 
than the other, scooped dirt with a shorter, quicker stride on the 
high side.  He was very lame and it was only after I suggested to 
everyone there that they compare sides of the horse to each other 
that they saw it as well.  This horse had seen numerous vets with 
a clean bill of health.  The owner told me about finding an 8 foot 
gate trashed and torn down and the horse gone on a cross country 
ramble a few years earlier (about the time his behavioral problems 
started). I would be willing to bet that was was when he was injured.

Nothing moves over the face of the earth without leaving a mark 
- nothing.  Those marks contain volumes of information for those 
who read the marks.  One of the best diagnostic tools you can 
have is a sandy area.  Moisten it and rake it smooth then lead 
your horse across it and compare the hoof prints to each other.  
When you see one that stands out as being odd, try to recreate 
the pattern with your own foot.  That will give you a very good 
idea of how the leg worked that made the print.  If you go to
http://MarvWalker.com/images/badprint.jpg you'll see a right-
rear print that has pressure ridges from 11 to 5 o'clock.  When 
you go to http://MarvWalker.com/images/prints.jpg you'll see a 
print from the same right-rear along a left-rear.  To recreate 
that print pattern you need one leg operating normally and fluidly, 
you need the other twisting as it lifts off.

I can walk the horse that made these tracks in front of 100 people 
and I'll bet 98 of them wouldn't notice the right rear twist.  Yet, 
I would rule this horse out of any endurance racing because of the 
rotation.

Marv "Tracks are nature's books." Walker  
-- 
Upcoming 2000 Clinics 
Madison (Atlanta) GA Oct 14-15, 2000
Murfeesboro (Near Nashville) TN, Nov 11-12, 2000
http://MarvWalker.com/clinic.htm