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Re: [RC] high heel/low heel, asymmetric shoulder - desertrydr1One thing that you can do to manage it is to start your horse in some lateral work. The goal should be to make the horse more supple and able to bend his ribcage (to the extent possible) to follow the curve of a 20 meter circle. The more you bend and stretch the horse, the less the shoulder will bulge.I know many people have already said that there's no way to correct the problem, and they are right about the high/low heel. I would dispute even Dr. Ridgeway, because my mare no longer has a bulging shoulder. When I first noticed it, I measured her for a blanket when she was about 7 years old. I knew she had clubby front feet, with the right heel higher than the left. There was a 4" difference when I measured the right side versus the left side. According to the right side, she needed a 74" blanket, and according to the left, only a 70". The cause is that the horse has a curve to the whole body, caused by several things, and I don't know all of them. One cause is a horse that definitely favors one side, as the rider can note when the horse continually throws her to one diagonal at the trot. All of the people who posted about one shoulder being farther back are right. The muscles on the strong side, with the (more normal hoof configuration) are bigger, more developed and have more tension in them even at rest than the muscles on the weak side. It causes the horse to be curved in the trunk. This happens with all horses to some extent, but horse with a high/low syndrome tend to have more of a problem with the crookedness issue, in my experience. The purpose of the lateral work is to strengthen the weaker side and even up the muscle development. The horse will never lose the high/low syndrome, but it can develop a more even muscling pattern and way of traveling by constantly keeping in mind that it's necessary to post on both diagonals (at first somewhat more to the weak side) and canter on both leads, and also by making lateral work to both sides a regular part of its workout. Things like carrot stretches can only help, too. This is what I found out with my own mare, who is now 23. I need to constantly be vigilant to make sure I'm working properly with her, because she has a tendency after not being ridden for a while to try to throw me onto one trot diagonal or one canter lead. jeri -----Original Message----- From: sandra <sandra.fretelliere@xxxxxxxxx> To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Wed, 11 Feb 2009 10:25 am Subject: [RC] high heel/low heel, asymmetric shoulder Thanks for your answers.
Sorry, I know it can not be fixed, just can be managed, I did not use the proper words. Keep giving me advices/opinions. -- "On the back of a horse I feel whole, complete, connected to that vital place=2 0in the center of me… and the chaos within me finds balance" Know a person with time; know a horse with distance.
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