Close gate behind, rubbing out feathers

Lydiamae

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Hi,

I have a 3 1/2 year old cob who was lightly beoken last year and is now in his winter off. Ever since I have owned him he has had a close gait behind and rubs the inside of his back feathers off. He doesnt cut or nick himself and he isnt shod.. yet. He is a little show cob however and the close conformation behind and lack of inside hind feather isnt great! Any ideas on how I can help him?

Thanks

You might be able to see in this photo
https://flic.kr/p/QtDQfc
 

ROMANY 1959

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Our big lad was the same, a farrier shod him behind and sorted it out..he does not rub his feathers out behind now.. funny but he never does it when he is fit only when he has a bit of weight on after winter off..
 

HashRouge

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He's lovely!

You might find that this resolves itself when he is brought back into work and builds up some muscle. I wouldn't worry about it now so long as he is only rubbing the hair and not the skin. Let him enjoy his winter off then see how he goes when he's brought back into work.
 

be positive

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He is much smarter than I expected and certainly will show under saddle, give him time to strengthen as he will still be maturing and he may stop brushing behind over the next year or so, when he comes back to work do plenty of slow hacking, up hills if possible to build up the back end and if you really want to show consider using boots to give some protection to the feathers and don't shoe behind unless you absolutely have to.

Depending on his height and movement you could also think about taking the whole lot off and showing him as a show cob, he would eed to be close to 15.1 but to me he looks as if he could be a heavyweight when fully mature.
 

Lydiamae

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Thank you all! & Thank you for your compliments!! It is hard to see beneath all the mud, rugs and hair at the moment!! He is being slowly brought back into work from Feb/March, starting with hacking so hopefully everything will sort itself out!
He is 14.2/3hh now so hopefully will grow anothee inch or 2!
Has anyone had any sucess with the fetlock rings? I read about those!
 

jumbyjack

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My cob was really close behind and did occasionally draw blood. The fetlock sausages worked well, she wore them for ages on both legs. The petal boots lasted about ten minutes, total failure!
 

abbijay

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The close gait behind and the face make me assume he has some shire in there. I know in the heavy horse world they can shoe them to bring the hocks together so perhaps speak to a farrier about doing the opposite with shoeing or trimming. That said, if he is only trimming the hair I really wouldn't worry too much. You could consider a pair of spats or over reach boots to keep them safe but I wouldn't do this unless I was seriously showing and even then only in the season.
He is stunning, I reckon there's space in my Christmas stocking for him!
 

Lydiamae

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The close gait behind and the face make me assume he has some shire in there. I know in the heavy horse world they can shoe them to bring the hocks together so perhaps speak to a farrier about doing the opposite with shoeing or trimming. That said, if he is only trimming the hair I really wouldn't worry too much. You could consider a pair of spats or over reach boots to keep them safe but I wouldn't do this unless I was seriously showing and even then only in the season.
He is stunning, I reckon there's space in my Christmas stocking for him!

Thank you! He does have a bit of a 'small shire' look about him!! You'll need a big stocking containing lots of haylage and pony nuts lol, but I am sure he would oblige! He's a fuss pot!
 
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