Dishing....

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jess2353

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my 4yo boy has a slight dish on his 2 fronts.
I have been told with correct shoeing and increased work the problem
Should Correct its self ?

His currently shod on his fronts and the dish only comes from the knee action and not the
Shoulder.

However I have been told
That he'll likely keep going lame ? And if I wanted to show him that this would seriously compromise his placing.
 
my 5 year old did that a year ago - I didn't do any remedial shoeing , I did nothing actually it sorted itself as he became more balanced and mature
 
I have only had experience of two horses that dished moderately. One is my husband's horse, who dishes a lot less at 10 than he did at 4, that's with no corrective measures taken, and who wins at showing at local level. The other went advanced eventing and ended up on the Italian team for the European champs... I wouldn't worry too much.
 
Showing wise it depends what he is. A hack/hunter type will not get away with it whereas a lot of native breeds, especially welsh, seem to get away with. Personally I would not buy a horse that did not move straight if I wanted to show it but as previous poster said you will usually get away with it at lower levels.
 
If he's not pigoen toed and has good straight feet/legs I've heard it can be a sign the horse finds the shoes heavy or cumbersome and causes them to over compensate in their stride :) Do you know if your boy does it without the shoes?
 
jess2353 said:
my 4yo boy has a slight dish on his 2 fronts.
I have been told with correct shoeing and increased work the problem
Should Correct its self ?

His currently shod on his fronts and the dish only comes from the knee action and not the
Shoulder.

However I have been told
That he'll likely keep going lame ? And if I wanted to show him that this would seriously compromise his placing.
Click to expand...

My first pony (14hh New Forest) dished all his life. We bought him at a 7 year old and he dished then, I sold him as a 14 year old and he dished then. He even stood with his front leg slightly turned in too. He never had correction shoes, special treatment or anything and he never once went lame. He was the best little pont ever, amazing at jumping and XC. He's still with the same people I sold him to and he's now a 26 year old retired boy who spends his days as a companion for foals in a grassy field, comes in at night with a huge haynet but still does pony club with a little girl from the village twice a month :-)

Never caused him a problem at all!
 
corrective shoeing is likely to cause strain at the point the dish is created-the knee from what you say in your post-so your sound horse that dishes could become a straight moving horse that is lame.

I would leave well alone and hope that as his body becomes stronger his movement becomes straighter
 
Once the bone plates have closed all you will do with "corrective shoeing" is caise stress problems in the joint. Best to leave well alone. You will probably find that as his chest broadens with maturity and work the dish will improve.
 
One of my old mares used to dish. Just with her left leg from the knee down. Never had a days lameness or illness with her, we used to go hunting/sj regularly. We did unaff dressage up to novice/ elem (On occasions) and never got any remarks about it.
 
Friends horse still doing endurance pleasure rides & hunt rides, dishes, full tb, has raced & by the way she is 25 years young, no lameness or arthritis issues, bog standard shoes, no remedial farriery since it was first shod (probably age about 3). Okay maybe not most desirable if you were going down the centre line with judge watching in a grand prix / olympics, but in reality not a problem. Think you may open can of worms by forcing horse to move against its natural gait. More interested in how foot meets the floor.
 
pip6 said:
Okay maybe not most desirable if you were going down the centre line with judge watching in a grand prix / olympics, but in reality not a problem. .
Click to expand...

That's what I thought until the dishing horse I mentioned earlier ended up on the Italian team at the Europeans the year Zara won it!
 
Our 31yr old shire x dished for England as a 4yr old, everyone laughed at him! Grew out of it as he broadened and is still sound at his advanced age.
 
My mum's hunter Derry dished so much! I used to show her in Working Hunters, and as long as I didn't trot towards or away from the judge we'd usually do really well!

I don't think she had a day's lameness in the 8 years we owned her, she went on to do eventing and showjumping in a pony club home until a grand old age.
 
My cob dished on one side when I got him at aged 7, but since he has lost weight (he was very fat!) and gone barefoot, the problem has disappeared.
Personally, I would avoid any remedial shoeing, maybe even keep him barefoot with lots of roadwork, and see what happens.
 
when I brought him because it is only mild I didn't happen to notice it. :/
I've never had him bare foot but might give it a try through winter because he won't be doing alot of work.
I'm only looking to have a bit of fun with him, few local shows maybe some sj & xc once in a while. He is well schooled for his age but like others have said once he bulks out abit it might correct its self :-)
For those that have asked He is a conny x Tb
 
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Hi,

It may cause a "problem" for a show judge, but my experience is that it probably won't cause your horse a problem. I have known several, the best being my first eventer who dished severely. We used to joke that I would have to go round to scoop the school surface back again after he had worked on the other rein. He evented to intermediate, no lameness. My mum would comment that she could always spot us in the collecting ring as he had such a distinctive way of going. We did not try to change it with shoeing, just kept his feet as balanced as possible.
 
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