Woolly Hat n Wellies
Well-Known Member
Hi,
I share two horses (and a mini Shetland!) with my friends when I'm home from uni. One, Lady, is a 15.2hh TBX who will turn 6 this year. She has had a pretty slow start to her education due to various unfortunate circumstances, so she's pretty unbalanced at the moment, but we are working on this with schooling and pole work, and some little jumps, which she absolutely adores (We go out and do little clear round courses, more for the experience of being out than anything else, but she is getting quite brave over scary fillers etc - we did one with big eyes painted on it last time!). She is also quite knock-kneed, I will attempt to post a pic below.
My question is: As she gets her balance (which is improving slowly, but which isn't helped, I don't think, by the dishing of her front legs in trot) will her knock knees limit what she can do? We aren't really into showing, which is obviously not going to be for her, but we are doing local intro dressage with ambitions for unaf. prelim in the future, the jumping, as I've said, which we would like to take further as she is keen but sensible, and we'd like to try a little xc, fun rides, things like that. I'd love to have a go at trec with her. She does need schooling for her balance, I know, but will there be a point where her legs make it too risky to her health to go further?
I will add, she is generally sound, and she is a lovely mare. She has her faults, and she's still pretty green, but she is bombproof in traffic (the farm is on a main road) and she has done handy pony with a 12 year old (including having an umbrella opened over her head!) and for that, for us, she's worth her weight in gold. We want her to achieve her full potential (however small that might be!) but how much will her legs limit that? Her health and wellbeing is the most important thing.
Thank you x
P.S. If this pic works, it was taken at her second show ever, which we went to for the experience. She hadn't long been in regular work, and she is no longer that fat!!! It's the only one I can find where she's more or less straight on to the camera.
http://s942.photobucket.com/user/jer1488/media/DSCF6823a_zps026bebd5.jpg.html
I share two horses (and a mini Shetland!) with my friends when I'm home from uni. One, Lady, is a 15.2hh TBX who will turn 6 this year. She has had a pretty slow start to her education due to various unfortunate circumstances, so she's pretty unbalanced at the moment, but we are working on this with schooling and pole work, and some little jumps, which she absolutely adores (We go out and do little clear round courses, more for the experience of being out than anything else, but she is getting quite brave over scary fillers etc - we did one with big eyes painted on it last time!). She is also quite knock-kneed, I will attempt to post a pic below.
My question is: As she gets her balance (which is improving slowly, but which isn't helped, I don't think, by the dishing of her front legs in trot) will her knock knees limit what she can do? We aren't really into showing, which is obviously not going to be for her, but we are doing local intro dressage with ambitions for unaf. prelim in the future, the jumping, as I've said, which we would like to take further as she is keen but sensible, and we'd like to try a little xc, fun rides, things like that. I'd love to have a go at trec with her. She does need schooling for her balance, I know, but will there be a point where her legs make it too risky to her health to go further?
I will add, she is generally sound, and she is a lovely mare. She has her faults, and she's still pretty green, but she is bombproof in traffic (the farm is on a main road) and she has done handy pony with a 12 year old (including having an umbrella opened over her head!) and for that, for us, she's worth her weight in gold. We want her to achieve her full potential (however small that might be!) but how much will her legs limit that? Her health and wellbeing is the most important thing.
Thank you x
P.S. If this pic works, it was taken at her second show ever, which we went to for the experience. She hadn't long been in regular work, and she is no longer that fat!!! It's the only one I can find where she's more or less straight on to the camera.
http://s942.photobucket.com/user/jer1488/media/DSCF6823a_zps026bebd5.jpg.html