New horse, abandonment case. Advice needed!

E

Emmabee

Member
Joined
7 November 2013
Messages
10
Visit site
Hi. I'm not a new owner but a new owner of an abandoned horse.
A bit of background is this
Rising 4 welsh part bred (possibly TB cross or some more refined build rather than another cob type)
She was dumped at the yard last July and whilst she had weight on her going into winter she seriously declined over winter. The yard owner took her in and started to feed her (or else she would be dead)
As a result she's had a growth spurt and now has a locking stifle.
I have her on calm and condition, a veteran chaff (as I suspect she's in need of the dentist too) as it shorter and she can manage it more and blue chip original.
For the locking stifle I have her back on grass livery (rugged when needed) and have started to introduce her to very light lunging in walk and am going to add the Passoa to her routine next week.
She has previously been bitted and is a dream to do.
My questions are
1. When her stifle is locked should I keep her moving or stop?
2. Is she OK to do this excersise with or do you think its too much?
I don't have access to great grazing so she's on haylage too.
I've never had experience with a locking stifle before and am a little unsure how to proceed.
Pics of her when I got her

And after 2 weeks
 
Straight line work would be far preferable to lunging. Either lead her in-hand or teach her to long rein.

Well done for taking her on.
 
My lad had a locking stifle from when I bought him as a 3 year old until he was about five.

Some of them can just grow out of it. It helps if they are outside and not confined to a stable I found and personally I wouldn't lunge him, maybe just a bit of long reining. He's still very young so I wouldn't rush :)
 
If it's been poor then it needs a lot more time to recover before you do any work at all otherwise you run the risk of spoiling her limbs and joints. 24/7 turnout and having to move around to find grass is all the better. Give it time else you'll break it before she's even done anything and no circles for a long time.
 
Thanks for all the advice. She's started to look a little better. She had a bath with hibiscrub the other day as she's started to loose hair as her skin is really dry.
She is turned out 24/7 and only comes in for her feed and a net in the morning as the grazing isn't great.
Her stifle hasn't locked again but I'm aware now it can happen at any time.
She is such a good natured girl and has now started to play and run around in the field a bit so I think she's feeling a lot better in herself now.
I've got a long, long way to go with her yet though.
A pic of her a month in (I know I've committed a sin cutting her mane but it was dreadlocked before and I'm going to solo comb it eventually!)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top