Questions - trotting on roads, barefoot ridges and a how fat is he really?

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Looking for some input from fresh eyes please.

Firstly the how fat - I am driving myself crazy with this. I think he is fat but not obese, he has fat pads on his shoulders and I can feel his ribs but they are well covered. The weigh tape says he is not much different from the winter when he looked pretty lean. So thoughts please:



Secondly, he is barefoot but has medial rotation of the forelegs. So his front feet never grow evenly. He now has noticeable ridges on his front feet that mirror this, I assume as the grass has come through and his diet has switched from entirely hay to more sugar (fatty paddock and hay with an hour on grass morning and evening to graze it down to create his next field). I wanted thoughts on these feet from people who know more than I do:

And finally, given that I think the pony could do with burning a few more calories, and that I am in training for a triathlon, I thought it would be great if I could take him out running with me. the tracks round here are clay, lumpy and set like concrete so not great for running on. I usually do a little trotting on roads when I hack but I wondered if 3-4 miles 3 times a week would be okay, especially since he wont have my weight on him and moves as light as a feather. It might give him more hacking confidence too as we dont do that much as he gets really scaredy out on his own on some routes. I did a little 1.5 mile trial run this morning (5am so no cars to annoy) and he was great, I had side reins on him and he popped into a really nice light steady trot next to me.

He would then get ridden 6x pw (4 x in school, schooling, pumping or playing, 2 x hacks/gallops) and then 3 x 4 mile runs a week.

Apologies for lack of coherent thought, racing through writing this before I leave for work (late!). Any thoughts on any of the above appreciated! Thanks!
 
KatPT said:
Looking for some input from fresh eyes please.

He now has noticeable ridges on his front feet that mirror this, I assume as the grass has come through and his diet has switched from entirely hay to more sugar (fatty paddock and hay with an hour on grass morning and evening to graze it down to create his next field


He would then get ridden 6x pw (4 x in school, schooling, pumping or playing, 2 x hacks/gallops) and then 3 x 4 mile runs a week.
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I would call the ridges 'event lines' and yes they probably are dietary, from too much sugar in the grass.Could do with a picture of the soles, but I suspect the quarters are not being correctly trimmed.

It is very common for hooves not to wear evenly, few horses do enough work or are sufficiently balanced to achieve that. I love your plans to increase his workload, just make any increase gradual as hooves need time to speed up the quality and quantity of growth.
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Horses are designed to travel around 20 miles a day, of course they can do way more than this if necessary!! So your work suggestions are well within reason!! Actually trotting alongside you while you are running is great exercise....as he is barefoot trotting on tarseal is even better - work it or rasp it!! Imo he looks great!! But be careful not to let him get any fatter!!
 
I would probably condition score him around a 3 - 3.5 so not really fat especially for this time of year. He could stand to lose a small amount, probably 20 kg or so but he's certainly not one I would look at and think 'fat'.
 
I think he looks in good condition considering the poor winter we had and looks like he's doing well off all the new grass!
As for the running, what a great idea!!
 
Thanks for the thoughts. I know there are varied opinions when it comes to trotting on roads, I've always done a bit with him as he is so 'light', he isn't a stomper but never miles on end.
I can look at him 10mins apart and change my mind about his weight (yard photo above I think he looks reasonable, field one I think too fat, but taken 10mins apart!) So its always good to get fresh eyes. I do have a good squish of him regularly and use a weigh tape too.
 
My boy comes running with me :) I run a bit differently with him, though - he's allowed say how much trotting he wants to do, so it's more run-walk-run-walk. He seems to really enjoy it, he gets his "happy face" on. I often stick a bareback pad on and ride some of the run too (I did this morning, in fact, although it rained heavily on the bareback pad and I ended up with rather a wet bottom!).

It's on tarmac (a Sustrans track) - he seems to love smooth tarmac and will often spontaneously break into a trot when we hit smooth bits. He's been barefoot 6 years now, but it's only this year, with minerals and forage testing, that he's starting to get decent hooves.
 
I think he is fine no more. Just my opinion but i dont like seeing cobs too thin they are not tb's, the have the build they have for a reason, even the gypsy cobs at appleby fair after travelling 100 miles pulling a cart still had a bum, get my meaning. Its the cresty neck and fat tum that we need to worry about, the bum will go if those are taken care of. Lovely pony by the way.
 
Oh dear, does that mean you think he is a cob?! He us andalusuan x Welsh section b and is a lean little whippety thing in the winter but a good doer in summer. He has legs so tiny I can almost touch my fingers together around the bone...so if he was to carry cob weight on them it wouldn't do them many favours. Not sure if you meant he looks like one it if they were general comments. Thank you though.
 
KatPT said:
Oh dear, does that mean you think he is a cob?! He us andalusuan x Welsh section b and is a lean little whippety thing in the winter but a good doer in summer. He has legs so tiny I can almost touch my fingers together around the bone...so if he was to carry cob weight on them it wouldn't do them many favours. Not sure if you meant he looks like one it if they were general comments. Thank you though.
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How big is he ? ... I think he`s looking just about right, though i wouldn`t want any more on him ... I`m gob smacked at his breeding as he is the spitting image of my lad, infact i had to do a double take when i saw him lol :D
 
Nawwwww sweet, my lad is 15.1hh ... He`s a welsh D x Cob (and the cob was part Friesian) ... So a heinz 57 but basically a bigger version of yours lol
 
If he where mine I would not be in a worry about this as top end summer wieght but would not allow him to get any fatter.
He's a lvery nice looking chap.
 
Am I the only one thinking 'I wish I could run 4 miles!' :eek:
Well done to you though :)

I think he looks super, beautiful face and a great shine to his coat. IMO not overweight. 4 miles at a jog is no problem, he is capable of far more than that and what a great way to get him fit.
 
I think his weight looks fine- just wouldn't want any more on him.

Running with horse is great fun- I did it once/twice week for a while (until re-hurt ankle) & also 'hired' him out 2 friend whos in training for half marathon! Found it motivated me 2 keep going cos it was for horses benefit as well as mine & he was great pace setter-pop him in2 whatever speed trot u want & he just powers away at that on loose rein. Tho I always had him in bridle just in case!!

Another bonus is I find cars slow down a lot more as they seem 2 b more careful 2 not hit the person!
Just as an aside due 2 ankle injury not supposed 2 run at all so have just bought roller skates & going 2 take horse out wearing them- no idea how that'll end up!!
 
KatPT said:
Sorry, I meant to ask what was meant by the quarters in the first reply about bare feet?
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If you look at the event lines you can see they make an arch at the inside or medial quarters. This is usually indicative of the natural arch (like our instep) not being trimmed sympathetically.
 
That's interesting, thank you.

The running went well this morning, he was ever so good, and even gave me a couple of not altogether unwelcome rest stops whilst he stopped to snort like a dragon at the odd suspicious leaf or similar. I'm really impressed with him as I thought he might get a bit hot headed and spend the whole run trying to hoon off without me, but he was very sweet and just kept in step with me. Makes running way more fun when you have a pony to talk to!
 
You need to look carefully at the bending in those event lines and decide whether they are going up at the quarters or down at the toe.

If they are going up at the quarters then the feet are too long at the quarters and creating upwards pressure from the ground and they need to be differently trimmed.

If they are down at the toe, then my experience is that this is a laminitis warning sign, with inflammation of the toe laminae, where it often starts, causing additional blood to the area, causing faster growth than the rest of the foot.
 
Really? Thank you. I'm not sure how I will know that as I haven't been told that before or seen other examples (my old pony had laminitis but her lines were even) I will Google for examples. Thanks for the heads up.
 
LucyPriory said:
Event lines again - typically lami ones have wider gaps at heel than toe
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This is true of established laminitics Lucy, but I have owned one ,and seen other 'sub-clinical' laminitics with faster growth (wider spaced rings) at the toe. The foot grows fastest where it gets most blood. Laminitics abscess at the toe. Therefore, I assume that sufficient inflammation in such cases is bringing more blood to the toe, sufficient to cause faster hoof growth before there is any obvious lameness in the foot.

Once laminitis is well established the horse keeps its weight off the painful toes and puts excess weight onto the heels, causing faster heel growth than toe growth.

Kat, post us some side on pictures and we can tell you whether the lines are being pushed up or growing down.
 
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I will get some in the morning as I'm working til late tonight. Thank you for your input, if there is something going on then I would like to know sooner rather than later.
 
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