What does it take to keep your horse "sound"?

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JoshuaR97

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Been rencently thinking what are the lengths people will go to just to make sure their horses stay sound and happy? I've just brought another horse after having one who's been lame for nearly two years now so my main concern is keeping him sound etc. I wanna know what people do whether it's making sure they cold hose their horses legs after every ride, ice their legs etc etc. My routine for my new lad is lots of work on different surfaces whether it's riding on a surface, walking and trotting on the rides and then schooling in the field and then after he has been ridden I will cold hose his legs down. Also I make sure he's as fit for purpose for what I'm asking of him and I won't do a lot of work on hard ground but just short bursts. I do use boots on him just to give some protection but as soon as he's finished working they come straight off and he's turned out with nothing on.
 
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Number 1 a good farrier/ trimmer and regular shoeing trimming, no foot no horse is so true and is where so many issues stem from.

Plenty of turnout in a decent sized field far better than a tiny restricted area where they cannot move freely or if they do they have to put on the brakes or turn sharply.

A sensible forage based diet, better for the feet and brain than highly molassed starchy mixes.

Having them fit enough for the job they are doing, expecting a horse to be shut in a stable with an hour on a walker 5 days a week to then hunt or jump at the weekends is asking for trouble, it may sound absurd but this is how some people keep their horses in the winter and wonder why they are difficult to ride or go lame regularly.
 
I've had two with life changing soft tissue injuries as a result of behaving like idiots in a large herd environment. I know have mine on a private yard and my two current horses are turned out together, but with no others. This has been absolutely key in keeping mine sound.
 
I have to not ride him!
He's perfectly sound as a pet but a few days after riding, even just walking he gets lame again.
He's totally retired now and happier for it.
 
Main thing for me is fitness. I keep him as fit as I possibly can for everything I ask him to do and I am cautious about ground.
 
Barefoot and 24/7 turnout. The longer mine are barefoot, the more I think any shoeing must upset the relationship of the joints, even if only slightly, and eventually that will lead to damage. If the horse is allowed to grow a hoof to suit its leg conformation and the joints sit correctly, damage and injury are far less likely.
 
Making sure their movement is straight, I think a good proportion of my issues can be put down to poor movement and badly fitting 'fitted' saddles.

Every day is a school day with horses!
 
Appropriate diet for exercise regime. Lots of turnout, weather ground conditions permitting. Tack / saddle ch
 
Working on different surfaces but never a bad surface. Working correctly with sufficient warm up and cool down. Good farrier. Turnout in large fields. I don't ice or cold hose legs unless there is any swelling.
 
Much like be positive:

Excellent hoof-care professional (trimmer, in my case).
Forage-based diet appropriate to workload, low-sugar in any case.
Fitness and conditioning appropriate to competitive demands. I agree hacking over varied terrain is very useful, and I do try to do some road work, as well.
Loads of turnout, preferably 24/7.
Properly fitting tack.
A balanced, fit rider (eep, better start biking to work more!).
I'll add: regular MOTs from physio to help spot/address problems before they become serious.
And: an educated horse-owner, who knows enough to get the right kind of help when it's needed.
 
Mine are bare foot and I do their feet myself nearly always, which is rare as they are all self trimming. They only work on a surface in lessons and competitions, the rest of the time they are on varied (and mostly hard!) terrain. They are turned out 24/7 and eat a forage based diet.

I don't boot (except if they knock themselves but I only have one who does and she has improved with work), I don't hose legs.

I walk for 1km on tarmac before any fast work and the same to cool down. All schooling is done hacking and in the field. Lots of hacking, they will be covering 70-100km per week. After any prolonged time off I would walk them only for 6 weeks.

I also keep them all at home and only have my own horses here, the fences are all mains electric which means they are not running around or fighting in the fields or damaging themselves on fences.

Touch wood (!) this is proving to be a very sound way to keep them.
 
A good farrier, a sensible forage/fibre based diet, plenty of turnout with company and avoiding artificial surfaces. I am afraid that it is my opinion that riding on deep surfaces damages more horses legs than anything else.
 
Have hardy ponies :p Sadly mine don't really have the confo but lameness is not something I've had to worry about so far in his 11 years with me, touch wood. At times he has been in hard work and others very very light, after a 'hard' season he gets 3 months off for me as much as him.
 
He gets physio if he needs it, I make sure his saddle fits and I am very hot on him only ever doing what hes capable of work wise and minimal school work and lots and lots of hacking. Low sugar, high fibre diet as well. But its a lottery. Lots of horses stay sound when they really shouldnt and lots break when they really shouldnt. Hosing a horses legs wont keep it sound if their is an issue.

I understand why you are worried, but you are doing the right things so try and let it go and enjoy your new pony :)
 
An interesting question. I think walking plays a large part, like FionWinnie says walking to warm up and cool down, walking to start getting fit. Not doing more than they are fit for. With my current horses I'll use hoof boots and devils claw as necessary to keep them working. For me turnout is important in terms of the quality. If my horses are being repeatedly kicked or relentlessly chased around, I'll either find another yard or have them living in. It might not be natural or ideal for them to be fully stabled (with daily exercise, obviously), but I find horses living in stay sound whereas horses being bullied in the field end up on box rest with injuries.
 
There is an article about this in this month's your horse magazine. They have said the following, checking your horses leg regularly so you can identify problems at an early stage, cross training, avoiding poor quality surfaces and making sure your horse is worked on a variety of surfaces, cooling your horse down properly, managing their weight and good farriery.

I think there is a some luck involved, as a lot of injuries seem to happen in the field, or may be a flare up of previous injuries that you may not have been aware of as they occurred with a previous owner. With regard to turnout I think this is very important to ensure movement but you do need to have well maintained turnout and enough grass to keep them amused. Hungry horses in a muddy paddock all wanting to come in is asking for trouble especially at catch in time.

I also think how a horse has been worked when they are young has a big impact on their soundness in later life. I am surprised how advanced some of the 4 and 5 years old are that are either for sale or out at competitions. Either they have a natural talent that has meant that they can get that far very quickly without putting in a lot of intense work or they have been pushed and schooled a lot to get to that stage perhaps before their bodies are strong enough to cope.

I have a native pony so the main concern for me is managing his weight as being overweight will put him more at risk of laminitis or put his joints and legs under extra pressure or more risk of arthritis. He is not very playful in the field and does not tend to run about much and tends to keep himself away from the others, but he does like to eat a lot so he has to have his grazing muzzle on when there is a lot of rich grass.

He did get kicked a few years ago at my old yard which resulted in a broken splint bone but it was very hot that summer and there were a lot of horse flies around and they were all getting irritated by the heat and flies and trying to get into the best shady areas. He sometimes used to pester the others as he wanted to them to swish the flies off him with their tails and he used to put his head in the tails of the other horses. My current yard does not have anywhere near the same amount of horse flies, I rarely see them.
 
Unfortunately I'd say that cold hosing legs and putting cooling gel on won't prevent a horse going lame.

Other things mentioned in the post, yes, the above, no.
 
1) Good farrier and hoof care
2) Good diet
3) Riding appropriately - plenty of warming up and cooling down, lots of work on different surfaces which has been gradually built up, and fit according for purpose.

Other than that, I don't really do much. I don't faff which cold hosing or booting up constantly.. Yes, I boot up for lungeing and XC, but that's it. I use common sense as well - ie, not constantly hammering on a concrete surface, and not lots of hard galloping on rock hard ground.
 
Good conformation is a great starting point, followed by balanced feet (shod or not). I'd rather have a good farrier than a good vet! Work according to fitness and always on a decent surface. I do lots of hacking in forward walk and only trot up hills so there's less concussion. Treat the horse as an individual and understand what suits them, 24/7 turnout is great for some horses but not for others, a big herd is fine as long as it's settled but can result in injuries when a new horse is introduced. Be grateful if your horse stays sound because sometimes, even when we do everything right, we end up with lameness problems.
 
The less they do before they are 5 the more they will do after they are 15 is very sound advice. Then perfect confo, perfect foot balance, the ability to recognise a tired horse before it tells you it is tired and a good fitness regime.

Add a lot of luck and if it all fails a very good vet with all the kit to diagnose. If all that fails a large box of bute, and when that fails deep pockets to keep the little treasure in a comfy retirement.
 
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