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| Author |
Message |
    
mindy franklin (Mindy)
| | Posted on Thursday, Nov 30, 2000 - 7:01 pm: |   |
My vet said it is ok for me to ride my slightly lame horse. Just walking and some trotting. I'm starting to question this because she will let me mount and is well behaved at first but if I dismount and try to get back on she starts running backwards and dances around. I can make her stand sometimes or I just tie her up if I can't. My question is I don't know if this stems from laziness, she's been resting for several weeks. Or if this is causing her pain am I going to destroy her trust in me by continuing to ride her.Please help. |
Amy E. Coffman (Redroan8)
| | Posted on Thursday, Nov 30, 2000 - 8:31 pm: | |
Hi Mindy,
I'm curious what the nature of your mare's lameness is; to be honest, I can't picture a situation in which it would not be harmful to ride a lame horse, and I'd feel somewhat uncomfortable with a vet who'd approve that. There *are* times when exercising a lame horse is appropriate--for example when using the Strasser method to heal a foundered horse--but that's done with you on the ground and is quite different from having a rider's weight on top. If your girl is lame, she can't possibly travel in a balanced manner, and riding her can set her up for aggravated injuries, as well as the diminished trust you perceptively mentioned.
To me, the behavior you describe does not seem to go along with "laziness"; for one, she's expending quite a bit of energy trying to prevent you from remounting. I suspect that what's happening is that she's going along with you at first, despite her discomfort, hoping that things won't go on too long. Once you've dismounted, she probably feels some relief that the riding is over, so that when you remount--especially if she's sore--it's kind of an unpleasant surprise. Her expending so much energy trying to keep you from remounting is, IMO, her attempt to communicate with you that she's not enjoying things.
I would also look at some things like how lame she is, how long you're riding her, how you are mounting (with a block?), etc.
Best wishes,
Amy |
mindy franklin (Mindy)
| | Posted on Friday, Dec 1, 2000 - 2:02 pm: | |
Amy,
The vet thinks it's just arthritis. This was aggravated 2 months ago by someone riding her to hard. She demonstrated lameness while trotted in hand at first. Now she is just off while being ridden. She seems perfectly fine loose in the pasture, runs, bucks, etc. She also is not comfortable having feet lifted or stretched out for cleaning and trimming.I just ride her for about 30 minutes at a walk. I don't use a mounting block.I think you are right about her behavior. I'm going to give her some more rest.
Thanks,
Mindy |
Jordana Meisner (Presario)
| | Posted on Friday, Dec 1, 2000 - 2:41 pm: | |
Aha! You said you don't use a mounting block. It is likely that she is quite uncomfortable being mounted from the ground, and once in a day is quite enough for her. Try using a mounting block so that you are just barely stepping up, if at all, to put your foot in the stirrup. This will take a lot of torque off her back and ease the stress on the near side of her body. |
