The Castle Rock MARE-TERNITY WARD
Message Boards => General Discussion => Topic started by: elizabeth.conder on November 10, 2017, 08:34:54 PM
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Hi everyone,
I don’t post a lot but I do read everything that is posted and visit multiple times a day. I really enjoy this forum. I have a question about my little stallion. He is a two year old and I’ve had him for about a year. He comes from driving lines and so my intention was to train him to drive and keep him as a herdsire. Last winter we went through a very rough time as I tried to get him to behave and finally over the summer he has really started listening. Then I realized something was going on with his hind end. I knew he was a little cowhocked. But suddenly his Hicks were basically touching. I tried several different things but it didn’t help. I then had to go away for college and thankfully found a place to board my minis. I have a farrier working on him and I had a chiropractor out today to work on him. Apparently he was pretty out of line. I was just curious if any of y’all have had something like this happen? And what else can I do?
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If they didn't offer suggestions as to how it happened, I'll venture a guess he was playing to hard and hurt himself.
Sounds like he'll probably come right with adjustment and good farrier care. Cow hocked is some what common in driving horses, as long as it's mild it not a bad thing, as it seems to help them drive up under themselves and move out. I'll venture a guess that hill work and low cavaletti's would be helpful just like they are with stifle issues, as they strengthen the hind end.
Also good balanced diet to be sure he gets all he needs to build strong bone and muscle.
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TOTALLY agree! I know of tons of successful driving horses (Champions and more) that are cow hocked. Lots of times, this is what turns them from a Halter show horse to a career driving horse in show homes.
I'm also a fan of taking him backwards over low cavaletti's as it further strengthens the hip and leg muscles. Good diet, and it sounds like between the good farrier care and the chiropractor, he may do just fine, and turn into a good driving horse for you.
I'm also thinking he probably hurt himself, if this wasn't evident before. If he was a little cow-hocked before, and you say he came from driving lines, then this is probably his perfect inheritance and may have been a trait he inherited.
In YOUR future, if you want to show in other than driving, you may have to decide on a different stallion, to keep those perfect legs and be successful in halter, etc. But for now, look at your mares with a critical eye, and see if they have straight legs for halter, or if you may need to pursue using a different stallion for them. You can always do an "outside" breeding for a stud fee, which is certainly cheaper than purchasing another stallion for that goal.
Keep us posted! We're excited to hear how he comes along!
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I definitely will let y’all know if the chiropractor helps it. If not I plan on gelding him. Don’t know where I’ll go after that. I might look at buying a different stallion or just using an outside stallion. One of my mates is halter bred and one is more driving I think. My other little mare I might just train as a therapy mini.
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I agree with both responses and would be definitely trying some hill work and cavalettis.
The only thing I wanted to add was that he is still very young, so he is still growing.
Keep us posted on how he is going .
Ryan
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How did you go with the Chiro ?
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She said he was pretty out of line. She did quite a bit with him, but I’m not seeing any change yet. She thinks she will be able to tell by early December if he will grow out of it. At this point I don’t really think he will. I will keep my working with him and see what happens. I have my eyes on another stallion who has been shown and excelled as well has produced a grand champion filly, in case he doesn’t straighten out. I tried to post pictures earlier but my phone wouldn’t work with me.
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Fingers crossed for you :)
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Sure do hope you see some improvement. Please keep us updated on his progress.
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For sure! We're all praying! ;pray ;pray
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Here’s a pic from midsummer
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And one from last week after the farrier had worked with as well as the chiropractor
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He looks much better in the second Picture. As mentioned earlier in the thread try taking him backwards over small cavalettis and if you have any hills , try taking him up and down them as they will help to strengthen his muscles.
Have you got any recent full body pics of him? If so could you post them.
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He looks much better in the second Picture. As mentioned earlier in the thread try taking him backwards over small cavalettis and if you have any hills , try taking him up and down them as they will help to strengthen his muscles.
Ok, so I would have suggested the opposite... Forward over the cavaletti and backwards hillwork; although either probably accomplish similar results.
I'm not too sure that hills are why my foals are so strong in the leg, we are on slope, everything is up and downhill; ok, so not steep, nor tall, but all a slope.
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The slope your talking about Chanda would definitely be the reason for being so strong in the leg. Even if its not a huge angle , moving up and down it and also the balance at a stand still.
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That’s encouraging! I don’t have any full body pictures except from a while ago. I am out of town this week so I’ll try to get some next week?
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Yeah thats fine . Its more to compare what he looks like now and summer next year. Between the exercises and being out on the spring Grass and a growth spurt , I really think you will notice a big change between now and when summer arrives for you.
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Speaking honestly I would say it looks much worse than it is because he’s quite thin in the first photo. He’s filled out a bit in the second and it then looks a bit better. I don’t think he will have halter legs but with continued weight gain and muscle it will look slightly better
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I agree. He won't ever have "halter lets", but he should be a fine driving horse!
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I will try to get a good current photo of him tomorrow. In the meanwhile, here he is over summer. Not too long before the other photo I posted. I’d love to still train and drive him! But I’m just not sure wether or not he should be gelded.
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Are you looking to breed with him and sell his offspring ? Unfortunately "cow hocked" is seen as a major conformation issue for some and may very well turn potential buyers away, especially if they wish to view the stallion. If he happens to pass it onto his offspring then you have another issue in itself. Gelding him will also make for a "better student"
I am 100% with you in saying you should definitely teach him to drive. Being that he is only a 2yo, he is still a baby in my eyes, most of my horses over the years and ones ive been involved with are usually left till they are 3yos before being broken in, as they are still developing. It will certainly help your cause by doing heaps of exercises and hill work as mentioned by others here, in the leadup to teaching him to drive.
Its a big decision to make , keep us posted on what you decide .
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Here are some pictures from today. I think I’ve decided to go ahead and held him. He has nice bloodlines (part of the reason I bought him), but I just don’t like the idea of him potentially passing down that much cowhock.
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I think your making the right decision, especially if your keen on breeding in the future. Will you still plan to teach him to drive ?
I see he is sporting his winter coat :)
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I will have to see if I can. I would definitely like to! Yes and they look completely ridiculous. It is amazing to me how long and thick they get. This is one of my favorite pictures that I show people when they ask why my minis are so fat. I sometimes have to really convince them that this is the same horse only a few weeks apart
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Thats a great Pic comparison !!! Had you showed me them individually , I would have said not the same horse either.
Its crazy how quickly winter coats grow. I only wish my big horses grew a coat like the little ones, Id think twice about rugging them.
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Or those pre- and post- clipping pictures. The boys were already partially shed out when I decided to clip, but they had that tangled baby fuzz, winter woolies coat going on, so I clipped to get rid of the knots and mats that were pulling.
This is Monte as a yearling. [Out of order, the more fuzzy pic with Manny in the pic, too, was taken in February.]
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All that fuzz :)
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I truly believe you are making the right decision to geld him. While that is an acceptable problem with driving horses, I know you're wanting to show, and should an offspring have that cow-hock, they could never be shown as halter horses. But for driving, he should make a fine driving horse with his lines!
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I too think you are making the right decision to geld him. If you were wanting to breed him im afraid to say only people who should not be breeding would be asking for him. He will make a fabulous driving gelding and i cant wait to see him harnessed up :D