Hard ground, sore horses.

I have worked on a LOT of horses lately, and they all have had one thing in common:  soreness through their shoulders and necks.

Actually, they have had something else in common:  their turn-outs have been affected by the lack of snow, leaving the ground hard, lumpy, uneven, and generally not very inviting for the horses to move around they way they need to, in order to keep their muscles supple.  Instead of being able to stride out at a walk, trot or canter, chase their buddies around, rear, buck, and get their ya-yas out, they are forced to mince around, taking very little, controlled steps, using their front end to brake and control their movement, while their hindquarters just sort of get pulled along.  

Three horses in particular come to mind in this scenario.  They all are worked in an indoor arena, with very good footing.  One gets worked very rarely, perhaps only once a week, and was by far the most uncomfortable.  The second horse gets worked a couple of times a week, and was definitely more comfortable than Horse #1.  The third horse gets worked several times a week, and while he was more uncomfortable than usual through his neck and shoulders, he was definitely happier than the first two.

What does this mean?  It’s important that you make the effort for your horse to get them out of that uneven footing, a couple of times a week at least, where they can move normally.  If you don’t have time to ride, hand-walk them, lunge them on good footing, and of course, sign them up for a massage session!

Thanks!

Just wanted to thank all my wonderful clients, both old and new, for making January 2012 my most successful month to date—this in spite of the fact that I was in Oregon for 8 days taking an Equine Anatomy/Dissection class with Dr. Deb Bennett.  Thanks! And your horses thank you, too!

Great clinic this past weekend.

Click on the following link for more details:
http://www.icontact-archive.com/WftxKSvVk5WpDuR-B8dl4qpsDPKegEjH?w=3