Horse Handling

I have a rescued 28 yr old gelding that apparently had a fractured knee that wasn't treated.   His left knee is twice the size of his other knee and is bent like a crab leg from the knee down.   My vet who was a farrier has been trimming his feet for the last couple of years.   He has a quarter crack that will never heal because of the pressure he puts on it walking on the side of his hoof.   The vet was here yesterday and it was very difficult to trim him.   The vet said we would have to play it by ear because he dosn't know how many more times he will be able to trim him.   It looked like his leg would snap the way he contorted it while the vet was trying to trim his other hoof.

The vet is concerned about anestesizing him.

I'm thinking about a sling that would lift his frt feet off the ground enough for he vet to trim him, but the thought is a little scary.

I don't want to lose this horse because he can't be trimmed.

Please help.

Thank you,

Rosie

 

 

Rosie, I have to agree with Travis our concern here is not so much actually getting him trimmed as is the discomfort the horse is probably in most of the time with that leg. Horses are very tough animals so sometimes we dont even realize how much discomfort they are really in. I have slung horse before and it is a very dangerous thing to do you really have to work with the horse to do this and this takes time. The probably is you seem to be running out of that with this horse. What really scares me here is that it will be very traumatic to see that leg actually break again over trying to get him trimmed and you have to think about that as hard as it is. Again i am really sorry to have to tell you this but it is definitely something you need to consider. Sincerely Brian Cook

 

What I do with these older horses or horses with chronic leg or knee problems is put the foot on my finishing stand "forward" and trim without bending the knee joint, or leg! It's not easy by any means as you are nearly standing on your head, but it works. The important thing here is making the horse comfortable befor and after the trim! I also do this with horses with chronic hock or hip problems......I'd say throwing him to the ground is not the answer!

I've thrown a lot of horses over the years, and experience tells me that doing this with an injured, crippled horse will cause him to panic and possibly be hurt worse. I had considered offering that as an option, but chose not to.

I can tell you what works for me, stand the horse on the ground, move a little dirt away from one side of the hoof, take your rasp and trim from the top. then do the other side, then the toe .It takes a little longer but you can trim without picking up the foot.