Thursday 7 June 2018

Pumped Up Kick

Phantom is still missing a left front shoe.

I have hoof boots for her that I bought a few years ago. Apparently her feet have changed shape, as they don't fit as snugly as they did when I got them. I don't need them often enough to bother buying another set, so I'll just try to make them work until I can get the shoe put back on. They're not full-on flip-flops, but they're definitely not as snug as laced on running shoes.
Phantom's pumped up kick. It doesn't actually pump up.
On Tuesday I decided to slap the boot on her unshod foot and take her for a spin, with no real goals for the ride. More to just get her moving around a bit, see how sound she was at a trot, and go from there.

She wasn't super sound. Not real lame either. Probably not noticeable from the ground, just didn't feel quite right. It could be because her boot is a bit loose and she didn't have a super secure feeling when her foot hit the ground.
My super-stylish mosquito netting jacket is a requirement when going out to catch a horse in the evenings.
She wasn't lame enough to get her out of work. I did some easy walk/trot, lots of transitions, and even threw in some rising trot without stirrups for me (one whole lap of the arena). She took a couple of steps that were not as comfortable with some shoulder-in left so I decided that was probably a good spot to end the ride.
The Equisense agreed that Phantom didn't feel right - her symmetry score was only 6.4. 

Hopefully I can get her shoe back on soon! Otherwise we'll be doing a whole lotta walking.

2 comments:

  1. It's so frustrating when they are missing a shoe. I wonder if the boot is just loose enough to rub her heels?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I usually have really short rides when she's in a boot, and she just wears it for riding. Her symmetry score the next day was 7.4 and she felt quite good, so who knows!

      Delete