[RC] Metabolic and Lameness problems in the SE - Stephanie E Caldwell
I've got a pretty general question for all y'all. A
few weeks ago when my vet was out he and I started talking about lameness and
metabolic problems he's been seeing. He said around here we've had a remarkable
increase in metabolic problems and lameness problems in the average trail horse,
not just minor things but major problems ending up in hospitals and on IVs,
etc... His theorie is that the mud around here is stressing everyone's horses
beyond the limit they can handle.
This past Sunday my riding buddy and I took our
guys out to the local state park (for those of y'all close by, it's Kings
Mountain, NC) for a ride. We rode the ten mile loop, but it's actually around 15
miles by the time you ride from the trailers, etc... about 40% of the trail was
over the fetlock mud, including some steep climbs with the mud on them. The
other 60% was evenly split between decent roads and steep climbs with steps
built in.
Although we picked up the pace a little, her horse
seemed extremely tired. Star seemed incredibly disgusted at being asked to get
her hooves dirty (can you imagine? LOL), but still seemed ready to go when we
got back to the trailer. I can see very easily how that kind of footing could
take it's toll on lesser conditioned horses very quickly.
I realize this isn't directly endurance related,
but it breaks my heart to think of horses right here in my area becoming ill and
even dying as a result of overriding. One horse has died of metabolic problems
within a mile of me. Have any others in the SE heard this? Anyone out there have
pamphlets or anything that would be geared towards the trailriding community
about metabolic problems I could take to our horseman's assoc.
meetings?
