This message is from: Robin Churchill <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Hello from sunny (and this time of year, hot, humid, buggy) Florida We are Robin and John Churchill and have been lurking on the list for awhile without posting. We hail from Black Tongue Farm in Sanibel, Florida which is way down the southwest coast. Our farm is home to assorted rescued chows (hence the name)and 3 horses--Patrick, a Hanovarian and fjords Ooruk (who just made his recognized show dressage debut with a first and second place in Training level 1 and 2) and BDF Ulyssa who is on a little vacation in Ocala, Florida to start her formal training.
I just wanted to comment about my experience with dragging of the hind feet. Dragging the hind feet can be one of the symptoms of equine polysaccharide storage myopathy which is a muscle disease that may affect many breeds of horses but draft-type breeds are more frequent. Although some horses have severe symptoms with tying up and muscle trembling, other symptoms can be as vague as poor performance, lack of energy and difficulty with canter work. My Hanovarian gelding dragged his toes and wore them off for years and we just thought he was lazy. He is now 11 years old and in the past year, my veterinarian noticed some apparent muscle wasting and brought up the possibility of this diagnosis. The definitive diagnosis requires a muscle biopysy which I had done and was positive for a mild case of the disease. There is no cure for the disease but it can usually be managed. The management strategy is lots of turn-out, regular work and a low-starch, high-roughage diet with most of the concentrated calories from fat rather than carbohydrates. Horses with the condition should not be kept in straight stalls and should be stabled as little as possible. You can find more information on the internet about this condition. My horse has done well on the diet and is generally performing better than he ever has. Your horse may have nothing of the sort but it is something for all fjord owners to be aware of since fjords are supposedly one of the breeds at higher risk. Some people do not have their horses biopsied but just change their management (which can be used without detriment for any horse) and see if the symptoms improve. Robin Churchill --- Carol Makosky <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > This message is from: Carol Makosky > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Mine does not click while walking. > > > Bonnie Liermann wrote: > > >This message is from: "Bonnie Liermann" > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > >Question: Do these horses also "click" when they > walk - hind foot striking > >the front foot at a walk? If so I might have an > answer. . . > > > >bonnie > > > > > > > > > > > -- > Built Fjord Tough > Carol M. > On Golden Pond > N. Wisconsin Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
