too many cooks in the kitchen

Here's reason #537658 that leasing a horse is problematic: he's not YOUR horse. Right, I know, obvious enough. But when it comes to certain issues I have a really hard time not putting my two cents in no matter how much my inner voice tells my outer voice to shut the hell up. So far, I have been really good at sitting back and letting Kazi's owner show me the ropes with him. She wants him handled in a really specific way...most of which is normal stuff, but some of it goes against 20+ years of horsemanship habits I already have. For example, she lets him walk through a gate before her and she follows behind...this is a really tough one for me to break -- but I am working on it. *Gates are a bit of a problem for him sometimes and he gets worried in tight spaces. I don't mind doing anything the way she wants because again, he's her horse and I have complete respect for that. I am going to forget things here and there and she's ok with that too. But there's little things that I will question...I was picking out his feet last weekend and I let go of his back foot in a way that she didn't like. She told me to help guide his toe to the ground so he can feel it first before letting go...huh? This is where part of me says "he's a horse, he'll figure it out". The surface at the cross ties is rubber bricks and there's no worry of him hurting himself. So I questioned it. Again, I'll do whatever she wants, but it's hard for me to remember when I have been picking out horse feet for years and years.

She mentioned to me that some of the people at the barn have differing opinions about specific things. Most importantly, they don't believe you should free lunge your horse. Initially, I though that this was because they didn't want to footing to be chopped up in the arena...it's not. They simply think it's bad training for the horse and that he'll simply get confused between work and play. Well, much like when I put my dog's leash on, horses have a pretty good understanding that when they are tacked up, it means work. Period. He's not a green bean or a baby, so there's no worry that there could be confusion. The horses there are turned out all day long but in small paddocks where they can't stretch their legs at all. At best they might be able to get in a few canter strides. I truly believe that thoroughbreds need to stretch -- not run per se -- just stretch out their back muscles. Whether or not we believe that a horse is capable of protecting himself against injury, I do think that they can balance themselves running around and releasing some tension.

I wasn't able to ride him this week after work because I had a 2 day migraine and missed my days to go out there. I didn't mind because his feet are way overdue for a trim and I knew the farrier was coming Friday. The other girl that leases him rode him yesterday and when she tried to pick up the left lead canter they both fell. She said it felt as though his whole front end gave out. I have witnessed him tripping on his front toes, where he'll almost tip toe and then his front leg will buckle a little. I chalked it up to his hooves. He does have scars from having his right front pin fired at the track and a slight club in that foot -- which is why he can't/shouldn't jump. I don't think he carries himself heavy on the forehand and overall he does seem well balanced. I got an email from his owner asking for some input to which I responded with my concerns about his feet. She thought maybe there were some exercises we could do to strengthen his front legs, but honestly, I told her that she should have him trimmed, have his hooves tested, and re-shod, and then see what happens. I am a big believer that much of a horse's soundness starts at the feet. If we can get them rebalanced and he's still having issues then I think a vet call might be the next step. The real problem here is that she sent the email to me, the other rider, the girl that trained her and the barn manager. He wrote back that he doesn't think free lunging is good for Kazi. Sigh.

Here's a picture I took Sunday...it was to show how much he's shedding out, but um, look at his feet. Now granted this was taken with a wide angle lens so it's slightly distorted, but his front feet are SO long.

What do you think?

 

You can see his pin firing scars from this angle too. The left front is obviously a little distorted from the lens, but the right front shows a pretty example of just how long they are. I think since the weather has gotten more Spring-like his feet have been growing like weeds. I tried to explain to his owners that it's not her fault, but that he definitely was overdue to see the farrier. Thoroughbreds can be particularly sensitive when it comes to their feet being in balance and it really shows with Kazi.

It's all really a sensitive issue at this point, I don't want to over step my boundaries here. Hopefully I'll get an update later today after the farrier comes out. I am supposed to see him tomorrow and I'll get some new photos!

Any thoughts or suggestions are welcomed!