04/06/2026
Doc's turn
Many years ago our Arabian gelding was suddenly lame.
He adopted an odd wide legged stance in front and for the first few days could barely load his right front.
He was a fit, barefoot endurance horse.
I did my usual palpation and check of joints but found nothing of consequence.
I assumed he had a hoof abscess but there was no palpable heat or digital pulse.
The general consensus was a shoulder injury. Based on his stance and lack of hoof pathology. However, I never agreed!
1 hoof professional, 2 vets, nerve blocks, many hoof poultices and several weeks later and I asked for hoof X-rays.
By this time Doc was barely lame and Dr Neilson queried the expense of this exercise. In his view Doc was clearly getting better and when he was no longer lame I should just start riding him again.
But I wanted to know Why my horse was lame!
How could I safely rehab a horse without a diagnosis?
We were very surprised to see a fracture of the pedal bone. Luckily, a fracture of the extensor process. It appeared to be healing but was not there yet.
The vet agreed I was correct to ask for an X-ray and Doc was definitely not ready for work yet.
As we were a bit out of the way, rather than re X-ray we decided that once Doc had appeared sound at trot for at least 6 weeks, he could be carefully brought back into work.
It's interesting to note that stable rest is still recommended for this type of fracture.
Yet Doc was left in a mildly hilly paddock with his friends. He is a relatively sensible horse but he would also run if the other horses took off. I decided to see how he managed and if the lameness got worse, I would confine him.
After the first week the severe lameness had clearly lessened so he stayed in the paddock
Despite not knowing the type of injury I was again focused on my horse retaining muscle and function.
He was eating hay high, had red light applied to his shoulder (his shoulder area did get sore due to his lameness). And bodywork for all the compensatory areas.
Back then I didn't have Vetkin Tape or Sure Foot Pads, which would have been a tremendous help too.
Again Dr Sharon May-Davis was available via video to assist in care and rehabilitation and I believe she has used Doc as a case study in her presentations on hay high, or postural feeding.
Pictured
About a week after initial injury, note the stance.
A month later eating hay. Now square but still a bit wide.
6 weeks later doing his hay high eating on a slope.
Doc and his mates, Wishes and Cappy.
