Page 30 midwest horse digest February 09
Hind End
Last year I was teaching in New
Zealand when I was asked to work on Sam, a
thoroughbred race horse, which according to
the trainer was a ‘bit of a dog’. A two and a
half year old gelding, Sam’s symptoms were
pretty universal, it would not perform as
expected, exhibited bad behavior, bucked,
would lash out at the farrier and could not be
shod unless it was sedated.
Now all of this sounds pretty drastic,
but it is so common that my mind had, long
before I even went to see the horse, formulat-
ed an opinion of where the problem could lie
and more important what the cause was.
Some years ago in Pennsylvania,
when I first started out ,I had the privilege of
If you have a special event, are a stable
working with one of the most respected
Equine vets in the USA, Dr Judith Shoemaker.
or training facility, a trainer, or would Observing a thoroughbred exercising in a
water treadmill I asked her what problem the
like to promote your stallion call CALL
horse had. ‘Hairline fractures of the pelvis,’
or email us for more information
TODA
was the reply. Thinking that this was the most
horrifying thing I had heard of I was rather
on sizes and pricing for the
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stunned to find out that studies had shown that
up to 80% of all 2 year olds who came off the
Equine Central Special Section.
race truck actually exhibited these injuries.
With my curiosity aroused Dr Shoemaker
pointed out to me that virtually all of these
horses on the track were started far too young,
their muscular development far outreaching
their skeletal counterpart, the sacrum for
instance, not fully maturing until the horse is
around 5 years old.
The two year old racehorse’s bones
have in no way attained the maturity or
density which can safely absorb the concus-
sion from the force generated to explode and
propel it over the ground. A prize example of
this is, of course, the young stallion Barbaro,
who’s leg virtually exploded as millions
watched the 2 year old Derby winner try to
capture the triple crown. Why did it happen?
Quite simply the horse’s bone structure could
not take the concussion effect transmitted
from the shod feet up through the bones.
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