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It’s Hell on heels


FOR ELITE JUMPERS


Freeze the moment when your jumper lands from a big jump. Hitting the ground on a single hoof, he’s carrying his own weight plus yours. The horse lands toe first and breaks over, so the heels absorb the load. The impact from a large jump can easily cause bruised heels, especially on certain surfaces.


M


artin Crabo DVM treats sport horses at Chapparal Veterinary Medical Center in Cave Creek, Arizona. “Obviously it’s a concussive type of injury,” he explains,


describing two ways a jumper can bruise heels. “Either the horse landed on something and had a one-time bruise or it’s a continual concussion.” Here two riders, from opposite coasts, share experiences about their jumpers’ bruised heels. They describe how they’ve dealt with the condition and their efforts to protect their horses’ feet.


“Pick and Choose” Amber Harte of Brass Ring Farm splits her time between farms in Pittstown, New Jersey and Wellington, Florida. One of the horses she rides is a 2004 BWP stallion, Emir van de Helle (Caesar Van de Helle x Cassini I), owned in partnership with Beth Nogay-Paitna. Emir was laid off for a year due to bruised heels and edema.


Before that, Amber describes the horse as feeling like there was an underlying thing going on. “He was more stoic than we thought. I was showing him on grass, with bar shoes and tiny studs up front, and he’d feel a little lame. I think he was always on the verge,” she says. What she believes “pushed him over the edge” was riding in a Wellington clinic in February 2014. The day after the clinic, he


16 January/February 2016


felt off. He didn’t improve, and veterinary exams led to an MRI and the diagnosis of bruised heels and edema (i.e. swelling). It was quite serious and Emir required stall rest for eight to nine months. Confining a highly trained


and fit athlete suddenly in a stall was quite challenging, Amber says. Every time the veterinar- ian came to check Emir, he had to trot him in hand and Emir was quite explosive, so he had to sedate the horse just to check his healing progress. Bringing him back


into work started with walking


under saddle for 30 days. “Emir was an angel,” Amber remembers. “I never worried, and he never took a wrong step and took care of me. I love him for that.” Emir’s recovery was supported with careful shoeing


ABOVE: Grand Prix jumper Antares F, an imported Baden- Wurttemburger by Araconit, at HITS Thermal Desert Circuit in early 2013 with McLain Ward on board.


All photos by Charlene Strickland, except for the photo of Amber Harte.


By Charlene Strickland


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