Friday 10 April 2009

The dopey things they say...


...part 1 (because I am sure there will be more of these!) -  thanks to Sarah Braithwaite for this cracker :-)

This was said in the last few days BY A VET to an owner of a barefoot horse:  

"Your horse has a problem because it is landing heel first.  All horses should land toe-first" ?!?!?!??!?!???????????????????????????

Surely one of the stupidest comments ever made about a barefoot horse, and deeply scary to hear it said by a vet, who has spent years, one assumes, learning very little about basic horse biomechanics. 

EVERY SINGLE horse which comes here for rehab is landing toe first when it arrives - and has typically been lame for 3-9 months.   

I have high definition video footage to prove it.   

EVERY SINGLE sound, hard-working barefoot horse here lands heel first.  

In fact, its pretty clear that once horses start to be able to land heel first they set themselves on the road to recovery - this is one of the reasons why its so important for horses to be comfortable during rehabilitation.  If they aren't able to move on supportive surfaces they will be less able to land correctly, and take longer to rehabilitate weakened structures in the back of the foot. 

Just what does that vet think the back of the foot is for?  Does his detailed knowledge of anatomy REALLY lead him to believe that the horse's dorsal wall is designed for shock absorption?!!?!?

What a relief that there are great vets out there who are MUCH, much more switched on - and who are putting muppets like the guy quoted above to shame :-) 

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nic, its not the first time and it won't be the last. I've heard several vets say the same thing. I did think it was unique to Kent though!

Nic Barker said...

Definitely not confined to Kent - this was heard in Cheshire! Could be one diagnostic of a less than perfect vet...

cptrayes said...

The head of my vet practice said the same at a public seminar "normal horses land toe first or flat". Sounds like my vet above, he's Cheshire. I have tried and tried to talk to him but he won't listen to me.

Makes me despair.

C

Nic Barker said...

Yup, that will be the "normal" horses which are also retired or put down by the time they are 16...because of course horses are old by the time they are 16 so that must be why they are all lame...

Perfectly logical...if you have no understanding of hoof and limb function...