Thursday 7 July 2011

Dillon - 3 week update

Dillon has now been here for 3 weeks and its time for an update.  You'll probably recall that he came here in bar shoes and wedges but rapidly adjusted to life out of shoes.

He had an exaggerated heel first landing in shoes but on a circle he was unlevel and short striding, particularly on the left rein.
Left rein 21st June
Right rein 21st June
He had also been on box rest so was generally a bit weak and wobbly on a circle.  
Left rein 6th July
He still takes bad steps and frequently hollows and bends incorrectly but I think he is now generally freer and looking more comfortable.
Right rein 6th  July
Obviously its still very early days for Dillon, but what is encouraging is that increased movement, both free movement on the tracks or turnout in the fields and more structured exercise in hand and under saddle, is now beneficial and is making him sounder rather than lamer.


Dillon on a circle from Nic Barker on Vimeo.

He currently has thin soles and rather weak hooves and won't be able to cope with hard, uneven ground for a while but he has a fantastic attitude and seems eager to plough on as fast as he can.  In fact in some ways the problem is not to encourage him to work but to stop him overdoing it(!).

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