Stall Nova

13/11/2024

With this mare, our work started at the basics. With making sure the hoof balance is correct. To do that, x rays are needed. If the hooves are unbalanced, it doesn’t help how much massage or other treatments you provide for the horse through the process, the horse will still be crooked and have a compensatory movement pattern. In the process we had to fire two farriers for not being able to help correcting her hooves, even when guided by x rays and a vet. But finally we managed to get our trusted team at (Hovhelseteamet) to come and help us. From there, progress was pretty fast.

She had massage and stretching sessions twice a week the first three weeks. Then she had weekly treatments, while we worked her on the ground, helping her relocate her three normal gaits. Horses do not know that medication makes the pain go away. In my experience they think that their compensatory movements is the reason they stop hurting, which makes many horses hold on to it for dear life. Getting then to discover they can move normally again, is perhaps the most important part of any recovery process.

Because if they keep compensating, you can not get a healthy horse with sound gaits. If they keep compensating, you can not increase the workload, with water treadmills or any other devices and expect to get a healthy horse. And you can not start riding the horse and expect to be able to fix it, because that also involves an increased work load for the horse, and will most likely just make the horse get better at hiding it to try and please the rider. And in the end, when you are not riding and the horse is let out in the paddock, the horse will go back to the compensatory pattern - both because it’s a habit, but also because why risk using that muscle or joint that used to hurt so bad.

During the mare’s stay, I worked her from the ground twice a week to help her find her normal gaits. Having been a competition horse earlier, we had the help of a solid basic physiology, and once she was ready to start exercising under rider, she could move properly in all three gaits. Pain free. And without any damaging compensatory movements.

12/11/2024

The last (so far) rehabilitation case at Stall Nova was this lovely KWPN mare. When she fist came to us, she had been out of training for almost half a year and had been in and out of vet care due to damage in one of her hooves. This was at no fault of the owners, who at this point did everything in their power to help her, listening to advise from their vets and other professionals. But she didn’t improve despite their best efforts.

When they called me, they had almost given up. And I had not been doing rehabs for a while, since we had moved and no longer had the same training facilities. But the more I read in the journals, the more I realised we might be able to give her a chance.

I did not regret that choice. Because, as a previously well exercised and trained horse, she is the one who has had the biggest and fastest change during rehab. These images were taken only five months apart, top photo is taken on the day of her arrival. How is that possible?

The only way to achieve such changes, is to start with the basics. And when I say basics, I really mean the basics. Forget about training for a while. You can not get a good result from working out, if your body is stood on a wonky foundation. So we starter with her hooves. They were so imbalanced, that it appeared to have contributed to the damaged hoof and her joint issues. I will not make this text too long, but give me a comment if you want to know more about her case and how we were able to help her 🌸

(Image is shared with owners permission)

03/01/2024

Er du hovtrimmer, hovslager eller en behandler med yrkesmessig interesse i høver? Da er dette foreningen for deg. Her finnes enorme mengder kunnskap samlet på ett sted. Foreningen er relativt nystartet, og vil vokse og utvikle seg i tiden som kommer.

Norsk Hov har som formål å øke velferden for hest og for de som arbeider med høver i Norge, gjennom økt kunnskap og samarbeid.