SASSY

I knew this horse as a 4 or 5 year old. She was a real nice quiet kid’s horse with a level top line and wasn’t downhill at all. Sassy was sold and moved several times and I lost track of her until she was about 18. At that point, one of my customers was thinking about buying her but was concerned because she was so downhill. Sassy was also having lameness issues in the front-end which the previous owner and farrier addressed by focusing on the front feet. This was not working. When I started shoeing her again I addressed problems with the hind-end. Getting more flexion in the hind-end allowed her to develop muscle in that part of her body, and this in turn helped her to unload the weight from her front feet. Front-end lameness issues disappeared as she became more balanced and able to shift her weight. This is a good example of how an unbalanced body (front to back) can over time lead to unsoundness. I’m pleased to report that she went on to have a long, useful life working with kids as a lesson horse.