Monday, March 14 2011

Rain and cold this morning. Magic is no better and no worse. I got 21 bute tablets from Beverly.

I noticed something about Magic’s limp. He often stands with the left front with the knee bent and only the point of the toe touching the ground. So I know it is the near front. When he walks, he bobs his head. The thing that I noticed today that seemed odd to me is that he raises his head when that foot is on the ground. I would have predicted exactly the opposite, that he would lower his head when the bad foot is on the ground. It is very obvious now which leg it is. When he first showed just a slight lameness, I thought it was his off front because he lowered his head when that foot was on the ground. But the bobbing pattern is the same way now except it is obvious now that it is the near front. Maybe I was wrong about which foot it was in the beginning. Maybe it has always been the near front. I need to read up on lameness in horses. I’ve had the book “Lameness in Horses” for 35 years but I cannot find it tonight. I do however have the internet.

(P.S. next day. I was wrong. A horse lame on the front lifts his head when the lame foot hits the ground. A human will drop their head when the lame foot hist the ground.)