winging

[griff]

I understand dishing can cause serious enjury but what are the down side issues with winging??

left front leg

griff

[ratherrapid]

griff--what do you mean by dishing.

does "winging" mean front left stride is going out to the left instead of straight, or does this mean the front left fetlock is being hit by the opposite rear fetlock?

[griff]

I'm certainly no expert but, to me, winging is when the foot swings away from center; i;e;, a left foot wing would be to the left..

Dishing, if i'm using the correct term, is when the foot swings toward theother leg and could cause enjury..

I've googles equine winging and it appears a normally correct horse wings ordishes when his knee or ankle hurts.. therefore i think the answer to my question is the winging may not cause injury but is telling me there amys already an injury ;

Oh, and some horses just naturallu dish or wing.. I don't believe the horse i'm concerned about ever winged before last night so it's probably a signsl there is something wrong

griff

[TJ]

I understand dishing can cause serious enjury but what are the down side issues with winging??

left front leg

griff

Hi Griff,
Dishing, which is an inward swing of one or both front feet, can cause the hind legs to hit the front legs possibly causing severe damage when racing....this is a conformation fault stemming from the knee or the swing of the ankle/pastern. The blacksmith can sometimes help the situation with some creative shoeing and or three quartering them. Winging also known as paddling is an outward swing of the front hooves......also a conformation fault due to knee or pastern/ankle swing....doesn't look so great, but it rarely causes a problem as most horses adapt well to these conformation faults. Howie Tesher had a horse named Tap Shoes in the late 70's.....he could cause damage to another horse if they got to close to him he paddled so badly he could trip a horse coming along side of him:>) TJ

[ratherrapid]

my opinion-- a horse that never winged but does now either has a highly questionable shoeing job, or is injured in some way. abscess possibly?

[ireneinwa]

My riding horse wings, ex racer, knee chips/spur , old ankle injury.

[TJ]

my opinion-- a horse that never winged but does now either has a highly questionable shoeing job, or is injured in some way. abscess possibly?

A horse that wings....will always wing, it is conformation that causes it. Of course trying to compensate with shoeing helps lessen the extent of the wing....but over compensation will cause problems due to over stressing.
Sore horse don't start winging because they're sore...they will get in or get out...nod, raise their head up, etc. But it won't cause them to wing.....the only thing close to that would be walking wide due to a bad knee....but he won't wing when he runs unless he's crooked...but he will stumble when you pull him up. TJ

[TJ]

Here's an example of a classic left fore paddle or wing. She wings slightly less in her right fore (it can be seen better at the start of the race as she takes the first turn) and is also slightly crooked in her right hind. You can see it through the lane....but watch after the race as she gallops out, Stevie Wonder can see it then:>). By the way it is the #2 horse....you will know the other horse. TJ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-fJpTGaPH8

[griff]

I never saw this horse wign before last saturday night.

griff

[TJ]

I never saw this horse wign before last saturday night.

griff

Hi Griff,
Sorry, I misunderstood....didn't realize you were talking about one of your horses. Flex the horses leg from the knee....if it comes straight back and in line with that leg, it's OK. Then flex from the ankle and see if it comes straight back and in line with the leg....if either shows a deviation from the norm relevent to the angle it takes away from center...the horse will either wing or dish. There are rare times when the blacksmith may have partied too much and didn't cut his feet level....but that is rare and it wouldn't be that prominent. Also if it is seen as he pulls up moreso than when he is moving along....it could be a knee, but usually when pulling up, he would stumble as well? TJ

[griff]

TJ

Not my horse but I own an interest in his half brother and we were hoping this one might do something to enhance the value of our colt..

he lead all the way to the turn to home and then faded to number three.. Also it was a slow race with the winner doing 4 1/2 in 54.7. This was his third start and he has never finished well.. me thinks he may mafy have a breathing problem or a knee problem..

Or, has a breathing problem and now also has a knee problem..

griff

[TJ]

TJ

Not my horse but I own an interest in his half brother and we were hoping this one might do something to enhance the value of our colt..

he lead all the way to the turn to home and then faded to number three.. Also it was a slow race with the winner doing 4 1/2 in 54.7. This was his third start and he has never finished well.. me thinks he may mafy have a breathing problem or a knee problem..

Or, has a breathing problem and now also has a knee problem..

griff

Hi Griff,
If you can't get hands on with the horse to test him....it's hard to say, there are so many things that can be causing what you describe. Each would have to be looked at till the reason why is found....at that point you can do something about it. It's entirely possible this horse is crooked which is causing what you saw.....also possible they were making slight adjustments in the shoeing so as to limit the paddle or dish. It may be less pronounced when just shod....and as the shoe job gets into week 3-4 the paddle/dish would look more pronounced. If you think it's a knee, keep an eye on him pulling up....in most all cases they will stumble when being pulled up. Too many possible scenarios, which would have to be narrowed down through examining and the process of elimination. TJ

[griff]

The gelding in question had chips removed from his knee last week.. This, I suspect, was why he was "winging" when he came out of the gate his last race..

We will see if that was his only problem when he runs again in app 3 months and in any event I don't think he is going to be able to add any value to our colt by mid May..

And we may have a NFL on our hands that will not be raced until he is a 3 YO.

g