Ahhh magicpoultice :-)

Jester was standing in the soft wet manure pile most of yesterday, and again this morning- so he could bury his toes, as I have seen sore footed horses do in pea gravel. Unfortunately, he can ill afford a thrush infection, so I blocked him out of that area. Backing up his toes to the white line again- vertically, took some more pressure off, and those bars keep dropping down so I took them down again. Taffy did this too- her bars were impacted and it took a while for them to relax into natural position. Jester did lots of lick and chew and sigh when I gave him back his feet, in turn. Still unwilling to move, I applied Kim's amazing herbal clay poultice to his soles and reapplied boots and pads. I am using size 2 Renegades, with pads cut from a 3/8" anti-fatigue floor matting cut to fit. He is already moving willingly, just a couple hours after I put them on. The right fore was the worst- he walked as if he had a rock stuck in the foot. Getting all the lever force off the toe-though I did second guess the vertical cut, seems to be just the thing. He is moseying around nibbling hay. I also did a vertical back-up on the right hind. Just that small adjustment and he is again willing to stand with that foot further back than the left. I have reduced his diet to 100% free-fed bermuda hay. Some is in small mesh hay nets and some is scattered in small piles. Neck, chest and flanks are really sweaty today. He will get a small amount of feed with salt. A slow hand walk or pony this evening may be possible. I could not find my camera to video his hobbling around. It's the kind of thing I'd rather put side by side with the "After" video.

At long last... I found a soft place to rest

Ever since I got here, I was wondering, "Where does a horse get to lie down around here? I don't see any soft cushy bedding, just hard dirt and green pasture!" Ah, but today I discovered the poop pile under the tree.... and just had to take a load off.

Now that I can't go out to the green (poisonous says Rebecca) pasture... I have all the bermuda hay I can munch all day long. My front feet are tender, but I'm starting to feel like moving around again.

Heat=pain

Ugh, with the rise in temperature Jester's pain level has risen. He is in boots and pads on the fores, still moves like a laminitic horse. His hooves are cool though, so I am looking elsewhere for his pain. He started this Thursday night after his adjustment. I sure hope it was a coincidence. Regardless, he is restricted to hay and no pasture until he's comfortable. I ponied him a couple miles on Sunday morning and the further we went the looser he got. That was with boots on fores only, no pads. I hate the detox stage.

Crickety Crackety Ahhhhh

Jester got a physical therapy session yesterday-acupressure, vertebral re-alignment, a whole new body! He responded well to everything, though he did cow-kick during a couple adjustments. There ensued much licking, chewing, sighing and head lowering. I'll continue to work on his jaw and stifle acupressure points, and do hip and stifle muscle building exercises. When it was over I took him out for a walk- he was fine in the grass but OUCH not on pavement without his fore boots!! I think that was our shortest walk ever. I began adding sunflower seeds to his feed-hoping that helps take away his itchiness.

Exciting!!!

He's beginning to stand with the right hind further back than the left! This is a huge improvement-previously he always brought the right hind under his body, and the right fore would be behind the left- compensating and growing more heel as a result. Looking at xray angles alone will not tell you what the whole horse will. I am guessing that injury to the hindquarters caused him to favor the right hind, which he kept forward to compensate, which allowed more toe to grow which made it harder for him to land heel first which caused a snap in the fetlock on every stride and heel pain, probably navicular area.... and repeat the cycle. Then the foreleg compensates on the same side, causing what could be called a low grade club foot, with its corresponding increase in palmar angle of the coffin bone... Just shoeing for angles can seem to help, but for long term soundness, I believe removing the opposing forces and allowing the body God gave the horse to heal itself is superior.

Progress photos-Left fore

I'm going to take this one foot per day... Here's the left fore August 12 Notice the hairline- it curves up toward the heel area. August 22 Compare hairline angle to the above photo- essentially the same angle, but it has relaxed to a straight line, and this is without the shoes and wedge pads he wore in the preceding photo. Looks like his foot is really short but he's moving well and I have not invaded live sole!! The capsule is displaced forward- meaning that the angle of growth is slanted more forward than it should. The breakover on the bottom of the foot is lined up with where it will be when the dorsal wall grows down. The end result is that the pastern and dorsal wall will line up, with well connected laminae all the way down! Here's Honey's fores- she is 10, my first barefoot teacher. Her tubules grow mostly parallel to the dorsal wall, which has only a minimum of forward flare. Her heels always look a little pulled forward- I'm addressing the bars to keep them from pulling the heels under. Note the pastern and dorsal wall line up, with no need for an agressive breakover on the bottom of the toe wall. Here is Jester's left fore- look closely- orange lines are the current direction of growth, blue lines approximate the desired angle of growth, and green line shows how the pastern lines up with the blue lines (close anyway-I'm not great at using Paint) Heels August 12 Left fore heels August 22- hairline still jammed up on the medial (right/inside), able to stand with heels on the ground, lateral cartilages are showing relaxation since I relieved the bars. In lay terms- the bulbous ridges on either side of the rear of the leg- above the hoof, no longer protrude, but are regaining a rounded appearance.

First ride on Easy Street

My daughter wanted to ride, and since she's not into speed, I decided to fit Jester with his new-to-him Red Renegades and ride with her. Saddled fine- no problems (he had been a cinchy boy, my guess is it was the ulcers). I use the CorrecTor under my saddle. Bridled easy. He showed nerves as we left the property- leaping over an eight inch brick border, and reluctantly passing through the breezeway and down the driveway. It was good to see how he acted in unfamiliar territory! Definitely a show-me horse. Show me what you want, show me it's not scary, etc. Once in the saddle, I wiggled the split reins on the copper-mouth argentine bit, and was rewarded with a show slow walk. My husband and son walked along with us, and wondered why such a big horse was so poky slow! Jester: What's that? Oh, just a Rottweiler, no big deal...What? step up on a sidewalk? I don't know- looks really high. Hmmm... I like this wide path next to the stream. (you can call it a canal if you want, but it's a stream to me) Wait, Honey horse, don't leave- I don't know what to do all by myself! Jog? ok, but it isn't symmetrical. My hindquarters still feel funny. Whoa? sure. Move off your leg? of course! Ohhhhh I think we're headed home... I want to walk faster! I think my creaky bones are loosening up! Can we go again?

Great Strides

Tackling the hinds Taking it slow and easy, wiggling the leg and talking to Jester as he munched his bermuda hay in a sloppy stall, I was able to remove excess bar on BOTH hinds today! I could see why he's been so uncomfortable on the right hind- he was walking on bars which protruded above the sole down to even with the frog tip. Nip-nip, scrape-scrape, easy boy.... let him rest the leg. Again and again, then I saw a bit of sole at the toe flaking off... just a thin layer, so I took a few swipes with the knife and let it be. The toe is now backed up properly and I feel I have finally given him a proper start. Repeat all steps on left hind. Jester was a good boy- but still hurts in the hindquarters. Watch for photos!

Happy Trimmer!

Yesterday Jester allowed me to gently wiggle his right hind to relax it then pick it up to have a look. I was appalled. The bars on that foot had been allowed to run amok! Both hinds had bars grown out and run over the sole all the way down to the tip of the frog. Not wanting to push him, I let him have it back and just did some rasping of the heels and toe with his foot on a brick. then I turned my attention to the fores. With the hoof in hand, I probed the digital cushion in the dip between the heel bulbs. Whoa! The frog moved! This would indicate a weak and very undeveloped digital cushion consistent with the lack of caudal (rear) development of the foot and the contraction present. The good news- I lowered his heels another 5 mm on both fores- as the sole in the seat of corn (hairpin at the heels) is loosening up. This is great! the sole (and bony column) is migrating upward within the capsule. Since I have him completely off his walls except for the heel buttresses, I expect concavity to appear quickly. I finished off with attention to the bars, making sure they were passive and trimming them to end at the frog/sole junction at the widest part of the hoof. No sole trimming except around the tip of the frog and at the bars. He doesn't have any flaky crumbly sole to take anyway! Now for Today... Next post!

First walk around the neighborhood

The sky was menacing, mile high plumes of deep graphite edged in fading crimson flashed forked-tongues of liquid white fire as 16 hands of buckskin sinew and muscle joined me for a sunset stroll through the torrid Phoenix August evening. Jester followed lightly on the pale lime lead, ears slanted forward, head raised slightly in anticipation. Booted and bare hooves whispered a soft cadence on the ebony street. The wheet-wheet of a tawny thrasher punctuated the sky's distant rumble. A familiar whiff tickled Jester's flared nostrils, and he trumpeted a melodious greeting. Two whinnies floated back through fluttering mesquite branches. Rain would wait for another day. It was our night for a stroll.

No more TriHist!

Hives, hives and more hives! Yesterday Jester's neck and some of the rest of his body was broken out in one inch hives, some larger, some smaller. I thought he was reacting to mosquito bites but there were just too many. He ate his morning feed with gusto-including BugChek,Legacy pellets, salt and TriHist. Within an hour he was panting. (No more TriHist for him!) Hosing him off seemed to help slightly. (Did I mention it was 105F in the shade?) He refused the salt block but did drink willingly, and is moving the liquids through just fine. In fact, he is now able to stretch out a bit to pee. I think his lumbars are feeling better now that the ulcers are going going gone! By evening his hives had not improved, he continued to huff and puff... So his evening feed included 150mg of benedryl. He appreciated the Liniment I put on his hives and all the scratching, but didn't have much appetite. This morning he is grazing and the hives have gone way down. He isn't stomping his hind legs and swishing his tail angrily now. Sigh of relief!

My pasturemate has a blog too...

Taffy is 8 this year, and has been barefoot sound for nearly 2 years since coming out of Navicular eggbars at age 6. Here's the address to her story myhappyhooves.blogspot.com

HIVES ugh!

EWWWWW Jester has broken out in hives all over his neck and shoulders. I thought it was just mosquito bites as he had a few over the last few days, but today he looked awful- so I mixed in some antihistamine with his morning low starch non-grain based feed. He was a good boy and ate it all. He's been wearing the Renegades on the forehooves since yesterday-so I am now seeing just how much the pectoral strain affects his movement. Also- the since he stands with the right hind ahead of the left, he balances by having his right fore further back than the left fore. This explains why the heel on that right front wants to be higher than the left, something like a very low grade club foot. I am going to investigate the patella/stifle area as a potential cause for the toe first landing with that right hind. He still gets stretches and rubs every day, over 20 hours a day turnout. His pasture boss has taken some hair off him here and there, and he found a way to slice a superficial cut into his hip- likely the grapefruit tree he loves to back up to. I continue to use Schreiner's herbal spray on his scabby legs and other scrapes, and SWAT or Corona on any broken skin. I keep reminding myself it's only been a week!

Jester here, again...

Wow I am really loving this new place! I get to walk around on cushy styrofoam on my fore hooves all fancied up with silvery tape! My legs are feeling better with the Schreiner's Rebecca sprays on them, and I even felt good enough to stand on my right hind and rest my left! I think it's been a long time since I could do that. My chest had a spasm on the right side but with some cool clay shmear and massage I am on the mend. Rebecca keeps doing funny things with my tail- pulling it one way and the other, and running her fingernail up my ticklish strip on my rump- it makes me lift up my spine and stretch- wow! I felt good enough to trot around telling her and Honey not to go for a ride and to welcome them home. I got a big surprise a short while later... I discovered what that white line around the pasture was. WoWza that was a big ShOcK! I didn't know I could jump back that fast! Now I know and I will stay AWAY! Now I wish there weren't so many mosquitoes here. They make me itch and give me bumps. My right eye still gets slimy yellow stuff when I don't have my fly mask on. Rebecca has medicine for it. I sure do like munching grass... I wish I could have it all the time but too much will make my hooves sore. It is nice to move around lots. Sometime soon I might even lie down and roll.

Lost my slippers!

Hi friends, Jester here... Last night my angel Rebecca decided I would like to wear some slippers. She put these odd looking plastic shells on my feet. Surprisingly, they felt good! I let out a big sigh and found it was easier to get around. Sometime in the night, I don't remember exactly, I found a way to pull the bottom part off. My angel was afraid I had broken the "Renegades", as she calls them, but I just pulled the cables throuh and was left with bracelets around my pasterns. It rained this morning so I don't care- the ground is mushy and I'm walking fine. My right hind leg isn't so stiff but my right pectoral muscle is still in a spasm. Rebecca says she'll call my other angel the equine mechanic about it. My appetite is good and I have two little mares to keep me company. Well sometimes they chase me a little. I like the attention. I'm not sure why my feet are a little hot this morning. I'll bet I won't get to munch fresh grass all day.

The hurrier I go, the behinder I get...

Fore hooves met hoof knife today- shaped bars and cleaned a bit around the tips of the frogs. More depth there than I thought. Still extremely thin sole. I lowered the RF heels a bit more- stopped at what appeared to be live sole plane at seat of corn...that's where wall makes a hairpin into the bar area at the heel. With boots on the fores now he lands heel first with the left fore. The right pectoral is in a knot after I worked on the hinds. By bringing the Right Hind forward onto a brick I was able to whack off some wall- vertical cut so as not to invade sole at all and get the lever force off the wall at the toe. He let me work on the left hind quite a bit. I'm glad for the progress. I wish he would lay down and roll! Even a rinse off didn't entice him.

Jester's Angels (yeah we're working on the angles too)

Jester needs some angels--- He would like some jellybeans, fudge, and a caramel sundae....but he'll settle for bermuda hay, CA Trace supplements and some dental and chiropractic work. Not sure how to make it easy for folks to help out- comment or email your suggestions. No, I'm not a non-profit rescue or anything like that... I want to see this boy happy and sound, and my money tree is just now thinking of sprouting.

"Before" hoof portraits- hind hooves

Hind hoof portraits- he's very protective of the hinds, especially the right. So I haven't gotten much trimming done on these, yet. I don't like the bullnose dorsal distortion on the RH. I want to get that toe pulled back to address the anterior/posterior balance. Nevermind the medial-lateral balance yet... one thing at a time!!

Hoof Portraits

Here we go- shoeless portraits. Not Pretty, but the "after" shots are going to me marvelous! Note- the frogs were bulgy in shoes, but within 24 hours had relaxed to what you see here. Right fore Left fore

He shall henceforth be known as Jester- owing to his mischievous ways and how much it sounds like his original name.

Big guy is better hydrated this morning. He is getting used to eating at ground level- stretching out those tight topline muscles is getting easier. Same discomfort on the fores when standing- shifts weight back and forth. No founder stance. First WOW- his fore frogs have flattened out- no more bulgy-ness. I will compare the heel on the shoe to his heel width now to see how much de-contracion there is already. Since he still moves willingly I have not put on the hoof boots. I am so amazed how fast the nippy behavior disappeared now that he has room to roam and something to munch on all the time. Hooves are cool still. :) I loved seeing him lift his tail and trot a few animated steps on Sunday evening when he got here- his spirit is returning.

I caught him standing with the right hind further back than the left! First time I've seen that!! He still prefers to weight the left hind though. The mouthy nippy behavior has disappeared now that he has room to roam and grass to munch. I watched a video on youtube today about palpating for ulcers. I tried it and he reacted moderately to all the acupressure points. Stall/pen life has been rough on him. He's getting along fine with the mares. They mostly snub him or mildly boss him. He's not impressed, just takes it and goes back to eating or trailing behind them wherever they go. He is not used to our water yet- he was a little underhydrated today- gave him a bit of salt on the tongue- not sure how much he has had to drink but he is eliminating liquid and solids.

Trim notes 8/12 He was shod with pads on fores, wedge pad on right hind, and no pad on Left hind. Pulled 8/12. Backed toes up to white line so he would be more comfortable for pulling hind shoes. He was more comfortable for working on the left hind when I put a squishy pad under his left fore. Fores show very little concavity- tip of frog is within 1/4 inch of the ground. =thin soles, distal descent. Tx=remove peripheral load by beveling off walls to white line at live sole to bring sole into active ground contact. Aim is to drive the quick up and j Forward flare from3/4 inch below hairline, dorsal aspect. = laminar stress, forward foot/long toe. Tx=back up toe vertically to white line Heels pinched together, frog bulging =contraction, thrush, toe first due to pain in heel or pain in heel due to toe first... either way Tx=lower heels to live sole, arch quarters, in addition to the above Result- moving comfortably on green pasture, sore on hard dirt. Shifts weight back and forth when standing for a while. Feet cold on 8/13/12 Hinds- sore in the hq so I just took down the walls to reduce peripheral loading.I could only trim from the top on the right hind- with his hoof on a brick- he hurt too much to let me hold it up or put it on the hoofjack. I tried to back up the toes as much as possible, I have a feeling I'm not near the whiteline yet. soles seem quite flat on the hinds too- could be congested sole waiting for exfoliation.

From a life of stalls and shows comes the Gelding formerly known as Chester. He comes from a good life, traditionally speaking-raised as a halter horse, trained as a successful Western and English Pleasure show mount. Now he's 14 and hurting. Corrective shoeing, bodywork, supplements...all have helped some. I believe a holistic approach including natural hoof care will restore him. Since I, as well as most people, am on a time budget I hope to post frequently, yet briefly. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, and a video ten thousand...

He stands with the right hind forward all the time. I suspect too much toe and too much inner heel. Lots of toe-first landings here- I suspect heel pain/contracted hooves/poor development of caudal areas/jammed bars

Shoeless, with just fore toes backed up- exploring his new home 8/12/12 CLICK TO WATCH