Best yet- @ 7 weeks

Friday Jester got a full set of acupressure point therapy magnets. By Saturday morning he practically chased me down as I carried his feed bucket into the pasture. Wow! He wore a full pad on the left fore, frog pad on the right, and none on the hinds. The more he moves the better and more fluidly. True, he isn't moving completely soundly, but the improvement is so encouraging. He now has another gelding to keep him moving buy isn't vicious about it. My Honey mare takes fur off everyone at least once, which explains her banishment from the pasture. Taffy joins the geldings, but not at feeding time. She's a piggie, and Jester needs all the food he can eat to make up for not having much of an appetite for a couple weeks. He's putting the weight back on already, much to my relief.

Are you ever at a loss for words?

It seldom happens to me- I find myself with more words than I have time to write. A post about Jester's skin and coat, his eyes, his digestive and elimination system, his behaviors, to name a few... But what is it that you dear reader would like to know? I'd love your comments too. I am learning so much through this experience. I sometimes wonder how technical I should be in my posts. I wish I had Like buttons on the posts as Facebook does, for moral support. I won't publish your comment if you include "don't post" in your message. Eager to hear from y'all, I am!

Steady improvement and new growth visible :)

For seven days Jester has been able to move willingly. Padding the frogs and treating with NO Thrush powder has improved his comfort to the point that he jogged automatically along with me in the pasture showmanship style! I put him through walk, stop, set up, back (that's tough still) and pivot (slowmotion- he is not ready for much lateral movement). He cheerfully did it all! I ponied him out one morning to the neighbor's plowed field and he moved with energy and enthusiasm over there!! Even completely barefoot!!! I continue to pad his frogs and sometimes his entire sole on the fores. Hinds have good concavity and seem comfortable without boots or pads at this point. Here he is with the gelding who's here for hoof TLC-Jester really likes him. My excitement faded a bit when, midweek, his fores warmed up at the coronets. "Here we go again," I thought, but he did not worsen to the point of not moving. It was a day after I adjusted his trim, so I can tell that he is responding to every little adjustment I do. The hind toes are ready to go shorter, since the concavity is there, and the walls extend more than 1/16th" past the sole. By shorter I mean I bevel the wall from white line down and outward from center, when the hoof is viewed from the sole. The right fore heel came down a smidge, and both fores got a backed up toe. It's paying off, as half to a quarter inch of new growth is showing at the top of each hoof, and it's coming in at a new steeper angle! I'm glad I didn't cut more to begin with, even with Xrays available, taking toe back severely as some barehoof rehab trimmers advocate would have compromised the support for his bony column, and the tip of P3, aka the coffin bone or distal phalanx. I cut vertically at the white line, but no farther. Keeping the weight off the toe wall will allow that dorsal wall to grow in where it belongs, and well connected by strong laminae to P3 (a major goal!) His heel abscesses and abrasions are nearly healed. His opinion is back, and it's nice to know he has one-I wouldn't call it an attitude though. It's a fine dance, watching his NSC intake (sugary grass) but knowing he can more comfortably move on the pasture than on the dirt. So as long as he's moving and the heat in the feet doesn't engulf the hooves, he will stay on the pasture. The grass is slowing way down with the shorter days and lower temps. California Trace supplement and Black Oil Sunflower seeds have been added to his diet, and I split his feed into two snacks per day. Now he finishes it all every time, so I am gradually increasing beet pulp and BOSS to put the weight back on. He's still gleamy and gorgeous, but the ribs have got to GO! With his jaw moving in a more natural side to side chewing motion he is eating more hours of the day, bermuda hay and grass is always available to him. I learned that horses fed pellets tend to chew in an up and down motion that is not natural for them and causes tooth imbalances. I am looking forward to having an equine dentist do a check up. Tomorrow he will see the bodyworker for a checkup. Absorbine liniment gel is working wonders on the summer sores on Jester and Taffy both- glad I finally remembered that!

Almost all good news @ almost 6 weeks

Jester is moving better and better! Good- right hind shows near normal concavity!! Left hind needs exfoliation but the depth at tip of frog is good! Left fore is still shallow in the collateral grooves (less than 1") at the rear and I am seeing slight exfoliation at the frog/sole crease from the halfway point forward!!! Feet are all cool! No Thrush is keeping his frogs healthy- no rotting, no deep heel crevices, less pain! He wears his frog pads and duct tape every day still.Right fore has depth-but the abrasion/abscess exit on his heel has gotten nasty and is granulating. I am treating it with a "tried and true" rancher remedy. I expect it to be shrunken and hardened off within 2 days. I had great results with this same recipe when my mare Honey had proudflesh on her hock. Only a flat scar remains. The best is- he is walking with some rhythm again! and moving further around the pasture than he has for a couple weeks. When I took Taffy out for a ride yesterday evening he walked all the way to the bottom of the pasture (around 150 feet), whinnying the whole way that he did not want her to abandon him! Honey stayed behind but apparently there is no bond between those two. It's Taffy that I trust out in the pasture with him- Honey chews hide off other horses, it's her alpha mare instinct :( Jester is very excited to see me come with a bucket. Now that he's stablilizing, I am adding concentrated feed back to his diet. He currently eats free choice Bermuda grass hay, Integrity Lite low starch feed, beet pulp, Black oil Sunflower seeds and salt. I will be starting him on CA Trace also- my delivery should be here today! His coat still gleams in the sun, but it's time to put some weight (back) on. I hated watching him lose condition, but until I knew what might be triggering his pain, he had just hay. Then I added pasture, and now the concentrates. I do not think his pain was caused by a single factor, and diet was not the main issue. I have not seen radiographs of his navicular area on the fores, but I can tell he had severely underdeveloped digital cushions and contracted hooves. Barefoot rehab makes rapid expansion of the hooves a reality, and now he has to develop those digital (palmar) cushions.

Encouraging progress

The last two days Jester has not wanted to move much at all. He did eat and all the essentials but was hurting. I iced his fores all day, and applied poultice to chest, loins, legs...A fellow hoof nut took a look at the pics and reminded me to pad his frogs since his soles were prolapsing, resulting in excess pressure on the circumflex artery (which runs through the coffin bone). I cut triangles from gardening kneeling pads and slipped them on his frogs, secured by a single strip of duct tape across and up each side of his hoof. Quickly jamming the boots into position was tricky and took a couple tries to get them on while maintaining the position of the frog pad. Not long after, I found him down in the stall, getting some relief. He accepted my petting him while completely flat on his side. He did get up soon after, and went back to eating. He has a small mesh hay net for his bermuda hay. This morning..... He moved around a bit as I took the mares out for exercise. His lonely whinny is worse than a rooster according to my husband ;)... When we returned I led him out into the pasture and he began moving willingly on his own woo hoo!!! He had Taffy for company for a while, then I moved her in with Honey so he could eat in peace. He has covered more ground today than the last 4 days combined. Boots will stay on. Digital pulse weaker than before :) Heel bulb abrasion from boots #1 mostly healed. #2 still raw but getting topical treatment. I will switch to my heel-less boot shell and tape it on that foot tonight. I noted that his hooves show signs of previous laminitis- ridges which have been rasped off by a farrier. Hoping to regrow those hooves with no new ridges!!

Two weeks plus :(

Healing hurry up!!! Jester's coronets on the fores are finally bulging a bit across the front. Will those abscesses never come out?!?! In boots on all fours he walked slowly to the park last Saturday, even across the scary noisy metal bridges, but once on the soft lawns at the park his stride picked up and he walked with energy and not pain. Wow!! Hard ground is still tough. I don't like looking out and seeing this when he goes to take a step. When he stands still he looks better but he has lost some weight- I am watching that- making sure he has round the clock access to grass hay. Hoping the hay isn't high sugar. I continue to do whatever seems to help the most- icebags taped to the feet, thick padding on the soles, hoof boots with thin pads, charcoal poultices and internal charcoal to counteract gut toxins (though he does not seem to have gut pain- activated charcoal is a powerful toxin adsorbent and has no side effects and I soak it in water with chia seed to make a gel in case it were to make him a little constipated.) etc etc. Flies have subsided some- they were really bad for a few days and Jester had to be "bathed" in poison spray (fly spray). Now the mosquitoes are back after the rains. The good news- he eats well, whinnies when he sees me, and seems to appreciate his therapy. He no longer has pussy discharge from the right eye. Massage to the nasolacrimal duct helped. Fly mask too!

Fun pics

Some eye candy to encourage me to hang in there

Progress photos left hind

I picked this foot since it has progressed the fastest- in trimming on 9/9, I discovered a layer of exfoliating sole- flaky crumbly stuff yeah! Along with the tip of the frog nicely tucked into the sole, indicating healthy concavity, I am very encouraged with the transition of this hoof. Aug 12 still in shoes Sept - less bulge in the dorsal wall, standing more comfortably and broken pastern/hoof angle improved. Aug 12 Sept 9 curved lines on the right side of hoof as viewed from front are relaxing, hairline is more level. Toe abrasion absent (no more dragging the toe) Approximately Aug 15 first trim Sept 9

Abscessing....

A couple days ago I had a light bulb moment. ABSCESSES! Jester stands straight up, and only struggles to place weight on the front feet when moving over hard ground. On soft ground he can move fine, and in boots he can walk fairly evenly. So I've aimed therapy at getting those abcesses to pop through or resorb, and let him back on the pasture a little. Progress is slow....but there is progress :)

Slowwww Progress

It's been a tough week... Jester has been up and down, literally. He discovered the bank at the rear of the property made a nice bed, finally stretching out flat and getting some much needed REM sleep and rest for his aches and pains. I wanted my next post to contain some smidgen of good news, so it's taken this long. Here's a list of the strategies he is enduring. (not all at the same time of course) Renegade Boots, boots with pads, boots with pads and crushed fresh cabbage, baby diaper booties, baby diaper booties with apple cider vinegar, ice bags taped to his pasterns, hand walks with boots, massage, poulticing, liniment, activated charcoal hidden in apples, activated charcoal mixed with water and chia seed to make a gel which can be administered orally with a mouth syringe, mud soaks for his hooves, more wall shaping, including fore toe breakover. He walks with great difficulty- unless he has the boots on. With boots I can hand walk him slowly at first, then faster as he loosens up. He much prefers soft footing. The exaggerated forward hind leg motion on the right hind is now more bilateral. I am hopeful it will subside as his fores gain comfort. Left fore is now the most painful hoof. I am concentrating my attention on the fore hooves, as they are the sorest. Check back soon for photos. And thank you for reading and praying and sending healing thoughts.