Teeth, check! Spine, check!

Jester is now up to date on his dental work. He was very good for the dentist. Yay!!! And the chiropractor was out for another horse here and kindly did a few adjustments on Jester which he very much appreciated. The chiro's assessment was that his hind leg issues are related to his front end pain, and the weight loss also due to the stress of pain. So we are getting him some more pain relief, Devils Claw Plus is on its way. His appetite is terrific and he is moving consistently, even trotting when urged. Left fore is still the sorest one. He is growing new good sole over the abscessed area, and lands flat on that foot. Even lands flat on the right fore now and then. It had been mostly toe first on the right. He's a trooper and a good boy. Not much winter coat yet, but he is blowing out the summer coat.

New growth :)

Yesterday Jester began to shed his old ancient frog layer on both fores. While I don't like to see frog slough, his old deformed frog really needed to go. It came off in V- just the forward 3/4 of it. The heel area stayed put, to my relief. A few flakes of sole came off the LF, and wonder of wonders, there is an ever so tiny ridge appearing beside the frog crease forward of the widest point/bar termination!! We are going to get concavity :) :) :)!!!! The abscess exit is still tender, but it is regrowing and healthy looking under the loose edge. He will get another trim adjustment today. He walks like an old gimpy man, those hinds have worked overtime with these sore fores. The more he walks the smoother it gets, though, and when I get impatient with his progress I have to look at the old pictures and remind myself of where we started... and that we do have progress Then....note the relative location of the hinds Now... In shoes late July... October 22 The hoof shows a marked change when the shoes were removed. Can you see it? I'm going to address that arched hairline next. Backing up the toe as much as safe was the priority... He likes to stand with these toes buried in the manure pile... takes the pressure off his navicular area. Still no heel first landings. Some flat landings... lots of toe first. :(

Holding steady...

Despite some solar separation on the LF at the toe, Jester continues to amble around, eat as much hay as I can give him, and be very protective of the LF. I have to get creative just to pick up that hoof. He does NOT like me probing the sole with my thumbs. No leg swelling :) a little heat- around the coronet in the caudal half. No heat in the sole or frog :). Frog pads and a boot shell taped on the LF seem to keep him comfortable enough to meander the pasture looking for the good stuff. Some days he scarfs the beet pulp mix and about once a week he snubs the bucket. Summer sores are subsiding finally, Jester and Taffy were such magnets. I haven't seen as many deerflies either. Wicked things. I backed up his fore toes again this week, and lowered the heels to live sole at seat of corn... I measure that we have over one inch new wall growth and it's looking good. By the time we have 2 inches (another 2 months) I expect him to be a lot more comfortable. Keeping the lever force off the toe wall is critical to growing in new, well connected hoof wall. The connection is the velcro-like laminae that hold the wall and the coffin bone together. Here's a pic of the LF sole- the orange is iodine.

Not out of the woods yet

Jester seems to be 3 legged sound one day, fine the next, and 2 leg lame the next. Today I soaked the LF (the one that popped the abscess at the toe whiteline/sole juncture) with ClO2 (Stabilized Chlorine Dioxide). When I took his hoof out, there appeared a crack in the sole where I least wanted to see it... in an arc on the sole following the toe wall- from quarter to quarter around the toe, extending from the abscess exit. I am praying we don't see it get worse!!! He wants to stand on that foot, and rest the right fore more. I am keeping it disinfected and booted. The apex of the frog is close to equal with the wall at the whiteline, so I am suspecting his sole is paper thin under P3, also known as the coffin bone. Over the week, he ate well, especially the hay. A couple times I shut him up in the stall so he could stuff his face in peace. I do NOT like seeing his ribs. He is not losing, I think he is putting the weight back on. One day last week he refused his beet pulp bucket. By the next day his appetite for it returned. He never lost interest in hay, fortunately! Good signs- no patchy sweating, no heat in the legs, increased comfort when I backed up his RF toe to whiteline with a vertical cut, a full inch of new growth from coronet in 8 weeks, hind legs moving well, hair coat still gleams in the sun, he likes getting attention, both hinds in acceptable balance,especially proximal/caudal aspects, he still sends up a bugle when I take one of the mares out. This Thursday he will have his teeth done. Current hoof pics as soon as photobucket and my phone cooperate RH LH RF LF

Here we go again...but wait..!

A frustrating but relieving week... The day after Jester walked smoothly on the street (just 30 yards!, he was hobbling worse than ever. He was down often, and did not want to weight the left fore. Out came Kim's herbal clay poultice to coat both fore soles... No problems with the appetite, however, as he is now gobbling more beet pulp and black oil sunflower seeds with his Integrity Lite and CA Trace minerals. At long last... Thursday Jester blew an abcess in the left fore, just off center of the toe. There is a spot between the toe pillar and the frog apex that has a bit of give, as if there's an empty pocket underneath. Not much coming out of that hole, the size of my pinky tip. He is SO much more comfortable and happy. I'm keeping a renegade boot on that hoof with some powders to draw out and prevent infection. No swollen leg yet!! Honey the boss mare was allowed back into the pasture with him and Taffy for the day, since he could move well enough to avoid Honey's piranha teeth :P When he is in with the other gelding who's staying with us, the gelding keeps him moving too. Poor Jester, he's the biggest horse out there by far yet the bottom of the pecking order. 8 weeks and I am hoping and praying he's turned a BIG corner in the healing process. He has nearly 2/3 inch new growth at the top of the fores, and I am keeping those toes backed up and a breakover (Gene Ovnicek style-web search if you're not familiar) in the laminar wedge area of the toe sole. When viewed from the side, the fore-most weight bearing part of the hoof is in line with the line of the growth at the upper portion of the hoof. A picture will help. Stay tuned.

No more pesky ads....

The idea was to put ads on the blog and that would generate some hay money for Jester... Apparently people actually have to click those ads (but Google doesn't allow me to hint or suggest you do so) in order for any "earnings" to be realized, and it takes forever to rack up the minimum to get paid. So I gave that idea the ole heave-ho. We aren't out of hay yet!

smooth walking on pavement :)

Flash back to August 23- Jester had gotten a chiro therapy treatment, and within a couple of hours could not walk on anything but soft grass. Today, October 1, while two trash trucks and a bobcat picked up the street-side piles of residential debris (a lovely service Phoenix provides quarterly), Jester calmly strode down the unyielding pavement. Pausing at the front lawn, his nimble lips found succulent tendrils of bermuda. He paid attention but did not jig, dance or panic as the collectors passed within a few yards of us. Last night I detected NO heat in his hooves, and just a gentle digital pulse at the fore pasterns. No wonder there is a sparkle in his eye, to match the frequent bugle that escapes his flaring nostrils. There is an answering sigh and grateful prayer in my heart.