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?