Brego hoof update

When last we left our overlarge hero, he'd had both my vet and the hospital farrier out to try to tackle a recurring abscess in his coronet band. We took some rads that showed two pockets of infection, and then the farrier dug some giant holes in Brego's foot to let things drain.

This still squicks me out

Brego seemed to be doing well, galloping around like an eediot, showing no signs that his Holey Hoof was bothering him at all.

And then he went lame again, and another abscess blew. In the same spot. 

And AGAIN.

I had the vet and farrier out AGAIN. They discussed options, took more rads, and called some of their peers to consult. The consensus is that there must be *something* causing these abscesses, and it's most likely that Brego has a keratoma. Keratomas are benign tumors that form under the hoof wall, for reasons yet unknown. The only way to address the issue (repeat abscessing) is to remove the tumor... which, given its probable location (up near the coronet band), means a hoof wall resection.

You can see the new hoof is coming in completely mangled.

Since there's nothing's showing up on radiographs, my vet wanted to have an MRI done so they could see the extent of the issue before they started surgery. After calls to several clinics with standing MRIs (Brego almost died on the table during flap surgery before we got him, so he is not a candidate for full anesthesia, ever again), we discovered that standing MRIs can only handle hoofs up to 7 inches in diameter - and M'sieur Brego is 8.5 inches in diameter right after a trim. And apparently all standing MRIs are made by the same company, in one size... so an MRI is out.

Sooo... the plan is that Brego will have a standing hoof wall resection done as soon in a week or two, when my farrier and vet can get their schedules to align. They will do an ultrasound and some sort of vein trace just before, so they can attempt to pinpoint the keratoma's exact location so they know how far to go. The good news is that it hasn't affected any bones, so the prognosis is excellent if they can get it all.

Brego will be in a hoof cast for about a month, so the new hoof can start to regrow. He's already on massive doses of hoof supplement to help with hoof growth.  Once the cast can come off, he'll be in a special shoe, probably with metal bands epoxied across the surgery site for additional support. Horses seem to handle hoof wall resections surprisingly well, despite some of us humans (namely me) being completely grossed out just looking at pictures of other resections. I don't know what it is about blood and horse feets, but it's just SO WRONG. But I'm sure I'll have plenty of gross pictures to share, because there's nothing more fun, right?

And don't worry... Brego is milking this for ALL he is worth. Which is currently several carrots per day while he gets his foot cleaned and treated!

Lame husband

One of the problems with having a Brego is that Bregos are quite large, and therefore quite heavy. So if said Brego might accidentally step on a foot whilst being groomed, the results may be less than ideal.

Whoops.

Normally hubby is a pretty staid guy, but given the amount of pain he was in, we figured it was probably broken, so we shipped off to the ER.

This walking cast has seen a lot of use.

The ER doctor didn't see any fractures... but she sent us to a specialist because sometimes fractures don't show up immediately, and there are a lot of tiny squishy bones in the foot. Plus, hubby has a great relationship with the specialist, since he's broken his right foot twice already. He's talented like that.

Fortunately, the specialist didn't see any fractures either, just a lot of trauma and squashed tendons. Hubby is supposed to keep the foot elevated and iced, and wean himself off the boot and crutches as he can. Movement helps with these types of injuries, not so much with broken bones.

It's turning a rather interesting shade of grey, but at least the toes now look like toes. Cute dog begging for a tummy rub also included.

So hubby won't be attending the show with me. Instead, he'll be limping around at home, staying clear of Brego feets.

Caring for deep thrush - in pictures

First, there's nothing gross to see here, I promise.

I mentioned last week that per the vet, Paddy's weird stiffness/lameness was diagnosed to be a thrush infection deep in the RF heel. The good news is that we've been treating it 2x/day since then, and while he's not quite 100%, he's darn close. I think a few more days and we'll be good to go.

If you've never dealt with a deep infection, it's a bit of a pain. Here's what I'm doing to treat him:

1. Collect all your equipment.

You can get anti fungal cream at your local grocery store. The tip of this one fits perfectly into a 3 ml syringe, so I can load up the syringe and use it as an applicator. The syringe tip lets me get the goo deep down in the crack.

Loaded and ready to go.

Next up, thimerosal. Don't touch this stuff, lick it, get it in your eyes, breathe it, etc. It's an organomercury anti fungal agent (also found as a preservative in vaccines) - great stuff for white line disease and deep thrush, but you don't want to get it on your skin or your horse's. Wear gloves or handle with extreme caution and wash hands immediately after.

Betadine rinse with syringe applicator. I squirt syringe fulls of this up in the crack to rinse out any debris that's gotten up in there.

Also needed but not shown: hoof pick and gauze squares.

2. Collect your Haffie. Distract him with food.

This was the easy part.

3. Treat the foot. This is kind of like treating an abscess - once you get the area clean, you don't want to let him put his foot down until you get it repacked, so be sure to have all the equipment handy.

Pre-cleanout. You can see the gauze crammed in his heel from the last time we did this.

Clean foot VERY well before pulling out gauze (this lessens the chance you'll get any dirt in the crack). Here's what it looks like after I've pulled out the gauze.

Use syringe to rinse out cavity with betadine. Hopefully you can see the giant hole in his heel. Yikes! The hole itself is a lighter color because of the thimerosal.

Put about 5 drops of thimerosal right in the worst part, being careful not to get it anywhere that it could run up into his skin. Cram anti-fungal cream in on top of it.

Using a hoof pick, pack a gauze square in the crack. This keeps dirt out, the dressing in, and allows a little air to get in the deep part (and thrush hates air).

Crush the scorpion that was wandering across the backroom floor.

After 5 days, we're down to using thrush buster (which has formaldehyde in it, did you know?) and anti-fungal cream, but we're still packing it with gauze to keep the dirt out. It's looking SO much better and he's clearly moving better. Now, just gotta stay on top of things so that this doesn't happen ever again!

Confessions of a supplement addict

A year ago, if you'd asked me if I feed supplements, I'd've scoffed. With a barn full of relatively easy keepers, and one horse who was ultra-sensitve to sugar, what need did I have of supplements? I fed (and still do) a high-quality ration balancer for the hoovers, and a low-starch Senior feed for the others. Add in good-quality grass hay and free-choice salt (both loose and block-style) and there was no need to send SmartPak a large chunk of my paycheck every month. I did use a hoof supplement for Saga (Bioflax 20), but only after trying every other trick in the book to help him grow more sole.

Then I got Echo, and now food prep time has turned into a bad episode of Iron Chef.

Echo is your typical high-maintenance TB. He's got two related issues: he's rather on the thin side, and he very likely has ulcers.

When he arrived, you could see every rib in his body, despite being fed vast quantities of Senior feed and good hay at Adopted Horse Parent's farm. My goal in life became cramming more calories in, but Echo has a problem with this - he doesn't actually like to eat. Sure, he'll eat his grain, but hay is iffy. He'll eat it for a while, but then there are other things to do, like annoy Cash. Or stare off into space. Or watch the donkeys. Or the deer. Or the butterflies. And it doesn't matter what type of hay I give him either - alfalfa, T/A mix, and I've tried three different Coastal hay suppliers. He eats for a bit, and then he's just not into it. Cash helps some, in that Echo often eats when Cash does, but it's not enough. I feel like someone's Jewish grandmother, going "Eat, Liebschen, EAT!" every time I see Echo.

At the advice of my vet, I moved Echo from Senior feed to a Complete feed when he arrived, which has about 100 calories more per pound (roughly 1200 more calories/day for the same weight of feed). Unfortunately, it also has almost 2x as much NSCs, which is not good for his feet. In fact, he's been a little footsore of late, despite that nasty chunk of his hoof being almost grown out. If he's sensitive to sugar like Saga was, the feed could be contributing to him being footsore (it's also possible that the grass is contributing, but they are all limited to 2 hours per day of grazing, so that shouldn't be much of an issue). So we're switching him back to Senior (again on the advice of the vet, TC, and my farrier). But then we have to make up the calories somehow...

There are lots of ways you can do this. I've spent too much time researching options, and here's what I found and why I feed what I do:

• Rice bran - Lots of calories, but also high in NSCs (25-30%). I used to use it, and it works, but because of the NSCs I now stay away from it.
• Corn oil - Cheap, but extremely high Omega 6/Omega 3 ratio. Omega 6 causes joint inflammation and other issues, so you want to get as close to 1/1 as possible. Corn oil is like 46:1... YIKES!
• Cocosoya or soybean oil - I've heard really good things about cocosoya, and I know some blog readers have used it with excellent results. However, some horses are sensitive to soy (Saga was one) so I try not to feed it.  Good Omega 6:3 ratio, though, about 8:1, and readily available.
• Cool Calories or another weight builder supplement - The Smartpak reviews for these sorts of supplements are good, but check out the ingredients list. Partially hydrogenated vegetable fat is usually the #1 ingredient. We know that hydrogenated fat isn't good for us, why feed it to our horses? Besides, if it's really just a hydrogenated vegetable oil, I'd rather simply feed some sort of  oil. Rice bran is another popular ingredient.

I'm running out of options here, aren't I? Making horses fat is haaard! So here's what Echo DOES get to help him gain weight:

• Olive oil - Decent Omega 6/3 ratio (10:1). No NSCs. Roughly 1000 calories per cup. Horses do not seem to have a sensitivity to it like they do to soy. It's expensive compared to the other oils, so it's a good thing I can buy in bulk from Costco! Anyway, Echo gets 1/2 cup 2x/day.
• Ground flax - LOADS of Omega 3s, about 900 calories per cup. This stuff comes highly recommended not only for helping with weight, but clearing up skin conditions, putting on a good shine, and helping grow a better hoof. There's some argument as to whether it needs to be ground to feed it or if it can be fed whole - either one seems to be OK, but the ground stuff goes rancid quickly. I just started feeding it ground, and am grinding it myself in small batches and storing it in the fridge (I may switch to a stabilized version in the future). We're working up to 1/2 cup 2x/day for both Echo and Cash, who has been having trouble shedding out this spring. 

I get the people-grade version of this stuff in my breakfast cereal. Nomnomnom.

In addition to getting Senior and all the hay they can eat, Cash and Echo also get about 4 lbs of soaked, rinsed beet pulp each, 2x/day. Cash finds this easier to chew than hay, and Echo is more intent on finishing it than hay. Whatever it takes, right?

Of course, pouring all this feed into Echo won't do any good if he's got digestive issues. I have not had him scoped, but he shows some classic symptoms of ulcers. When I first got him, he would not let me groom or touch his belly, especially on the off side. He pawed constantly. He pinned his ears and nipped while being girthed. He wouldn't finish his feed. He was lethargic under saddle. And of course, despite all the food he was getting, he wasn't putting on any weight. I discussed these symptoms with my vet, and she suggested  trying some (relatively inexpensive) things to see if he improves, and he has. So to help with digestion, he gets:

• 1/2 cup aloe vera juice 2x/day

If you add a splash of lime juice to a cup of this, do you think it would make a margarita? Oh wait, that's AGAVE juice. Oops.

• 2 magnesium tablets 2x/day (same stuff people take for heartburn, lol!)

Now in the barn aisle as well as the health-food aisle.

• 3 packs of Omnezaprole ("blue pop rocks", same stuff as Ulcerguard but much less expensive) 1x/day (this is only for a month)

Blue pop rocks!

I am happy to say that today, I can groom him all over and he is comfortable. The pawing has stopped entirely. Being saddled and girthed is almost a non-event (he's even mostly stopped biting his lead rope). He eats his grain in good time, has much more energy under saddle, and I can only see about 4 of his ribs now. So all this stuff seems to be working - THANK GOODNESS!

 

He also currently gets SmartPak's Bug Off supplement, since the flies annoy him terribly despite his impressive anti-bug wardrobe. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be helping him, and it smells AWFUL (actually makes me gag, and I have a strong stomach!) so I will be discontinuing that when I run out.

I can't even tell you how vile this stuff smells. Echo eats it though, go figure!

For his delicate little thin-soled flat feetsies, he gets Bioflax 20. This stuff helped Saga grow almost 10 mm of sole depth in about 9 months, so I'm hoping it will work for Echo too.  And once a month, everyone gets a psyllium supplement to clear out any sand that has taken up residence in their guts.

So... come clean, y'all. Please tell me someone out there is a crazed supplement addict like myself?

Off to a slow start

As you might imagine from the lack of posts, things haven't been going exactly as planned since Echo the Wonder Pony arrived. I'd arranged for some lessons, imagining that we'd get to work right away and continue with the great training that he got at Adopted Horse Parent's farm. I'd arranged for the saddle fitter to come out, hoping that something in the tack room would fit him (because really, we're out of saddle rack space. Yeah, that's it...). I'd even started penciling in some low-key dressage shows in May, just to get him out and about.

And then... Oberon bit him. Over the fence. Right where the saddle goes.

Ok, fine, lots of Derma-gel, a week off for that to heal, and in the meantime, I start working on the perfect blend of fat, fat, and more fat, in an effort to fatten him up some. I guess I'm just used to nice round quarter-horse types, 'cause in comparison, Echo looks sort of like an anorexic supermodel.

Then it rained for a week, so no riding. Echo focused on getting fat and sassy, and getting a few more ground manners.

So, finally, we're ready to ride! We go out on our second-ever trail ride, where he is good as gold, happily following Taran and not spooking at a thing. When we return to the barn, I'm picking out his feet when I notice... he's twisted his shoe. And ripped off half his hoof with it.

Insert major pouting session here.

Really alert readers (with really good memories) will remember that when I first met Echo down in Ocala, he had a major chip out of his toe and was a bit sore. They slapped on some racing plates and he was fine.

Here's what his foot looked like mid-February. The chip out of his toe is down to the laminae. Believe it or not, he was only a tiny bit off when this happened.

However, he also had an abscess hole in his hoof wall on the outside quarter, and the hoof wall from the toe back to this hole apparently wasn't terribly well attached. The toe chip went first, then when the shoe twisted, the rest of the hoof wall came loose, all the way back to the abscess hole on the quarter.

This is right after we pulled the twisted shoe. The hoof wall is still there on the outside, but you can see the crack that goes all the way up to the event line. The wall isn't actually attached where the nail holes are - it's just sort of hanging on. Nothing solid to nail a shoe to.

As you might imagine, this caused Echo to be rather sore. A shoe would have helped protect the area until the hoof wall grows out, but there's literally nothing to stick a shoe on to. So, I had to wait for my trimmer to come out and put a hoof cast on instead.

Starting the casting process. You have less than about 3 minutes to get it on before it starts setting!

Cast from the bottom. Note how it makes a little rim on the hoof wall, sort of like a shoe? Pretty cool, huh! 

A closer look at the entire hoof - and his other feet - and my trimmer pieced together what probably happened. Some sort of metabolic event about 4-6 months ago apparently caused two abscesses on the coronet band - one on the toe, and one on the quarter. When I got Echo, these abscesses had long since blown out, and what was left were two holes in the hoof wall. The toe abscess chipped out first, mid-February. The shoe helped hold the hoof together for another 6 weeks, but eventually the hoof wall on the quarter abscess gave out too. And that's where we're at now - Echo literally has about half a hoof wall, poor guy.

The good news is that the hoof cast worked wonders! Echo is now sound and happily cruising about. Of course we've had more rain, but I've been able to get some solid rides in and finally a lesson, with another one scheduled for tomorrow. So, riding update is soon to come!

And then suddenly...

... I started blogging again.

You know how sometimes there's plenty going on, but you're just not inspired to blog? Yeah, that's been me. I've been riding - although with highs last week of 105, I admit not as much as I'd like, especially given that we've got a show this Saturday. I've made it through the entire four seasons of White Collar (yes, in two weeks. Don't ask.), and am now bummed that I will only get to see Matt Bomer (swooooon) weekly, or on re-runs. The husband is out of town, but nothing has broken (yet) - still waiting for that axe to fall. And the current scorpion body count stands somewhere north of 15 (UPDATE: Make that 16. I just squished another one on the wall. Ugh). I have no idea why there are so many all at once when I haven't seen any for months, but at least the little bastards are showing up dead or nearly so.

Let's see, what to catch up on. Oh, Saga's got a new farrier. This one also works for a (different) vet, but actually calls back and responds to text messages. He makes house calls too, so I might not have to haul any more to get Saga shod. That would be super-awesome-nice. The first shoeing job was a little scary, but Saga is sound and comfortable, so... I guess it's all good.

 LF. That damn bulge is STILL there, after two years of trying so many ways to let it grow out. The new farrier is trying to rasp down the hoof wall, which makes me cringe. HOWEVER, when I pointed out that what really needs to happen is that the wall needs to be at the same angle all the way down WITHOUT rasping, he said, "You're right, and that's where we're going to be in six months or so." At least we both have the same end goal in mind!

 When he pulled the previous set of shoes, a huge chunk of toe came off. Awesome. Saga was at 5 weeks exactly... he looked more like 9 weeks.

 LF. Better, although the hairline is still pushed up at the quarters.

At least he's sound.

I've been doing regular jumping lessons, and seem to be mostly improving. I'll work on one thing and then something else (that I thought I'd already fixed) will break. Also, after seeing me school some of the Training XC fences (3'3 ish), Paige has jacked the fences up. We're jumping mostly 2'6-3'. It's going pretty well - my big challenges continue to be keeping the elbows in, and not letting him get rolling up to the fence. Saga is naturally downhill and has a big chest and shoulder, so it's hard for him to balance back. We're getting better, but we've got a long ways to go before I'll really feel like the power is coming from behind.

Paige also snuck up a nice 3'3-ish oxer on a line we were doing. I came around and said something like "HOLY CARP THAT'S HUGE". She reminded me not to look at it, and Saga jumped through like a pro. Is he awesome or what?!?! (Please ignore my 'flying chicken' elbows).

This coming Saturday is the LOPE benefit horse show. I'm riding Saga and Oberon in two dressage classes each (Intro B and C), a hunter over fences class each (Saga at 2'6 and Oberon is jumping Xs and will likely spook at the flowers), and a trail versatility class each (Saga ridden and Oberon in-hand). One of the likely obstacles on the trail versatility course will be walking over a tarp on the ground. Oberon will walk over one, but every time I move it to a new place, it's a whole new game. Most recently, he licked the tarp and then picked it up in his teeth, managing to scare the crap out of himself when the whole thing moved. Yep, he's speshul. I just hope he doesn't do something that classy at the show. I'm also on to him about eating fake flowers (he tried that at our jumping lesson last week). With his penchant for sampling anything and everything, I'm starting to wonder if perhaps he's part goat.

Intro B I'm not worried about. Intro C, with the canter, is going to be ... bad. Oberon has a canter departure that sort of resembles a Lazy Boy sofa trying to throw itself across the room, or maybe a hippo trying to heave itself to its feet. You can almost hear him go "UH!" on the departure. It's not exactly the most graceful thing ever, and I can't wait to hear what the judge has to say about it. Saga's canter departs, especially to the right, usually involve falling in on his shoulder, pinning his ears, and running. They're awesome and make me feel like SUCH a good rider (NOT). I decided to take him out and longe him the other night to see how he did on the longe line, and the answer is... he can't do a canter depart to save his life. He's so unbalanced he just can't do one cleanly, even on his own. It was really eye-opening watching him struggle so much - it's not just me, although I am obviously not helping any. We're not going to fix anything in time for Saturday, but I'll be longing him more regularly to help him figure it out on his own. In the meantime, we'll just muddle through the test and hope for a miracle.

Did I mention that MC, Cash's beloved Auntie (and Chief Bringer of Carrots) is taking him to the show as well? And that Cash's canter departs are nothing short of perfect? I'm going to get my ass kicked by my friend riding my "retired" schoolmaster. But hey, the ribbon she's going to come home with will look great just the same! ;)

Horrible hooves (a Saga hoof update)

I haven't posted pics of Saga's feet for a while, and frankly, I'm really hesitant to do so now. They look quite horrible.

To fill in on the latest bit of the ongoing soap opera that has become Saga's hoof care... he was last shod four weeks ago by the vet farrier. Prior to that, it was eight weeks between shoeings. At five weeks exactly he threw the RF, then at six weeks exactly tossed the LF. I could not, for love nor money, get an appointment with the farrier, despite trying for over four weeks. I booted Saga as I could, but still, his feet chipped badly. I'm afraid the farrier didn't have much to work with when he shod Saga this last time, so you will see the chips in the bottom of the hoof wall. Saga has an appointment next Tuesday for new shoes - it will be exactly five weeks, and that's the schedule we're going to try to keep him on from here on out. Maybe, just maybe, that will magically help somehow. Maybe.

So, here's the awfulness:

LF. You can see the truly awful event lines. And look at the difference in angle of the hoof wall, from the coronet band all the way down. The first 1/2 inch or so is soooo different from the last inch. I have been trying to grow that angle out all the way down for two years now, both barefoot and shod, and have not been able to make any success. It's frustrating to know just how much pressure that must be putting on his toe. GAH.

LF again. Hairline is pushed up, huge flare at the bottom 1/2 of the foot, event lines allll the way down. I have tried so, SO many things with his diet to prevent those event lines from happening, and yet they still do. At this point I have no idea what's causing them, and I just can't win. He's very, VERY sensitive to something in his environment, I just don't know what.

RF. The thing that looks like a crack on his toe is new. Well, not exactly... he used to have it a year or more ago when the quarters were too long. It's back. It's superficial, but still... it's a clue that things aren't right. More event lines, more flare... and the medio-lateral balance is soooo off.

RF. At least his heel isn't terribly underrun and the changes in hoof wall angles aren't as horrible as the other foot? This is the one he's always had a better landing on.

Here's what he looks like standing.

I guess he stands fairly straight, despite everything.

I'm so depressed looking at these pics. I guess the ONLY thing that's good is that he's sound and happy to work, and I KNOW he would be lame without shoes, because his soles are so thin.  Also, one thing I have learned looking and bare feet over the last few years... beautiful-looking feet may not function terribly well, while awkward-looking feet may function fantastically. His feet are definitely functional, even if they make me cringe. I guess that's something. 

First "real" ride minus shoes

Today it had finally dried out enough for Fuzzypony and I to head over to the arena and get in a serious ride. Well, serious being relative, since we only hacked around for about 20 minutes. It was 85 degrees and quite humid, and neither horse had much gas, so we kept it to a minimum.

I was really worried about how Saga would be. This was our first "real" ride without shoes, AND he was trimmed on Thursday. I've been watching him closely and he's taken some short steps, but I've also seen him canter on both leads out in the pasture and do some other stuff where he looked 100%. I was cautiously optimistic as I booted him up and hopped on...

... until we hit the pavement. OMG he was LAME. I almost got off, but then we got to a patch with fewer small rocks, and he improved. When we hit the trail, he started really striding out and stomping around. Yes, the ground was softer, and he preferred to stay on the grass. BUT! He was stepping evenly and seemed quite comfortable. We took the long way to the arena, and he did well except for the few rocky parts. He actually seemed a bit sore on his hinds, which is new. I think he's been walking on the hoof wall, and now that the wall is rolled, his (thin) sole has more contact with the ground. I'm wondering if I should get him hoof boots all around, instead of just the fronts?

Anyway, the ride went quite well! Both horses were super-sluggish due to the heat, and the flies were pretty bad (as evidenced by Saga's constantly swishing tail). We started with a bit of trot each direction. He was pretty curled up in front, which is a favorite evasion. I let him have a longer rein just to let him move forward, since that usually helps.







We then did a few canter circles each way. The canter transitions were horrid (par for the course), BUT... he picked up the right lead on the first try, and felt quite balanced and comfortable, even if he was a bit sprawly. Contrast this to our dressage clinic three weeks ago where we could NOT, for love nor money, get the right lead, and when we finally did, it was all over the place. Either the stifle injection or the Adequan (or both?) seem to be making him more comfortable, so that was very encouraging!

I'm hoping to squeeze in a ride tomorrow morning before it starts raining, and then we have a lesson scheduled for Wednesday. Fingers crossed!

RH: Fixed. LF? Still NQR.

Last week, my vet was out to check Saga's right hind. The problem seemed to be the stifle (toe dragging, fluid on the joint), so we did a radiograph and ultrasounded the joint. Everything showed up fine, but we injected the joint anyway. It seems to have worked - Saga feels great behind, and there is no more telltale toe-dragging. Yay!

During the lameness exam, my vet commented that he was a little off on the LF as well. That's the leg we had all the issues with last fall - we blocked it twice and he didn't come sound, then blocked the foot a third time, which seemed to help. Radiographs of the foot showed nothing, but he's got thin soles so at the time we decided to shoe him. Whether he's been 100% with the shoes on is hard to say - he tends to shuffle on pavement to avoid slipping, but he feels great on soft surfaces. Recently the shoes came off, and now we're back to him being noticeably short on that leg (although he is not head-bobbing lame).

I've been using hoof boots, and I wanted to see if they were making much of a difference in the way he moves. I took a little video, but I'm having issues with video editing so instead I captured some stills from the video.

LF landing with boots. Flat.

 LF landing without boots. DEFINITELY toe-first.

 

 RF with boots. Heel first, but it's a little hard to see.

 RF, no boots. YAY for nice heel-first landing!!!

As I was looking at the stills, I noticed the difference in the angles his legs were making, so I decided to measure them. I wanted to see how much of a difference there was between the angles of right vs left, both with and without boots. I busted out with my incredibly rusty trusty trig skills (read: I found a web site with a handy calculator since I couldn't remember past the Pythagorean theorem) and did a little calculating.

• LF without boots: 38.6 degrees
• RF without boots: 48.2 degrees
• LF with boots: 45.2 degrees
• RF with boots: 47.9 degrees

Take all these measurements with a large grain of salt. To do a really good study I'd need a more accurate way to measure angles, and I'd also need a larger sample size of strides to compare. Ignoring those two tiny details, here's what I think this means:

• For the RF, the foot with the better landing, the boots aren't making much of a difference. My measurements aren't exact, and the difference in the angles is only .3 degrees with/without boots. On the other hand, they don't appear to be hampering his movement either.
• For the LF, the boots are making a significant difference - over 7 degrees of better range. That translates into a stride length that's over 25% larger (if I did my math right, and I might not have. Somebody please point it out to me if I messed up.).
• Wearing boots makes the stride length more even between the LF and RF. Without boots, there was almost a 10 degree difference in angles; with boots, it was not quite 3 degrees. In other words, he is able to move his body more evenly when he wears boots.

 I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it's likely that wearing boots and wearing shoes produces similar movement in this situation (that is, both shoes and boots allow for a larger LF stride, and more even stride length between the LF and  RF). While riding tonight on the tarmac, at a walk, I was constantly trying to feel if he was uneven anywhere. Maybe a tiny bit? But he was stepping out really well so maybe not? I honestly couldn't tell, and probably would not have noticed anything if I hadn't been scrutinizing every step.  This tells me that I cannot tell when my horse is uneven to the tune of 3 degrees in stride length. Ergo, he could have been just as lame in shoes as he is in boots, and I am not sure I would have been able to tell. He always felt a little uncertain in shoes on tarmac because he tended to slip. Out on grass, he looks 100% at the trot without boots, but of course that's on softer footing. I won't be able to tell how he is in boots on softer footing under saddle until later in the week.

I'm calling the vet tomorrow to make another appointment to see if we can pinpoint the problem with the LF. If past history is any indicator, the problem will not go away when the foot is blocked (although given the fact that he's noticeably better in boots, it seems logical that the problem is in the foot).  Which begs the question... where the heck is the problem??? I'm taking bets, so start speculating wildly!

Ultrasound, Adequan, Panecure, and how we nearly burned down the barn

First of all, Saga's ultrasound was Monday (sheesh, I'm so far behind). IT WAS CLEAN!!!! The radiograph was clean too, so we are left wondering why he's got fluid on his stifle. I discussed other possibilities with the vet (namely, hock and suspensory), but he felt like the flexion test results, plus the  fluid he could feel on the joint, all pointed to something in the stifle. We ended up injecting the joint after a long discussion of pros and cons (and a lot of research by me over the weekend). I haven't ridden him since Monday, but now three days later, he looks... pretty good, actually. Fingers crossed!

The vet also noted that he was 1/5 lame on the LF in addition to being off on the RH. The vet attributed the lameness to Saga not having shoes on, even though he did not react to hoof testers (remember, we jogged him out in boots and pads). A little research shows that front/hind end lameness are often on diagonal limbs, so it's possible that the LF issues we've been seeing since last fall are actually related to the RH stifle issue. We blocked the entire LF last fall and he didn't go sound, so maybe it wasn't the LF after all but actually the RH? Or the LF issue is causing the RH. I'm grasping at straws? ANYway, I've noticed that he seems better on the LF today than he did on Monday. Of course, I'm watching him walk out in the pasture, so it could be wishful thinking on my part. Hopefully we'll get a handwalk in on pavement tomorrow and I can do a better assessment.

I've also started him on Adequan, per vet's suggestion. He's had two doses so far, four days apart. I will probably not do the entire loading dose of 7 injections but will try 5 and then do them monthly. So maybe the Adequan is helping make him feel better all over, I really don't know. So many things are going on at once, it's going to be impossible to tell what's causing what. That's frustrating for diagnostic purposes for sure, but if he's improving, I'm pretty happy with that!

In other news, I decided to do the Panecure Powerpac on the boys starting March 1. I don't do the every-other-month worming since I've had several fecal tests come out negative, but at the vet's recommendation I am doing the Powerpac to get rid of what doesn't show up on fecal tests. Luckily, everybody is really good about about worming... except Cash. And when I say that Cash is bad about it, I mean like flipping-himself-over-backwards bad. We've tried the molasses syringe and the applesauce and every other trick in the book, and over the years he's just gotten worse. Doesn't matter who does it either, it's just awful. So... I tried sneaking the Panecure in his food and you know what? HE ATE IT!!! So except for the first night, I've been putting Panecure in all the boys' dinners, and they're still licking the bowls clean. Cash is really picky too, so I halfway expected him to turn his nose up at his "contaminated" food - but he didn't. Anyway, if you are trying to Powerpac your horse, consider seeing if they'll eat it hidden in their dinner.

And finally, yes, we did nearly burn down the barn tonight. When I went out to feed tonight, I smelled smoke. There's nothing quite like the smell of smoke in your barn to set your adrenaline going!!! I frantically glanced up at the hay loft to see if there was anything there (no), the sprinted to the barn storeroom where the chicks are. The storeroom was filled with smoke - one of their heat lamps had malfunctioned and ignited the shavings they were on, which were smoldering. I yelled for the hubby, grabbed Anie's bucket of water (hey, it was handy!), and doused the burned area.

 

Burnt shavings. Fortunately that's all that burned... we were SO lucky.

We were unbelievably lucky. I don't know how long the shavings were burning, but eventually the fire would have reached the wooden barn walls and ignited them, and the whole structure would have gone up. We totally dodged the bullet this time. Whatever deity was looking out for us today, I'm eternally grateful.

Go hug your horse(s), and make sure you know where the fire extinguisher is in your barn!

Vet exam results

The vet was out today to do annual teeth and Coggins (I do my own vaccinations so they're not all smushed together at once). Reddums checked out as normal in all ways, except his falling-down-drunk reaction to the sedative:

 

Noreally... Imma jusht... fiiiiiinnnne. I kin schtand by myshelf. Yuppppersssh, I'm fiiiiinnnne.

Next up was Cash. For a 23-year-old (he'll be 24 in April), the vet said that Cash's teeth look pretty good. He has one molar (209) on the top left that's cupping and is packing some food in, which may be causing him to eat less hay. We agreed to treat it conservatively and keep an eye on it, as well as up his feed to a level more appropriate for a horse eating minimal hay. I recently changed him over to Triple Crown Senior, and am working him slowly up to roughly 5 lbs per feeding, twice per day, plus a bedtime snack.

 Mmmfrnnnddddlllp. (Horse speak for "I'm gonna get you later for this, mom")

Saga... where do I start. I showed the vet my concerns with his front feet and he agreed 100%. We discussed taking rads of his feet to see how the sole was doing, but a quick squeeze with the hoof testers showed that it would be pointless. The sole was just as flexible as it was in November - in other words, the shoes have done NOTHING to help build sole depth. The good news is that he wasn't at all reactive to the testers, so we are starting off well. He also showed no response to palpitation on his back or in the sacral area, where he was sore in November, so that's good too. Unfortunately, given the condition of the soles I don't think the vet was excited about me taking him barefoot, which I understand. I'm still torn about it too, but something needs to be done about his feet.

I booted him up (since we'd be trotting on tarmac) so we could check the hind end for issues. He's been having trouble with canter transitions, and he's been feeling uneven when I change from one posting diagonal to the other, so I wanted to have the vet look at him. Long story short, he's got fluid in the right stifle and flexion made him trot worse. We took rads of the joint and they came back clean, but there's concern that it's a soft tissue injury. The portable ultrasound was with another vet today, so he's coming back Monday to ultrasound the area (unless I can get an appointment for him tomorrow, by some miracle). Worst case scenario, three to six months off.

Awesome. At least three to six months off will give him time to adjust to barefoot, right? Sigh.

I sort of have a semi-plan at this point, but we're basically on hold until we get the ultrasound results back. Until then, I'm reading up on stifles. Keep your fingers crossed it's something minor.

The Plan for Saga's feet

Thank you everyone who commented about my last, rather depressed post about what Saga's foot looked like under the shoe. I appreciate all of your collective advice!

Yesterday evening I took Saga over to my neighbor-farrier and had him pull Saga's other shoe. There's no way my regular farrier could get out until next week to put the other shoe on anyway, so I figured, what the heck. We'll try barefoot again - with a few important changes - and monitor things carefully.

My vet comes out for annual stuff tomorrow, so we'll take new x-rays of his feet to see if there's been any change in sole depth. I'm guessing that there hasn't been, but it'll be good to know.

I'm changing Saga's feed from Triple Crown Light to Triple Crown 30% for Grass Hay. It's a 30% protein ration balancer that's specifically formulated for horses on mixed hay. I don't know if it'll help, but the TCL doesn't seem to be doing us any favors, so we'll try something different and see where that gets us. I'll continue on with his flax and MgO supplement, as well as the probiotics and the feed-through fly control. He also gets unmolassesed beet pulp 2x/day, which is doing a great job of helping him maintain weight without pouring a lot of grain into him.

I'm exploring another supplement option, but we'll try the TC 30% for a month and see how he's doing before tweaking anything else.

I'm also going to be MUCH more careful about booting him. He won't get boots for turnout, but the track is mostly dirt with a few small rocks here and there. I'm taking him for short walks (less than a mile) on the tarmac without boots, to help his feet wear a bit. I'm also hand-walking on soft ground. Anything longer than that, under saddle, and/or on rougher ground, and he'll get boots. I don't want to chance bruising his soles this early in the game.

 LF. Notice how much the toe has worn after just two short hand walks - less than a mile each on tarmac, plus about 1/2 mile on soft ground.

 The frog is starting to shed, and the toe callus is wearing a bit.

 RF. It's wearing more on the outside edge than on the inside, and you can see how the coronet band is pushed up more on that side too. I'm guessing that's related... interesting.

RF. It looks better overall than the LF, I think. When he was barefoot before, this foot had the better landing, although he tended to be consistently shorter on this foot on hard ground. This foot also has minor changes in the bone (de-ossification, maybe?) on the outside.

I realize from the pictures that his feet are far from ideal - long toes, bull nose, flared walls, high bars, false sole, coronet band pushed up (did I miss anything, haha?!). HOWEVER, I am not going to go crazy trimming him right now. Instead, I'm doing the hand walks, and I'm hoping to get some pea gravel for the track this weekend. I want to give his feet a chance to adjust themselves before going crazy. Right now that hoof wall is keeping his sole up off the ground, and the false sole is also affording him protection. I don't want to take that away from him all at once; I'd rather give nature a chance to figure things out a little before I help it along. I don't expect that he'll be self-trimming because I can't provide him with that sort of workload, but I do expect that his feet will adjust a little bit on their own.

So, there you have it. Fingers crossed that I can manage him better this time around. It may be he'll always need boots for anything other than the track or soft ground, or shoes for the hunting/jousting season - and I'm OK with that. I just want him comfortable without compromising his feet.