Founder Horse Walking

Day 19: I just went outside in my PJ's to take a quick shot of Dexter over the fence this morning. The bute has been helping, but I also feel that he’s improving…to the point where he gets cranky at feeding time! This is a new attitude for me to see, but Marci tells me I’m seeing the old Dexter. The head nodding he's doing is his way of telling me to get my butt out with his breakfast. The head shaking that follows means "Damn my feet hurt." Sorry about the shaky tape.

Dexter Update, Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Day 16: Founder Roller Coaster Ride!

On Sunday in the afternoon, I had put a pair of Marquis Boots on Dexter. He started yawning as soon as he stood up. (I had to put them on while he was laying down.) He seemed to get so much relief from them. Back on bute and in boots, yesterday was a good day for him. We noticed him playing with a barrel trying to get my attention, I think to bring food. Then I put him out in the larger dirt field and he was walking all around searching for little nibbles and walking fairly comfortably. It really suprised me after he crashed last Friday to see him feeling so good. I thought he'd hit bottom and was working his way back up now and fast.

But I took the boots off yesterday as mud was around the top and I was afraid after having them on so long, they would rub. Well, the way Marquis boots fit, they offer a lot of support around the front of the hoof and the heelbulb. Twice I've had them on him and there he improved drammatically. But you can't keep them on 24 hours for days at a time. They have to be cleaned daily and put on when he's laying down or when he can tolerate lifting his foot. I'm convinced now that unless he really improves, I may have to trim him laying down as well in order to trim him again.

I just wanted to add and update. I wish I could do something to just take all his pain away and make him a happy healthy horse again. I realize he's not one of my own horses and I shouldn't take his condition so hard, but I feel like all horses deserve a chance to get better and I can love all horse no matter who they belong to.

As horse people, ALL the horses are our responsibility, not just the ones in our pasture. We owe it to them all to do what we can to help insure they have the best life possible. Don't we?

Just Another Day at the Office!

When I worked at the City of Tumwater, I drove there on the same roads, there and back every weekday. Usually I was speeding in a panic, heart thumbing because I knew I was going to be a few minutes late and all too often I found myself on the receiving end of the you’re tardy again look of scorn.”

Upon my hasty arrival, I would bid good morning to the same fresh faces, chat about our evenings and weekends and then I sat myself down at the same desk in a room full of desks at one end of the basement and then the other in front of a computer which was replaced every few years.

I had a window near my workspace. I could see when it was daylight or dark outside, but my view was of a wall of large rocks and a couple volunteer fir trees making a very strong effort of growing up through the rocks. I cheered them on every workday for many years. I was proud of them for getting so tall in such a precarious location. But grow they did until they were deemed a hazard and scheduled for “Timber!”

In my new job however, my window view frequently changes. I never know from day to day until I look at my calendar, which roads I’ll be driving on, whose barn I’ll be in, or whose horse I’ll be greeting for its trim. The owners are always happy to see me even if I'm very late, because they understand that I'm on horsetime and making there at all can sometimes be a pleasant surprise. The horses are always curious about me and anxious to meet someone new. I love horses.

Yesterday, was an exceptional day at the office. My view from my office window kept changing. Rich and I flew to Roche Harbor in a very small airplane, then we took a cab to the ferry terminal in Friday Harbor, then a Ferry to Orcas Island. We hopped into an older pick up truck affectionately known as the “Island Truck” and rode across that amazing island to a beautiful farm where the owner raises gorgeous Gypsy Vanner Horses. I helped an upcoming natural hoofcare student with her 3 Icelandic ponies’ hoof trims. And later she took us on fun tour of that beautiful island and we stopped to visit a large Icelandic Pony farm and I picked out some cute ponies for my granddaughters! Grampa was surprised too!

It was one of my best days so far, since leaving the desk at the office. I guess I'm just like those trees outside my window for so many years. I grew there too, in more ways than one, and eventually it became a hazard to keep myself there, so I had to leave.

Thank you Lili, for such a wonderful day!

Pat

Dexter update

Day 13, Saturday, August 25, 2007

Well, yesterday was Dexter’s most difficult day so far. Unfortunately, it was also the first day his owner Marci came to see him since he was left in my care and I wasn't here. He was depressed and in pain. I didn’t put any horses in with him and I should have. He’s in a fairly emotional state and he does not like being alone. But then who does when they’re not feeling well? All the other horses wonder out to the back of the pasture and there he is, alone and feeling like crap, unable to walk at all without the ruthless hoof pain.

He had been off bute for 48 hours. I truly believe the bute is part of the problem. It’s certainly not a cure, it does make him feel a tiny bit better temporarily, but to his body, it masks what’s really going on and therefore compromises his ability to go to war against the root of the painful problem. In other words, the bute numbs the pain, but also numbs his body to what is happening. Kind of like shoes numb the hooves to the same kind of pain creating the allusion that healing has already taken place, so why should his body put forth more effort to help himself?

You have to understand, I grew up with movies like The Incredible Voyage.

So I did give him a double dose of bute this afternoon at 3pm. But today was better for him even without having had any pain meds for such a long time. He’s moving around a bit. He got down and rolled and he’s eaten LOTS of grass hay. He drinks water, he pees and poops and does all the things healthy horses do. I had Jake and Boomer in with him this morning until just a bit ago. I let them out and he wanted so badly to follow them out of the gate, but his body wasn’t cooperating.

Marci came again today and we agreed to give him a few more days. If he remains like this, we’ve agreed that he doesn’t deserve to be put through this agony any longer than that.

I personally believe he’s hit bottom, and all the things I’m doing for him are going to kick in now and very gradually he’s going to improve until he comfortable again. But then, that might just be part of the founder roller coaster ride we all climb on when we are dealing with a horse suffering from chronic laminitis.

What a Difference!

I just noticed this today. This is the same hoof. Dexter's left front. The top left picture taken in January right after deshoeing him. The top right taken 8 days ago (that's marking pen at his toe) and the bottom one was taken last Saturday.

(Now of course this is not a trim I would perform on a healthy hoof. This is a trim I would perform on this horse's left front foundered hoof because I want to see if I can trim him in a way that will help him. )

Interesting changes. Not just between the first two pictures, how his heel is much wider, but also it appears to me in the 3rd picture after only a week, his frog got busy! So then I took the forces nearly completely off his hoofwall, (off his laminae). I can't wait to see what his hoof will do now. It never ceases to amaze me the capacity these hooves have for healing themselves if you can set them up for success.

SON OF A...

Today, I was trying to get Dexter to pick up his feet so I could work on them and he's not cooperating with me AT ALL!

So I say to him, Buddy, it can't possibly be that painful!

Well, then he DID pick up his foot and put it right down...on mine!

And if I read his expression accurately, I'm sure his reply was, "Here, let me demonstrate on your foot so you can understand better the amount of discomfort I've been tolerating so gentlemanly for the past many months."

I got the idea. His feet hurt like a...(deleted text).

Dexter Update: Day 10

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

For the past few days, Dexter was back on bute for pain control. I’m not sure how much it’s really helping him though. I‘m researching alternative pain meds. Mostly, he has just been hanging out eating all the strange offerings that appear in his feed pan, or not if it’s too weird. He’s had friends over for catered meals. (I think my horses are getting a wee bit jealous of the attention and time His Highness has been receiving. I’ve got to work in some time for them as we’re going along.)

He's pictured taking his evening meal. Grain is in the pan on the barrel and hay at a level where he won't have to put weight on his toes and a bucket of water in case he needs a drink and refuses to walk to the corner of the paddock. Dehydration is a concern. I've been tracking everything that goes in and comes out as much as I can. The sand he's on is so much better than standing on urine soaked shaving. If the weather takes a turn though, I'll have to boot him to get him to the stall.

Today, his hooves were very warm to the touch so he stood in cold running water for about an hour. Much better afterward.

This afternoon, my friend Desiree, helped me with him while I touched up his fronts and trimmed his hinds. His frogs needed attention due to thrush. I’m going to apply the thrush remedy I found on Pete and Ivy Ramey’s website, hoofrehab.com. What I’ll use is ½ Neosporin and ½ Tinactin mixed together and put into a syringe so that it be applied deeply into the center sulcus and side sulcuses (aka collateral grooves) Thanks Cora!

He sloughed a lot of junky sole, yippee! And I trimmed quite a bit of long hoofwall off. Yes, after only two weeks. That is why it’s nice that he’s here and not an hour away at his stable.

I did all this work and Dex didn’t get his bute this morning! So that was pretty cool. However, this evening when I was just out there with him, he really didn’t want to take step. His coat is shiny and beautiful though, so that indicates to me that I’m on the right track. His cresty neck is still… cresty, but the swelling that he’s had in his left front around the fetlock and cannon bone is diminishing. I believe I tapped into an abscess while I was trimming this morning, but I wasn’t sure. There is lots of stagnate tissue and crud inhabiting his sole.

So he got two scoops of bute and will call me in the morning…for his breakfast. I hope when I see him next he’ll be dancing around his paddock with a big ol’ smile on his handsome face!

Old Tractors!

I learned how to do something new today! How to drive an old tractor. For awhile now, we've been working on what is supposed to eventually be a Parelli Play Field. Where like-mind Parelli folks like myself, can come and play with their horses.

So today I went out and helped Rich work on it. He showed me how to operate the old tractor. I've moved the back hoe around the place, and I love driving the Gator out to feed the horses, but the old tractor was a first for me.

While I was driving back and forth across the field, I was thinking about how I would write about my experience of driving an old tractor. (People who love to write are always thinking of how they would write about their experiences and that's what I do too.)

Of course, tons of books and lots of songs have already been written about old tractors, and now I understand why! There is just something about sitting on an old smelly tractor slowly working your way across a field pulling a disk plow. Plow disk? I'm not sure what it's called. But you look out at the field you haven't plowed yet and you get this daunting feeling of "this is going to take all friggin' day! Then you look back at what you done, and you get this instant gratification of "Look what I've done!" It kinda goes back and forth. Daunting feeling. Gratification. Daunting, gratified. Back and forth. Until you're nearly done, and then it's WOW! I'm nearly done! I cannot imagine how they plowed huge fields up in the olden days with a horse like Forrest.

I started out jamming the gears and getting stuck too close to the fence and having to back up all weird and messing up my rows. But by the time I was three quarter's of the way done with the field, I was still jamming gears and ...no I was getting a little better at keeping her going. See I called it a "her." That means I'm a real "old tractor person" now. It is old and I am old. We're both old.

Seriously, there is just something about driving an old tractor. I've heard it said that old tractors are like women, very temperamental. You have to know how to treat them to get along with them. I don't think so. I think old tractors are more like horses. If you don't handle them correctly, they buck, snort, fart, rear up on the two hind tires. They stop dead in their tracks and you have to find a way to start them again. A tractor with a plow disk thingy on the back of it is a bugger to turn around without getting hooked up on stuff like the fence and they will tear stuff up you don't want torn up. Yep, they are just like horses.

The picture of the rock wall is what Rich did today while I was the plowin' the field, and that's May the dog, taking a dip in the fishpond! Yep! We're hicks!

Forrest

I just thought I would introduce you to Forrest. He's a sweet boy. I haven't brushed him out in days and he's still a pretty good-looking guy. He's one half Clydesdale, 1/4 TB and 1/4 warmblood. He's a smart boy, kinda big and very friendly. Notice my pasture. Good for toughening feet up!

Coming and Going

While I was out taking pictures, I had to take this shot. Danny and his mom, relaxing after a hearty breakfast of grasshay. Yum! I'm so happy to have healthy horses. I look back on what I know about Dexter, and compare his upbringing to Danny's. Danny is the horse facing you in the picture. His registered name is Larks Flashy Diamond and I'm always happy to brag that he's a grandson of Rugged Lark. If you haven't heard of him, google him. He was an amazing horse.

I had considered showing Danny at halter, but when I compared my little guy to some of the monster yearlings in the show arena, I knew we'd never bring home a ribbon. He has beautiful conformation and a great temperment, but I'd seen for myself that little yearlings and 2 year olds do not place. And after comparing him to those giants, I thought my baby was probably not going to get much bigger than 14 hands.

Well, Danny eventually grew to a nice stocky athletic 15.2 hands, around 1100 pounds, it just happened a bit more naturally and took about 5 years. Funny thing though, he has healthy joints, tendons and ligiments, and I'm fairly certain won't develop Cushings and laminitis later in life.

When are we humans ever going to learn. There's more to our horse's lives than the amount of money they can bring in.