Sunday, January 12, 2014

Meeting the new Trimmer

The new trimmer was here Saturday.  All we did was visit and she took some video's of Sassy moving.  She seems like she has a pretty good handle on what she does for a living.  She has a plan of attack in mind.  I think that is a good thing.

She is very outgoing, a little opinionated, but also very compassionate about what she does and understands where I am coming from.   In fact, the very reason she started doing what she does is because she had a horse, just like mine, and conventional methods weren't working.  She had to learn in order to fix her own horse, and moved on from there.

The pan is to give Sassy a few more weeks to grow out. Then we will pull the shoes and see what is going on with her frogs up underneath there.  If there is Thrush we will treat for it. and then she will be in pads and boots.  She says that I should be able to use the boots I have (we did some measuring) or I can opt to buy a pair of EasyBoot Transitions. Either way I need to get some pads ordered so they are here when it is time to pull the shoes. She will not be in boots 24/7, but it will be more like 16 hours on, 8 off. When she is off she has to be in soft sandy terrain.

We did talk about pea gravel and her assessment is that although in some states it works great, in AZ often times the gravel we get is not nice and round but more jagged, and can some times cause more bad than good.    So I will probably opt for the sand. I don't know if I will haul some in or just work her pen so it is softer.

One of the things she talked about is the vet she works with. This vet is over on the west side of town and he strictly does lameness. Nothing else.   She said that through him she has learned that there are so many underlying causes of toe first landings that have nothing to do with the hoof at all.  He has told her that he see's at least 1 horse a week with toe first landings that is actually caused from neck injuries.  The second most common is tears in the flexor tendon.  She also said that very often these are misdiagnosed as navicular because, well lets face it, most of us cannot afford an MRI.

One thing that she asked me which has me a little nervous is about what happened when we did the nerve blocks on Sassy.  She wanted to know if she was 100% sound. Well the answer is no.  It was more like 95.  An indicator that there is likely some soft tissue damage.

That doesn't mean she can't be healed, but it could explain a lot.

The plan of attack is pull the shoes, put on the boots and use the pads to give her cushion.  The trim that day will be slight.  Then in four weeks, she will get another trim. and we will keep at that for a while and see if we can get her landing on those heels. It will take some time, but if after 2-3 months she is still not landing heel first, then there will be no doubt that there is more going on. Then I will have to decided if I want to try to go on.  I think it will depend on if she is any better at all.  If there is progress then I will go on. If there is none then I will be done. If there is no progress then it will be likely that there is some serious soft tissue damage and the treatment for that is way beyond my means.

At first it was hard to not get my hopes up.  For some reason that has changed. I do not have high hopes anymore.  I'm not sure why that is. I mean yes I have hopes, but I'm more prepared for it to not work this time around.

In other news, I am very excited about next weekend.  I had to cancel my plans for Ranch Versatility for a while, but there is lots of other stuff going on.  As it turns out there is an American Stock Horse Assoc Clinic just 25 min from my house next Saturday. It is relatively cheap to join in and I get to go!   There is a competition the next day but I won't go to that. It would double the money I'd have to spend and also I've decided not to rush my horse this year.  I am perfectly happy to go to the clinic and then go home and practice what I learned for a while.  On Top of that, there is another blogger going, and I am excited to meet her.

I also found out that a couple of streets over from me there is Sorting practice every Saturday, so that is something else I can do for almost nothing.

So when one door shuts, another one opens...I guess that is how life works, huh?

15 comments:

  1. I feel your pain, girl... all these hoof issues suck, and they're draining. I'm glad you're getting all these different opinions and even doing some of the work yourself. I think it helps us keep our sanity! I'm hoping this new approach works for you and has Sassy doing better soon.

    I will say, though, that Lilly has been out of shoes and in 'transition' for 2.5 years now, and she's still not landing toe first. I'm not sure she'll ever have a true toe first landing. Sassy might not either, especially in 3 months or so, but hopefully she'll show you some progress and you'll at least know you're on the right track.

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    1. That is interesting to know that about Lilly. I know you have been dealing with this for a long time as well and draining is absolutely the word I would use! I do not expect miracles in 3 months but if we can see some improvement then I will be happy. I mean as in consistent improvement. Not "better for three days and then worse again" which is all we have had.

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  2. It sounds like a good plan, I'll sure be interested to see how it works out.

    BTW, I keep meaning to mention it and keep forgetting - I love the new header, it's a great shot:)

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  3. I'm wondering if it is the vet I am thinking of. If it is, he is damn good at what he does.

    Sounds like things went well, even though all you got to do was talk. That is always a good place to start anyways. I've been there with a mare. You will always have hope until the horse shows you they have no fight left in them. When that happens you'll know.

    Stock horse clinic? Sounds like fun! Is it at the horsepark?

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    1. Actually it is in Coolidge but only 25 min away from my house via hunt hwy. Last I knew there was a couple of more opening slots in the clinic. I'll shoot ya a text with more info.

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  5. I forgot to mention something I picked up from BEC's. Take a notepad with you to the clinic! Jot down what you worked on asap while its fresh in your mind. You would be surprised how soon we forget things and revert back to the old ways of what didn't work before.

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  6. I'm wondering if it is the vet I am thinking of. If it is, he is damn good at what he does.

    Sounds like things went well, even though all you got to do was talk. That is always a good place to start anyways. I've been there with a mare. You will always have hope until the horse shows you they have no fight left in them. When that happens you'll know.

    Stock horse clinic? Sounds like fun! Is it at the horsepark?

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  7. Sounds like you are doing the most for Sassy and whatever happens in the end at least you know you tried very, very hard to help her. Also, I like your great optimistic approach to your showing etc. I need it to rub off on me to be more optimistic and look on the brighter side of situations.

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  8. I'm excited already. That's one of Arizona's most awesome features...There is always something to do with your horse. I'm so curious to see how Frosty is going to do. He's a little unpredictable at this stage...He can either be way better than I anticipate he will be or he will act like a total dumbass and I'll be embarrassed. Hahahaha. I'll bring Moon with too. As a back-up and because it's always good for him to do something else besides run around 3 cans. ;-)

    As for Sassy, I know the feeling of the emotional roller-coaster ride when you are trying to 'fix' a horse. The most important thing to remember is; If they aren't traumatic pain and you are at least trying to help them...It's worth it.

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  9. Hope this time helps Sassy, and you see some measurable progress. If I can suggest something though, about the soft tissue issue? To have an ultrsound done is not really expensive. We charge $165 and that's not too bad, it might even be cheaper where you are. You'd know exactly where/and if, there is an injury somewhere besides the feet, and the vet would tell you your options for treatment. You sure don't want to spend money on fixing the feet if there's still a problem somewhere else that could be the determining factor in her issue. We see a LOT of horses with neck problems that causes lameness issues that look like they're in the legs. Knowledge of exactly what you're dealing with is vital.

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    1. Oh ok, I did not realize that you could those sorts of things with the ultra sound. Something like that seems more affordable. And thank you for verifying that what she said about neck injuries is true. I never would have guessed it. And she does have a big scar on her shoulder right at the base of her neck.
      Thanks!

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  10. Sounds like the ladies gave you some good advice.
    Have a great clinic!

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  11. I'm sending good, healing thoughts Sassy's way. I hope this new treatment helps her! I also look forward to reading about it and learning with you. Thanks for sharing that with us. :)

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