More on the Mare

As I continue down this incredibly rocky road with Sassy, I question everyday, my own sanity.  Why am I still pumping time, money and heart ache, into this horse?

She seems better, then worse, then better, and then worse again.

I'm not 100% positive but I think my barefoot trimmer gave up on me the day I told her I was working on my own horse in between visits.  She sent a text asking how she was doing, I told her she was sore and I was headed out to work on her, she asked what I was doing and I told her.  She had so much toe callus she was parking out in front and hobbled even on soft dirt.  I took off what ever toe callus was able to slough off easily and then took the advice of someone who I trust, and took her heels and bars down a little as well.

When I was done she was yawning and licking and chewing and generally much happier.  So I took that as  good sign. I told the trimmer what I had done, and I have not heard back since.  I don't know if that means she is done with us, or if she has just been busy.  I guess time will tell. Somewhere out there, there has to be a barefoot trimmer, who not only understands what I am trying to accomplish, but one who promotes owners having hands on experience with their own horses.

Every so often I go back and file off a little more. The problem is that she is walking on live sole 24/7.  I don't know how to fix that.   Yesterday I had the new farrier come and put Killian's new shoes on, and had him go ahead and trim Sassy up a little more.  I'm not unhappy with the job he did, I'm totally indifferent.  The reason being, that it doesn't appear to be much different than what I have already been doing.  I suspect that is because her feet are so jacked up there isn't much too be done.  I think he did take the heel down just a tad more and it seems as though her frogs are making more contact.  Unfortunately I was not able to be here when he came to talk with him about what he did, and didn't do with her, so I don't know.  He does promote the hands on work by owners, but I am not 100% sure if we are on the same page with what I am trying to accomplish with her.  Of course the one thing I keep saying is that you can't cripple a cripple horse, so I know for a fact that nothing he did made her any worse. Which is the same for me.  I haven't hurt her in any way, hopefully I am helping her.

I don't have any pictures right now. I keep trying to take some but I never ever have any help and so they turn out like crap.  I cannot hold the camera, hold the hoof, make sure there are not shadows, and make sure we are at a good angle all by myself.

On a side note, I do like the way Killian's shoes look. They are not all squeezed in on the heels, but they are set back far enough to give him good support. He seems to be moving well in them. I will ride him this weekend and that will be the true test.

Anyway, I took Sassy out yesterday and worked her. I was going to ride her, but she did not want to be caught. So we spent half of our "work out" time with me driving her around her pen while she did her cute little cow horse moves. (Bitch!)  By time she was done she was already sweating pretty well.  However by time she let me catch her, she was not limping. She did get 2 grams of bute that morning, but still, the bute didn't used to make much difference so clearly blood flow is helpful. (duh)

Since our time was cut short I just took her to the freshly worked arena and we did ground work.  I noticed something yesterday. All my horses are one sided.   She was more than happy to WTL in circles to the left.  I figured since her left foot is worse, then it would be more difficult, but no...she was fine.  When I asked for her to go to the right, she forgot what forward was, and fell apart.  Strangely reminiscent of a certain paint horse I know.   She kept wanting to run backwards, and get stuck.

So I pushed her over to the fence, moved her front end across (that part she does great) and then drove her forward,  She had no choice but to go the direction I asked.  but of course once she got off the fence she tried to fall apart again. So we started again. After the 3rd try she was trotting forward in a circle and eventually was able to kick it up to a less than proper lope. It was very much like Trax's, "I'm staying as far and as hard on the end of this lead rope as I can."  So we stopped and started again.  We stopped and started over and over again until she simply loped forward with out yanking on the rope. One time around and I let her rest.

She was shaking.  (insert sad face here) And then I was wondering if we over did it.

So we just walked. I lead and she followed.  We walked over poles and obstacles and she acted like she was afraid of the bridge.

When we were in WY the arena we often used had a bridge that required a horse to step up about 1.5 feet in order to get on it.  Her favorite thing was to climb up there for fun. She is part goat. So for her to act like she couldn't walk across my bridge, was her being stubborn.  It took a few tries but finally she got up there.

Then she wouldn't come off.

(really Sassy?)

This horse cracks me up, and I guess that is why I keep doing what I am doing.

Anyway, we just dinked around after that and pretty soon instead of leading her in straight lines I was one rein driving her in straight lines...over the bridge and the poles.  It was kind of cool.

After we were done and she was breathing normal, and had not been shaking for a long time, I hosed her off.  She loves a bath and then a nice roll in the dirt.

She is kind of sore today, not sure if it is from the trim or the work, but I gave her the last of my bute today and the last of her BL solution.  I'm actually out of a lot of my supplements so a trip to the feed store is in order.

Oh and speaking of supplements, I almost forgot the most important thing I was going to say.

Sassy is FAT!  Not all over, but I noticed the other day that the little cresty patch on her neck is now a huge cresty line of fat.   Which got me to wondering if maybe this is the reason her progress is so intermittent. Even though the vets and farriers have all said she isn't laminitic, is it possible that some of the lameness is diet related?

(DD if you are reading this, I'm sure you are thinking- "Didn't I bring that up a year ago?"  And you did, and all I can say is that I am really really SLOW to grasp things.)

So, since it can't hurt to try, I have taken her off the alfalfa/Bermuda blend pellets.  She is strictly on the Purina Well-solve supplement (for IR horses) and her Bermuda hay. She is also getting ADM Gro-strong, for vitamins, to boost her cooper and zinc and hopefully help her grow more hoof. I just started this change this week, so it is too soon to see if there is a difference, but I will keep you posted. (because I know you are all on the edge of your seats)

She does get out to the pasture 3 or 4 times a week. The pasture is planted with Bermuda as well.

Lets face it folks. I am grasping at straws and totally taking stabs in the dark with this mare.  I am in way over my head with her.  I guess I am learning a lot because of her, but some days I feel like I am just beating my head against the wall.  I have no idea what is going to work or what isn't. I just keep trying things until something seems to give steady improvement.

 I need to know, is it this way for everyone?

So Easy!!!

I have decided that it is time for Sassy to get back to work.  Not super strenuous, race all over the place work (although she seems to have no issue with that in the pasture) but just light, easy, carry me around the round pen, and remember all the things that Jay taught you, work.

So today we did that.

I won't say that we picked up right where we left off, but seriously, for a horse that has not been ridden but maybe 2 or 3 times in 2 years...I am highly impressed with this little lady.  I even made her wear her snaffle today, something she has only done maybe 10 times in her whole life.  She did not love it, but she wasn't bad about it either.

I did give her some bute this morning, and next time I will actually dose her the night before and the morning of, because I think she could have used just a touch more in her system.  Then I also booted her.  Another thing I will do next time is cut a new set of pads and use those only for riding.  She did limp some, but I decided to just push her through it.  Here is what I noticed.

Although to the left it never went away, it did to the right (I think) and it definitely got better the longer we worked. So with that in mind I think this light exercise is going to be the best thing for her.

I ground worked her first, reminded her how to move her body parts from the ground, how to follow my cues, and really she remembers it all.  I have done so little with her (I know, bad horse owner) other than lead her around or ask her to do a few circles in the round pen, I really didn't know how she was going to do.  I can move her shoulder with a push of my hand in the air, I can move her hip by just focusing and pushing my energy that direction, I can back her up by standing in front and using the slightest of body language.  I can control her speed around the round pen by simply raising or lowering my energy and if I shut off my energy, she stops...like right now stops.  I never have to touch her once.

My friend Jay taught her all of that. Then taught me how to do it too.  He learned it from Dennis Reis. Not everyone agrees with Dennis's theory that if you cannot ride them from the ground, you cannot ride on their backs.  But I think there is a certain amount of truth behind it. The problems I have with Trax on the ground, are the same problems I have on his back.  Sassy's strong points on the ground are also her strong points when I ride her...and she has a lot of strong points.

So I got on her.  I took it slow of course, leaned over first, wiggled around some, rubbed my hands on her butt. She was fine, totally relaxed so I started over and mounted up.  Asked for the lateral flex just to see where she was at.  Light as a feather. Almost too light.  She likes to bring her head all the way to my toe, which I know is wrong, but hey, who's complaining? Not me!

I asked for forward, she walked right out, we went a round a few times then I quit riding and said "whoa". She stopped instantly.  I love this horse.  I asked for forward again, we did a lot of that. Forward, a couple of laps, stop riding.  I don't even have to say whoa, I just have to stop riding. No reins needed for that command.  How cool is that?

We worked on turns and we did some backing up. She was a little sticky on the backing up, in fact at first she fought it. But I didn't push and I didn't get big with her, I just waited it out and the second she shifted her weight back, I released.  Pretty soon I got a step, and another and then another.  Then I asked for forward again. Sometimes she got a little confused as to whether she should go forward or back, but I helped her out of those times by simply touching her neck and she immediately would take a step forward.  Using that and my body position she soon had it all figured out.

We did trot just a little, mostly to the right because it is harder on her with the left on the inside, and she was fine mentally.  I could have loped her I am sure, but am trying not to over do her physically.

We also just worked on a tiny bit of collection.  All I did was ask her to go forward, and set my hands. When she gave to the pressure I released and gave her lots of praise. There was some head flinging going on, and some other antics but I kept with it until her first choice was to give to me, and once she did that 3 times, we quit there.

I tried really hard to keep everything as soft and as slight on her as I could.  My cues were small and I waited for her to get it. I am doing everything I can to keep her from turning into a hard horse like Trax.

Lets face, I'm no trainer, but I am figuring some things out as I go and I have had, and still have, some great guidance from some folks who do know.  I know what I don't want her to be, and I think that really is making a big difference in how I do things with her.  It helped that Jay put such a good start on her, but then he always told me that she was one of the easiest youngsters he ever worked with.  He always said that her biggest hole was her lack of confidence, but I don't know that she still has that.  She is a big girl now, and seems to be ready to go out and see the world.   I will put a few more rides on her in the round pen and then we will move on to the arena.

I think I should probably also mention that the entire time I was working her the construction crew was over there with an air powered nail gun, and skill  saws, and banging on metal and just making all kinds of ruckus.  I won't say she never reacted, but no more than an occasional flinch.  She is a good good girl!

Looking quite pretty with her newly cut bridle path

"I am a good girl"

Sweaty girl!

A Couple of Videos

These are just videos of Sassy moving, not much to see.  What I did see today that is giving me hope is that those cracks in her frogs are starting to open up.  The change is slight but I can see it, and that is a good thing.
Here is the first video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gfRQjyqOZc&feature=youtu.be

I am posting this second video as a reminder of why I keep trying so hard to fix her.

Pay special attention to the last 3 seconds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CupFneo-8vA&list=UUkAwkqzlIOGygSll7m4xslg&feature=c4-overview


That stop is awesome!

Day 2 of the Sassy Project (With Pictures!)

So I went out this morning to check her out.  I pulled the boots off to have a little look see.  Now C told me that she wasn't going to do much trimming or anything else. Especially since we pulled/lost shoes two weeks earlier than we had originally planned. So the only trimming that was done was to make the boots fit.

Sassy's feet were H-O-T!!!

Friday when BEC was here she had just a touch of warmth in the coronet band of the LF.  Today both feet were hot, LF more so, digital pulse in both were pretty darn strong.

I admit to kind of freaking out a little.

I emailed trimmer, hosed her down cleaned her up, dried her off, did a base line test to see if she was willing to stand on one foot.   We got 45 seconds on the left, 38 on the right.  Weird, right?

Of course Sassy gets agitated with the whole stand on three legs thing anyway, so since they were only a few seconds different, I didn't read too much into it.

Trimmer texted back asked how she was moving.

About the same.

She said hose her but not to worry too much.

I'd already done that so I decided to take some pictures.

Those are all the right

Now I'll show the left. 

Not really much to see.  C will be here in 2 weeks to trim her down and get those angles a little better.  One thing I wonder about is the deep crack on the frog on the last pic. I am going to have to go back and see if I can find where and what I read about those. 

My pictures aren't great. It's hard to do this stuff by myself! Lol

I find myself wanting to bring her toes back some...but not sure if that is the right thing to do so I;m leaving her along.

I took her out to the arena while she was barefoot and we walked. We did about 25 laps (we both need the exercise) and then I checked her again. The heat was almost completely gone except for the LF coronet band again.  Even that was very mild.

I'm thinking this horse needs a lot more exercise than she has been getting.

So that is where we are at right now.

The little wench ripped one of my velcro straps off the left boot. So I'm going to have to get those bell boots after all.

She wasn't thrilled to have the boots back on.  How can I tell?

Simple- she refused to lift her feet when it was time to put them back on.  I did make sure she was nice and dry before I put them on.

Tomorrow I will repeat the walk in the soft dirt.  I might go ahead and pony her off of Killian just so we can go a little further.  He could use it as well.

Then it will be time for her to do 12 on and 12 off so I have to have my soft terrain living area worked out.  That means my riding will be put on hold yet another day. :(

UPDATE:

 It is 5:30 pm and my son just called and said her feet are burning up again. I told him to pull the boots off for now.  She has soft places to stand for now and I'll have to deal with this in the morning.  Clearly these trail boots just hold in the heat too much and something inside is generating a lot of it.

Excuse me while I go bang my head against the wall.

If anyone has any suggestions or knows more about boots than I do....please help me out here!
Thanks. 

Day 1 of the Sassy Shoeless Project

So here is a copy of the email from the trimmer:
********************************************************************************
did not see anything crazy or weird with her feet
she does not have a central suclrus infection

she has pretty decent structure and shape considering the toe walking
the farrier rolled those toes pretty tight trying to get the breakover back, so she does not have any toe wall at all right now, nothing we can do about that, will just take time to grow

she did not seem a lot more comfortable in the boots and pads but i am hoping at the end of 72 hours you will see at least some change

this is what i would do
leave her in the boots for 3 days straight, you can take them off and make sure no rocks etc
and if they are building up moisture you can put baby powder in them
watch for rubbing on the heels, that is the first place we will start to have problem

if you need to get her out them for an hour or so i would put her in the arena where it is soft

after 3 days you will probably have to go with 12 on 12 off to avoid rubbing
so do 12 hours in the arena bare and then booted the rest of the time

you may have to change the pads after 5-6 days, you have to take them out to really tell how squashed they are
but save the old pads, they may be fine for riding later on

she is almost a size 3 right now, but no toe wall so she may fill out the 4 boot better in a month or so, i think she should be fine to use these for now
she acted like she might chew on them, i told your husband to put some cheap bell boots on over them if you have some, or maybe paint some of that no chew stuff on them
anything to keep her from tearing them up

if you want to do anything with her the only thing i would do right now is straight line walking

*****************************************************************************************************************************



And here is a video of her moving this morning.  This was just out in the pasture (obviously) so nothing much to see.  Naturally she is still limping- but I expected that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQzA5O_v9WY&feature=youtube_gdata


She has not been messing with them at all anymore, so I guess it was just that initial, "Hey what are these things" that had her checking them out.  

Since I don't have a way to close off my arena yet, I will have to go in and work her pen up nice and soft (maybe throw in a load of sand) or maybe work the round pen up and use that for her to live in temporarily when she is without the boots and pads.  

So concludes the "day 1" entry.

I won't be doing daily entries, but will keep track of how many days each entry is. 

Now I'm off to ride a paint horse.