Last day of July 2010

I got brave today and took Taffy out for a neighborhood (mounted) jaunt by ourselves. Fore boots installed with full pads. No limping at all. She minded well until home was in sight and friendly whinnies were heard. Then we had to have a few "conversations" about who was in charge of the feet. She got a little bouncy on the front end again, so it was more hindquarter yields. She catches on quick.

On to the black lagoons... in other words, roadside mud puddles. Taffy says WHAT! NO WAY! I prefer to sidepass a mile instead! I dismounted and worked with her from the ground, rewarding the slightest try. Within 20 minutes she was standing IN the puddle instead of jumping OVER it. Such fun. She has so much interest in everything around her-lots of refocusing on me. I discovered that she will back into a puddle quite nicely! And loves her scratches and hand licks and face rubs when she has done a good job.

Earlier I lunged her a bit. Tried some direction changes- great going from right to left, not great the other way. More practice!

I do hope to show her at the county fair in Sept. Hopefully by then we'll have our communication finer tuned and the kinks in our conversations smoothed out. Whenever she does something I don't think I asked for, I have to ask myself what I did that might have cued her. She is SO responsive when she's focused. I rode her in the corral a couple nights ago and we did walk, leg yield, jog, lope both ways, a couple flying lead changes, side pass, turn on forehand. Still looking for turn on haunches/pivot buttons. I thought I had them, but they didn't work. Most of the ride was walk and jog. I love her smooth rocking chair lope. her jog is easy to sit also, if I can just balance well enough to keep her steady!

Time to find a new English bit. The french link snaffle isn't her thing. No tongue relief. She likes a ported bit that doesn't trap her tongue. I'm leaning towards a kimberwick or Myler snaffle.

So nice the weather has cooled enough to enjoy riding!

VIDEOS It's a beautiful thing...

I got home from Colorado today, found a happy Taffy sporting her boots. She spent the past 8 days in boots with full pads.

Time for a break from those boots....

But wait... There's more....

Needless to say, I am thrilled she is this comfortable!

July 20

Taffy continues to need the boots for comfort. I added full pads yesterday on both fores. I try to leave them off half a day at a time so that she won't cook her frogs, it's been 80 for a low and up to 110 for a high for the past week.

I have tweaked the trim a couple times- rasp and knife. Rasp to bevel toe , relieve quarters, and lower heels parallel to collateral grooves. Knife to taper bars towards apex of frog and keep them passive. Also to flake off sole which is shedding. Opened the frog sulcus slightly.(yeah it is spreading on its own!!)

Without boots her RF was more sensitive this week.
I have to remind myself that it took time for her to get to where she was before I bought her, and it will take time to restore her hoof function. The miracle of healing takes time!

7 weeks- still better in boots

Pic is me on Honey on our way to Grand Champion Open Trail 2009 at the county fair. We're doing the water obstacle (most horses refused it)

Yesterday was a fun one. I brought out my stick-n-string and urged the herd (all 3) around the paddock. Honey and Glory know what the stick means, and headed off to the other end of the L shaped paddock. Taffy figured it out after I spanked the ground and made kissing sounds. A few back and forth trots and lopes, and Taffy stops and looks at me, head low. I zig zag towards her, join up style. She hooks on and follows me this way and that. Until she spots the food! Haha. I ask her to whoa, then let her go.

I did ride Taffy a few nights ago, no jigging, no half rearing, just lots of enthusiasm to move out. We walked and trotted and worked on leg yields, side pass, pivots and backing. Getting better, though I still inadvertently cue the lope and trot from the walk. I have to really watch how I breathe, shift my weight, and wiggle my legs! It is fun to ride such a responsive horse. Not for the beginner however. (Now days are 106 plus and nights around 80. With a lighted arena I'd be riding. )

Honey on the other hand, who I owned for 5 yrs but sold in order to buy Taffy, is beginner friendly and quite tolerant. She is one of those who prefers not to move unless you ask her right and politely (wink). She is a champion at Trail- has always been 1st or 2nd in her limited show career. A tribute to her Left brain introvertedness :) (ref. parelli horsenality)

I put the boots back on, with pads under LF frog, this afternoon. Too hot for boots all day. Hobble hobble but still mobile. In boots she licks chews and sighs then waltzes away. (well actually moseys).

Frogs are looking nice- taking the heels down just a tad more the other day sure helped.

X RAYS!!! April 2008- when diagnosed "N"

Here they are. I am open to help on what I'm seeing. I don't have much experience reading radiographs. These are dated April 21, 2008. They are all of the RF. I do not know if the LF was diagnosed "N" or not. Interesting that the RF is the more comfortable of her fores now. I think I am seeing some distal descent of P3, but the sole looks nice and thick under the tip of P3. It appears she had shoes pulled before the Xrays, as nail holes show in one of the views. Peripheral loading-certainly, Long toe, stretched forward- evident, Frogs off the ground- probably. There is some asymmetry- see 3rd and 5th views. I can't remember what those protrusions on the upper sides are. They are uneven. I removed identifying information to protect the privacy of the former owner, who had these done.

Another ride- July 10

It finally dropped to 95 degrees after sunset, so I decided to ride Taffy a bit in the corral. She was respectful and dropped her head low for bridling and un-bridling. We communicated better- using the low port sweet iron curb with plain leather curb strap. Only once did she get flustered and hop up as if to rear. I gave her a verbal NUH UH UH.. and she quit.

Earlier in the day she had turned her rump to me while I was bringing out the mash buckets, and we had a CONversation. This consisting of "Don't you dare "dis" me... and hide your hiney QUICKLY. Then we yo-yo-ed (all with just the fly mask, no halter lead or stick...) She began licking and chewing. I was grateful for her obedience. I have done lots more yo-yo when I have the feed buckets, and requiring her to stand about 5 feet away until I set the bucket down. If she moves forward we back up again. Repeat until she obeys. She is going to be a great long ride horse with the drive she has!

This morning I peeled away some more bar with my new F. Dick hoof knife on her fores. Some sloughing dead sole came too. On her RF the frog was ready to go- shriveled up and separated so off it came. Left the boots off, as she was comfortable.

Mid April

I looked back at some older pics, to help me gain perspective, and decided to add them here.

These were provided by the previous owner, I studied them as I considered purchasing this mare. She was about a month into the shoeing cycle, I believe. The angle of growth changes about and inch down from the coronet on the dorsal wall. Compare to the June 25 pics. I have NOT rasped away outer wall to make it look straight. The current homepage photo was also taken by the former owner, and the lines drawn are where her new foot should grow with performance barefoot trim and lifestyle. Thanks Mike for the mark up.

Hinds Then

I had done a mini trim on these hooves on May 2- They were ragged at that time. I did not shorten the bars much then. The laid over bar on the lateral side of the LH is visible here. Sole under that bar was quite bruised and was a hideout for bacteria. No obvious soreness, fortunately. These were taken May 25.

Hinds- sole of LH

The heel looks awful here. I let it grow for now, so I can remove the excess bar next trim It has worn somewhat better already (as of July 9). Comments on Frog anyone?

Both hinds.

Then... May 24 ish

Due for new shoes......or a trim :)

PICS from June 25

This is the day before I applied the hoofprint ring method of hoof mapping and backed up the toes to the white line. Comments anyone?

note hairline high on medial side- both fores

Videos added to July 25 post...

July 8th....6 weeks out of shoes- amazing progress

Taffy has worn her Renegades 24 hrs a day the last few days, and the last two days without frog pads (not in the plan-just ran out of time). The duct tape I had put over her heels to avoid abrasion (boots are slightly too big so they rub a little), was off too.

I pulled off the boots last night, to check on the feet. Some warmth in the hooves. But significantly less tenderness au naturel! I left the boots off overnight, since the LF had some rubbing on the medial hairline at the heel.

This morning she was still moving without tenderness, no limp!! Landing flat, not heel first, but comfortable, nevertheless. Woo hoo!

Our corral is fairly firm clay type dirt- with various sizes of gravel strewn about (came with the property). All the horses stumble over the larger gravel now and then, when they step on a single chunk. Taffy only slightly did so this morning!

July 3- Morning exercise- WOW

I ponied Taffy out early (front boots still on)- she was 'rarin' to go! There is some stiffness in the L F shoulder, but no head bob or limp at the walk, jog, trot, extended trot, and she even volunteered to canter. What a happy camper, what a happy mama.
I will continue with boots and frog pads 24x7 for now- they make it comfortable for her to move freely- which in turn will foster increased blood flow and development of the digital cushion and lateral cartilages. This week I plan to pony her to the mountains again, perhaps even take her out under saddle. Guess I'll have to get some OO renegades for riding. the Os are really too big.

woo hooo. Thank you God!

Honey was funny in heat- wuffling at Taffy during our ride- as if she was hoping Taff was a boy...First time I've seen her do that. She quit when I took her away from nose to nose- good girl.

Hooray hooray

Taffy has her "tude" back... that means she's feeling better! I put the frog pads under her boots this morning and by this afternoon she was cheerfully trotting away from me and my evil fly spray bottle. Her limp is barely noticeable at the walk- LF, still. RF is steady again. I'm stoked! (Even if she was naughty about the fly spray). There were some nasty biting flies in town today, and I got the spray on just a few hours too late. All 3 in the corral have welts :(
Hopefully they won't get all nasty and make their fur fall out (happened a couple years ago to Honey- her belly and chest lost lots of fur from insect bites)

Might pony Taffy out in the morning... Pete Ramey (hoof rehab dot com) says the pads are magic. Boots are good, but to really see a difference, pad up. Just padding her frogs she is FAR more comfy. I think she'll feel well enough for a good long walk.

VIDEOS @4 weeks-bare vs. booted

Here are the June 25 comparisons- first- barefoot

And now with the boots on

thoughts on progress

I was considering a few things today, as I had Taffy standing in mud to eat her morning snack of beet pulp, sunflower seeds, rice bran, diatomaceous earth, salt, and AZ Regional mix supplement from HorseTech...
1- Taffy stands firmly- no pastern wobble or knee buckling. She shows discomfort in the last half of the stride, and when turning. No more hitch in the pasterns on landing. She does move- but no hurrying, seems relaxed (perhaps just not feeling good enough to be cheerful?)
2- lateral cartilages and digital cushion don't have much room yet. There is evidence in the hoof wall just forward of the heel bulbs that a wider caudal region is growing in. She really doesn't have much there yet.
3- without shoes she's just 14.3 hh. I kinda like getting off closer to the ground. Not so hard getting on either!
4-Taffy's food agression has subsided substantially. Spreading the hay out in many piles seems to help. She's #2 in the herd now. I feed snack buckets in order of herd dominance- wow does that make things easier! Boss mare gets hers first, Taffy next, Glory last (and by herself since she's a slow poke eater).
5- Taffy's forequarter musculature looks different- the hoof balance and chiropractic is showing results all over.
6- I'm going to put the frog pads back on- at least 12 hrs a day.
7- that's a good number to stop on.... I am stewing up an improved plan for the "track" aka "paddock paradise"