And now with the boots on
Thursday, July 1, 2010
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"
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"
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
5 weeks Almost!
The good- the medial wall on the LF looks much straighter- nearly vertical now.
The bad- Taffy is sore on the RF (this had been her "good" side), when on uneven ground
The best- She's moving better on the LF than she has in 3 wks.
The boots have rubbed some on her heels. I took them off for the night. One size down would be better, I think, so they wouldn't move around. I am hoping she'll grow a larger hoof and end up needing this size! Next time I put them on I will add Gold Bond to help avoid chafing.
She is comfy on soft ground :)
Pix and vids coming soon
The bad- Taffy is sore on the RF (this had been her "good" side), when on uneven ground
The best- She's moving better on the LF than she has in 3 wks.
The boots have rubbed some on her heels. I took them off for the night. One size down would be better, I think, so they wouldn't move around. I am hoping she'll grow a larger hoof and end up needing this size! Next time I put them on I will add Gold Bond to help avoid chafing.
She is comfy on soft ground :)
Pix and vids coming soon
Hoofprint ring adjustment
Sunday morning- I still see Taffy tender on LF. I decide to try a little mapping to see if maybe I've overlooked something. Using the hoofprint ring as a guide, I discover the hoof is stretched forward, and if I bring back the toe just about to the white line on both fores, there should be no lever force on the toe wall, and increased comfort. She is barely 3.5 inches. Such teeny tootsies.
RF- I use a vertical nipper cut to take a crescent of wall off the toe. She licks and chews her Thanks. The appearance is pleasing, and the bony column is vertical.
LF-Repeat but a narrower and shorter crescent.
I rasped a slight breakover on both toes with the fine side, but stopped after two or three strokes when I saw red in the white line. UH OH. What have I DONE?! I KNOW better than to mess with toe callus. Taffy does not seem any the worse for it, but I quit and round off the nipper cuts.
Her stride is moved back much now. Feels ok in boots. She will be booted 24 hrs a day for 3 days. I'll be back on Wednesday.
RF- I use a vertical nipper cut to take a crescent of wall off the toe. She licks and chews her Thanks. The appearance is pleasing, and the bony column is vertical.
LF-Repeat but a narrower and shorter crescent.
I rasped a slight breakover on both toes with the fine side, but stopped after two or three strokes when I saw red in the white line. UH OH. What have I DONE?! I KNOW better than to mess with toe callus. Taffy does not seem any the worse for it, but I quit and round off the nipper cuts.
Her stride is moved back much now. Feels ok in boots. She will be booted 24 hrs a day for 3 days. I'll be back on Wednesday.
Just had to ride-Saturday evening June 26
Taffy was moving ok in her boots, and I wanted to try out my new CorrecTor on her. I bridled her up in the sweet iron low port curb, and saddled with the CorrecTor. It's a western large, and works better with my 15.5 Circle Y than the other CorrecTor I had. They work great- thecorrector dot net. website is very busy and wordy, but product is terrific.
We did some neck flexes, nice! walk, whoa, repeat... walk around the corral, so far so good. walk near the gate out into the track... uh oh... Taffy begins to hop and half rear. I said go right. She said no- I'm gonna go left and hop and act like I'm gonna rear. I wasn't gonna argue... but being the left brain extrovert she is, I expected her to respond well if we repeated the task until she obeyed. So I hopped off, asked for a hind quarters yield- a FAST one--- and reinforced it with the ends of the reins (just enough to make my point). Remounted, circled back, and approached that area again, asking her to pass the gate without going through. Same thing. I hopped off the off side and repeated my correction- opposite direction. After about 3 vigorous yields, she seemed to get it. I remounted and she was FINE- no fuss, no hop, no head toss or bit chomp, just walked by the gate obediently. We did walk through the gate after that, and down the track. After practicing leg and seat cues for pivot, side pass, back, whoa, we tried a few strides of jog. She favored the left fore, so I quit and our 20 minute stroll around the corral ended. I let her lick my hand as a reward. Just briefly! She licks less now that she has DE and loose salt free choice.
Sigh, it was awfully nice to ride her again (third time I think). I am re-learning my leg cues for her, since some of them are opposite of Honey's. I love how she responds to my seat- it helps me be more aware of what I'm doing. I am hoping I can show her at the county fair in Sept. Not going to get my hopes up too high.
We did some neck flexes, nice! walk, whoa, repeat... walk around the corral, so far so good. walk near the gate out into the track... uh oh... Taffy begins to hop and half rear. I said go right. She said no- I'm gonna go left and hop and act like I'm gonna rear. I wasn't gonna argue... but being the left brain extrovert she is, I expected her to respond well if we repeated the task until she obeyed. So I hopped off, asked for a hind quarters yield- a FAST one--- and reinforced it with the ends of the reins (just enough to make my point). Remounted, circled back, and approached that area again, asking her to pass the gate without going through. Same thing. I hopped off the off side and repeated my correction- opposite direction. After about 3 vigorous yields, she seemed to get it. I remounted and she was FINE- no fuss, no hop, no head toss or bit chomp, just walked by the gate obediently. We did walk through the gate after that, and down the track. After practicing leg and seat cues for pivot, side pass, back, whoa, we tried a few strides of jog. She favored the left fore, so I quit and our 20 minute stroll around the corral ended. I let her lick my hand as a reward. Just briefly! She licks less now that she has DE and loose salt free choice.
Sigh, it was awfully nice to ride her again (third time I think). I am re-learning my leg cues for her, since some of them are opposite of Honey's. I love how she responds to my seat- it helps me be more aware of what I'm doing. I am hoping I can show her at the county fair in Sept. Not going to get my hopes up too high.
A nice moment
I went out in the late evening last week, in the full moonlight, and discovered Honey and Taffy lying down together, in the soft old manure area on the track. Glory did not join them. She stood watch (or stayed safe?) I startled them, unfortunately. and ruined their nap. It was a pleasant sight to see them there.
Taffy likes to roll in the pea gravel (now I need some sand so she will shine her coat herself :) )
for 2 wks she has not been ridden, ponied, or exercised beyond walking around to eat. That should change in the near future.
Taffy likes to roll in the pea gravel (now I need some sand so she will shine her coat herself :) )
for 2 wks she has not been ridden, ponied, or exercised beyond walking around to eat. That should change in the near future.
PIC-Cl O2 soak at last June 24- 4 wks out of shoes
Last Thursday (the day after my last post), I soaked Honey and Taffy both with Podi- Cl O2 Green Liquid anti microbial (Chlorine Dioxide). I got it from Valley vet dot com. It is the same active ingredient as Oxine and Clean Trax. I used a big tall soaking boot- put out by Clean Trax. Honey took it well, and is moving better on the fores which had been slightly ouchy on uneven ground. I think she had greeblies in the frog sulci.
Taffy was a good girl for the soaking- as long as I stayed with her. If I went around the corner to do something, she moved and the boot fell half off. I did about 15 minutes each fore hoof, then wrapped with plastic to extend the effectiveness of the treatment (another 15 min. or so) as directed on package.
Hooves smelled so clean afterwards, I believe the greeblies are well on their way OUT. We'll soak again if there's any foul odor or frog soreness.
Since the hooves were slightly softened from soaking, I eased off a bit of her bars on the fores, tidied up the frogs a bit more, and refreshed the bevel. She moved off with slight discomfort on the LF, as before, but less. In boots without pads, improved, and with frog pads she only slightly favors the LF. Hinds seem to be tracking straight.
Taffy was a good girl for the soaking- as long as I stayed with her. If I went around the corner to do something, she moved and the boot fell half off. I did about 15 minutes each fore hoof, then wrapped with plastic to extend the effectiveness of the treatment (another 15 min. or so) as directed on package.
Hooves smelled so clean afterwards, I believe the greeblies are well on their way OUT. We'll soak again if there's any foul odor or frog soreness.
Since the hooves were slightly softened from soaking, I eased off a bit of her bars on the fores, tidied up the frogs a bit more, and refreshed the bevel. She moved off with slight discomfort on the LF, as before, but less. In boots without pads, improved, and with frog pads she only slightly favors the LF. Hinds seem to be tracking straight.
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