Hoof Adventures & Other Equine Experiences

My worst fears have come to life...my special Moli has succumbed to the laminitis that she has so valiantly fought for over two years. My heart is heavy today, broken by the loss, but full of comforting memories at the same time. My renewed hope that we may have found an answer to providing some recovery was changed once again to disappointment on Sunday, September 12.  Moli looked comfortable, and was moving well when I released her from the small pen where she gets the portion of her meal that is not to be shared with the others.  She stepped out quickly, excited (as always) to be moving on to the second course...little piles of hay dispersed around the 2.5 acre turn out, the twice daily event that all three of my horses look forward to - like a group of excited children being released for an Easter Egg Hunt.  A couple hours later I glanced out my kitchen window to see her hobbling over to the water trough and my heart sank.  Her movement was worse than I have ever seen it and my f

There is a strange thing going on in the “pasture” these days.  The standard brown dry dusty dirt lot has more than the random pile of aromatic horse  poop – there is grass growing!  Yup!  Bonified shoots of green stuff, sprouting in happy little clumps all over the 2+ acres that make up the horses’ turn out.  Mostly on what I think of “Moli’s side” of the area, but there are traces throughout.  I’m not talking about blowing in the wind, knee high, ready to bale grass – but there is a definite green hue to the ground.   We have been blessed with an abundance of rain, and I have been trying out a new method of feeding the grass hay portion of the horses’ diet.  Instead of putting the hay in the feeders I am leaving small piles all over the turn out.  I wonder, can grass grow from the small pieces that are left?  Crazy…I spent the first three years we lived here trying to grow a small patch of grass..bought new seed every year, put in a watering system, no luck. On the subject of my p

The up and down, back and forth process of dealing with Laminitis is really wearing me out!  I go from hopeful to despondent to excited and back to dismayed so much – it’s doubtful I could get past a meeting with a psychologist without a recommendation for committal.  :0) I spend so much time looking out the window – or walking SLOWLY across the yard in hopes of getting a glimpse of Moli moving around so I can see if she is comfortable.  “How is she moving today?  Does she look comfortable?  Is she worn out and tired of dealing with this too?  What will I do if I look up and see her take a step in a way that makes my heart sink?”  These questions go through my mind constantly, along with wondering if I am doing right by her.  But then I will go out to see her and her eyes are bright, ears forward, and I hear that nicker – the one that I would like to think means “I’m so glad to see you” but that probably really is… “are you bringing food?” and I think we will all make it another day.

I have started riding Moli again and it is very exciting!  There have been several times along the way to recovery that I have thought I would never ride her again.  At the same time I am trying to teach her to collect herself so the work we do both online and while riding will help to build her top line.  She has lost so much muscle structure that she is a bit sway-backed.  I was lucky enough to recently get some time with my friend and horsey guru Jinita – she showed me some stretches and helped me get an idea of how it feels when Moli is carrying herself correctly. This is new to both of us, so let’s just see how far it goes.  So now it is up to us to work through this – Moli has always been a high spirited horse, and carries her head very high – prancing and dancing her way through most rides.  We had started to work on improving her carriage (mental and physical) right before she started having problems.  Trail rides were really getting good and she was responding well to my eff

Here are some newer pictures of Moli’s feet.  Still can’t see much wall growth, and she is in boots 21 – 22 hrs per day.  She is moving well in the boots, so that is encouraging.  At the time of these pictures I had been walking her just about every day, and Peggy had been too….so she is getting more exercise.   Here is the left front – I’ve been really wondering what to do about the frog – it was pretty much destroyed and had mostly shed, but still has the big pieces in the back.  What is there doesn’t seem to be infected or sore, so I just left it alone.       The right front is still the sorest for her.  The hoof just doesn’t seem to grow much at all – I’m still working on getting it balanced out but it looks much better then it did when Mark came out and so nicely pointed out that I had let it get so out of balance!   Since then I have been riding her (AHHHH!  That is so cool) – it makes me a bit misty eyed to even think about it because in the last couple years, I

The modification on the slow feeder ended up being removal of some of the wire pieces so my holes are a mixture of 2X2, 2X8 and 4X8 in size.  This is pretty much as effective as not having the slow feeder at all, it may take Moli an additional 15 minutes to finish a helping of five pounds of grass.  So, back to the drawing board!  I have another galvanized water tank that is shorter (2ft Wide X 2ft Deep X 4ft long), my plan is to have four of this sized feeder placed in different places around the two or so acres my horses call home.  I’m wondering if that is going to be the right number of feeders to keep them moving around  – but I’m anxious to get it started.  You should have seen the look I got from the guy at the feed store today when I explained my plans, it seems I am always doing something different then everyone else where it comes to horse keeping.  It is a good thing I am passionate about my beliefs that horses are happier and healthier when you can provide them with the m

And finally there is Bucky!  I don’t know what took me so long to get him included in the blog, but he is certainly just as deserving as Moli and Dee.  Bucky is the old man, the baby sitter, and the enforcer of my little herd of three.  A gelding who uses the least amount of energy required for the given task – until his interest is peaked, or his displeasure needs to be understood – then the hidden energy inside of him rises to the top.  As March 1, 2010 marks the beginning of his 19th year – I am presenting a short little photo story that I gathered this evening in the corral. I am the man of this corral, you got a problem with that? Here comes that young filly – gonna have to remind her again that she needs to slow down! Squeeze!  I said SLOW DOWN! That’s right – just keep moving Told you!  (see the tongue?) Not done?

Well, the last casting job lasted almost a whole week.  I had forgotten to put the adhesive on the hoof wall on Moli’s right front foot, so I was surprised it lasted that long.  She lost the entire cast, with pad sometime during the night on Thursday, so I removed the left (that was tuff, I certainly did not forget the adhesive on that one!)  The good news is, she was moving very well all week, so she moved around quite a bit. I tried a new pad when I fixed the casts, I placed the Thin Line Pad on after packing the hoof with impression material to provide some extra support.  The result was a much easier casting job and Moli is just as comfortable.  I slathered on some extra Super Fast on the bottom of the cast and hopefully we can get some good work outs in this week.  If the freezing rain and horrible wind will give us a break that is. I’m disappointed that her front right foot is not showing any improvement.  I hope we will see a change when this cast comes off.  Here are som

I trimmed and applied casts to Moli’s front hooves again today.  She has been going without the casts for the last few trims, but the past week she has been very “ouchy” and I just couldn't stand to watch it.  The sole on her right front is thinning again, and it really looks as though the coffin bone is dropping.  All the signs show it, I’m close to taking her back for more x-rays to see how bad it is.  I hope it is not as bad as I suspect. I added pads with frog support to her casts this time as well.  She needs the pads for comfort and I’m hoping the lift the frog pads give her will be enough to relieve the tendon pain she is experiencing.  It is so frustrating to see her in this mess and not be able to do much to help.  While her left front hoof is looking good – the right just keeps going through improvements, then setbacks, then improvements, then setbacks.  The best thing to do for growth and improvement in the hoof is to get her moving, but the tendon injury needs rest.  -

Well, my first slow feeder has to be modified (surprise!).  While Moli is able to get to the hay, once it is down to all small pieces, she can no longer reach it, so she’s not quite getting enough.  I was able to get in touch with another person online who is using this method and the feeders he built had 4X6 or 4X4 inch squares in the grid.  Mine are 2X8..so, too narrow I guess. I’m going to modify it soon, probably by making some of the holes 4X8 - but have to fill the tanks on our torch so it will have to wait a few days.  Meanwhile I am removing the grid and Moli is happily munching away in the fast lane!

It seems I’m always in an experimental phase when it comes to taking care of my equine and canine partners.  In an attempt to do what is best for them I am always running across ideas and processes online.  Many of the stories and examples get logged away somewhere in the vastness of my memory, but some tug at me – suggesting it may be that I really should look at this method – it could make the difference. In the equine world there are three things that really attracted my attention and that I am always looking for more information on; Natural Horsemanship, Barefoot Trimming and Paddock Paradise.  My studies of barefoot trimming have led to changes in how I feed my horses, specially Moli, the Arab with chronic laminitis.  Somewhere along the way, my research and interest in barefoot trimming scratched up some information on the Paddock Paradise system and slow feeders.  I have been trying to make something that would work as a slow feeding system for my horses and today tried out th

Sometime in the last couple of weeks I thought…”uh, I haven’t introduced Dee to a tarp yet – that will be our next session!”  I had some idea that it might be an exciting session.  Dee is all confidence when she knows what she’s doing – been there, done that sort of thing.  It doesn’t take much to shake that confidence though – new things can really get to her.  I guess that is to be expected from just about any horse, especially a young one who hasn’t seen much of the world!  So, after thinking about how I was going to approach the task, and waiting for the mud to subside (where is all this RAIN coming from anyway?  I thought this was the desert.) I had some sort of plan to follow, but as always, was prepared to ditch the plan and just go with the flow.  As I continue to work on my horsemanship skills I am getting much better at going with the flow.  I set everything up before getting Dee.  The plan was to do our normal warm up – which is just going for a neighborhood walk where I

After a few rounds barefoot, I put casts back on Moli's feet yesterday.  Her feet are looking and working so much better, but the tendon injury is causing her to move differently and the front right foot is showing the effects.  The separation between her sole and hoof wall on this foot is getting slowly worse and the shape of her hoof is less round then oval - with the inside wall/sole growing faster than the outside.  Now that I am more aware of the changes that an injury can cause in the hoof - I wonder if these nagging issues we have been having the last couple years don't go back to her original injury as a filly.  I never found out how it happened, but she has deep scaring across the side and back of her front right foot.  I do know the injury ruined her chances at showing and is the reason she was available for me to have the chance to own her. I continue to soak up any and all information that Pete Ramey and other leaders in the barefoot world can turn out.  I know