Hoof Adventures & Other Equine Experiences

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 ...

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, b...

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 horse...

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 i...