Let’s try something new….
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.
Mark was last here on April 3rd to trim Moli and help me get things in balance. Since then she has been in boots pretty much 24 hrs per day – and I have stayed on top of the balance issue so as to not let that start again, we have been doing daily stretching and exercise as often as we can. Still no improvement though. She is not growing hoof wall or sole the way she should be, specially on the right front. After doing much research (That’s pretty much all I do online anymore – look for information on Laminitis) I decided to try the Epona Shoe for two reasons, #1 – HAD to do something new and the information I found was promising and people I spoke to were impressed at what they had seen. #2 – we are going on vacation and asking someone else to deal with the boots seemed unfair.
So….I gathered all the information I could, ordered the supplies I would need and spent many a night mulling through the different way I would need to trim for the shoe (I don’t sleep much anyway…may as well mull) until the day finally came that I had to jump in and get it done. I called up Peggy – my much trusted neighbor and ‘all things horsey’ assistant – and we set about doing the job. I didn’t think it would be much different than the casting I already knew how to do. I would not try to use nails to set the shoe, but would be gluing it on. The only difference would be in the trim, as I would need to rasp a bit of sole to get a flat surface on which to glue the shoe. I took my time with the trim – checking and double checking for balance and trying to get a sufficient area for the shoe without over-doing the trim. Her hoof capsule has gotten so small now, I was trying to be very careful. There is so much wrong with her feet now I don’t think I’m sure how to fix it.
After the trim – I set about laying things out for the shoe. I had purchased two sizes and decided on the larger of the two. I had to trim a bit off the back of each shoe, but it fit better on the sides then the smaller one…I also rasped a nice roll around the quarters and toe of the shoe to enhance break over. I have lots of experience with the glue and such now…so after the hoof prep I applied the glue to the shoe – the shoe to the hoof…waited a few minutes for things to set, and put the first foot down feeling pretty good about the results. The second foot went just as well and we all just sat back – satisfied and admiring the great job done – first time out! (by this time, my mother and brother had arrived and were providing moral support and the appropriate oooos and ahhhs over my great shoeing abilities)
NOT so fast! When movement started again, and Moli decided she wanted to see what was going on outside of our cozy little work area – she only moved three or four steps and off came the right shoe. Ugh.
Peggy talked me into taking a break, so we put a boot on the shoeless foot and turned Moli out while we had lunch. That gave me time to come up with an action plan, which was good because when we went to round up Moli for another try she had already lost the left shoe as well. With the help of my brother (John) we got the glue off the boots and hooves. I repeated the method of placing glue on the shoe, then the shoe on the hoof, but was much more generous with the glue…and put the foot down a bit quicker. I needed to be sure the shoes would stay on for a couple weeks, while we are on vacation, so decided to use casting material over the shoes to help hold everything in place. I knew I would not need more than one roll of casting material, but getting two feet done before the cast set was going to be tricky.
While I put a bit of adhesive on the right hoof wall, John dropped my cast into some water and Peggy got ready with a board wrapped in saran wrap (casting material doesn’t stick to saran wrap…a small board with the wrap on it makes a great place to put a hoof wrapped in casting material while it is setting) and a pair of scissors. I started wrapping the first hoof while John put some adhesive on the second one. When I thought there was enough casting material on the first hoof, Peggy cut it with the scissors and we set the foot down on the board…John was just finishing with the adhesive and I was able to pick up the second foot and get it wrapped before the casting material became too hard to work with. WHEW! It was fast, I’m impressed with our team work and so proud of Moli for being able to take in all that action without even flinching!
Two days later and the shoes are still on with Moli moving around pretty good – better than she has in a long time. Now – let’s hope that the shoes last until we get back…and that when I take them off, there is more sole and more hoof wall!
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.
Mark was last here on April 3rd to trim Moli and help me get things in balance. Since then she has been in boots pretty much 24 hrs per day – and I have stayed on top of the balance issue so as to not let that start again, we have been doing daily stretching and exercise as often as we can. Still no improvement though. She is not growing hoof wall or sole the way she should be, specially on the right front. After doing much research (That’s pretty much all I do online anymore – look for information on Laminitis) I decided to try the Epona Shoe for two reasons, #1 – HAD to do something new and the information I found was promising and people I spoke to were impressed at what they had seen. #2 – we are going on vacation and asking someone else to deal with the boots seemed unfair.
So….I gathered all the information I could, ordered the supplies I would need and spent many a night mulling through the different way I would need to trim for the shoe (I don’t sleep much anyway…may as well mull) until the day finally came that I had to jump in and get it done. I called up Peggy – my much trusted neighbor and ‘all things horsey’ assistant – and we set about doing the job. I didn’t think it would be much different than the casting I already knew how to do. I would not try to use nails to set the shoe, but would be gluing it on. The only difference would be in the trim, as I would need to rasp a bit of sole to get a flat surface on which to glue the shoe. I took my time with the trim – checking and double checking for balance and trying to get a sufficient area for the shoe without over-doing the trim. Her hoof capsule has gotten so small now, I was trying to be very careful. There is so much wrong with her feet now I don’t think I’m sure how to fix it.
After the trim – I set about laying things out for the shoe. I had purchased two sizes and decided on the larger of the two. I had to trim a bit off the back of each shoe, but it fit better on the sides then the smaller one…I also rasped a nice roll around the quarters and toe of the shoe to enhance break over. I have lots of experience with the glue and such now…so after the hoof prep I applied the glue to the shoe – the shoe to the hoof…waited a few minutes for things to set, and put the first foot down feeling pretty good about the results. The second foot went just as well and we all just sat back – satisfied and admiring the great job done – first time out! (by this time, my mother and brother had arrived and were providing moral support and the appropriate oooos and ahhhs over my great shoeing abilities)
NOT so fast! When movement started again, and Moli decided she wanted to see what was going on outside of our cozy little work area – she only moved three or four steps and off came the right shoe. Ugh.
Peggy talked me into taking a break, so we put a boot on the shoeless foot and turned Moli out while we had lunch. That gave me time to come up with an action plan, which was good because when we went to round up Moli for another try she had already lost the left shoe as well. With the help of my brother (John) we got the glue off the boots and hooves. I repeated the method of placing glue on the shoe, then the shoe on the hoof, but was much more generous with the glue…and put the foot down a bit quicker. I needed to be sure the shoes would stay on for a couple weeks, while we are on vacation, so decided to use casting material over the shoes to help hold everything in place. I knew I would not need more than one roll of casting material, but getting two feet done before the cast set was going to be tricky.
While I put a bit of adhesive on the right hoof wall, John dropped my cast into some water and Peggy got ready with a board wrapped in saran wrap (casting material doesn’t stick to saran wrap…a small board with the wrap on it makes a great place to put a hoof wrapped in casting material while it is setting) and a pair of scissors. I started wrapping the first hoof while John put some adhesive on the second one. When I thought there was enough casting material on the first hoof, Peggy cut it with the scissors and we set the foot down on the board…John was just finishing with the adhesive and I was able to pick up the second foot and get it wrapped before the casting material became too hard to work with. WHEW! It was fast, I’m impressed with our team work and so proud of Moli for being able to take in all that action without even flinching!
Two days later and the shoes are still on with Moli moving around pretty good – better than she has in a long time. Now – let’s hope that the shoes last until we get back…and that when I take them off, there is more sole and more hoof wall!
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