Hooves

Rhio's right front today after a trim

It's official!  Rhio once again has four normal hooves.  The saga of his right front coronary band injury last January is now completely finished and I'm planning to stop obsessing, worrying, and fretting about his feet...any minute now, really!  

October 20, 2010
It's a normal hoof! 

For a quick review, here's a series of photos showing the healing and progression of his hoof wall defect over the past 9 1/2 months. 

Januray 31, 2010

February 23, 2010
coronary band is nearly back to normal, farrier has relieved any upward pressure by cutting an arc in the ground surface

June 14, 2010
Defect is about 1/2 way down hoof & we're still using the pressure-relieving technique to encourage downward progression without lateral spreading around the hoof

August 1, 2010
The back part already broke off and the front portion is actually loose.

August 1, 2010
After trimming - no more loose section but still not a lot of support on his lateral quarter

September 1, 2010
It almost looks like just a really badly chipped area! 

Rhio & I had a quick limbering session in the arena, bareback, after his trim, then he got to free graze in the yard for a little while.  Tomorrow we're off to Point Chaser!  We're planning to do the 50 on Friday, and if everything goes well, also a 30 mile Limited Distance on Sunday.  I've never ridden more than one day at a ride before, on the same horse, so I am really looking forward to it!  Gesa & Paco will be riding their second LD on Sunday, so we'll have a great time riding together.  

Enjoying the grass

Old man Cricket has been enjoying a lot of yard time lately, trying to gain a little more weight before winter, enjoying the last of the grass.  Also, it is good for his feet, which got "accidentally" trimmed by another farrier and are way too short.  He was booted 24/7 and on Bute for a week just to hobble around.  He is now sound on grass, but still very tender on any harder footing.  Poor Cricket!  And the farrier thinks he did me a "favor" by giving me a free trim (it was his mistake - he didn't realize the bay Arabian gelding wasn't a black Appaloosa mare...).  I am none too pleased, to say the least. 

Cricket checking for treats in my pocket before going back to grazing

Back in training

Red is back in action! I first discovered some arthritis in his right hock last summer and injected it.  The same symptoms cropped up this spring, and I decided to inject both hocks this time.  He is finally back to total soundness, except for periodic episodes where his neck "thing" flares up.  He was diagnosed in 2007 with calcification in his neck, possibly from an old injury from when he was a youngster, which is outside the spinal column but can irritate the nerves where they emerge from the spinal cord to head down his left front leg.  This is at the base of his neck, between the 5th & 6th cervical vertebrae.  He was originally treated with a steroid injection into the area to control the inflammation of the nerves, which worked great but rendered him unfit for endurance competition, as we are not allowed to compete our horses with any drugs or medications in their systems.  I first started my acupuncture training in 2007 in the hopes that it would allow me to control the inflammation in his neck and keep us competing.  In 2008, the only treatment he received was biweekly acupuncture and we had our best season ever!  Since then, I treat him as needed, and have had great success.

Rhio's right front post-trim on 7-6-10.  You can see the heel part of the crack is to the ground surface now, so we may begin to lose chunks of hoof anytime. You can also see how perfect his coronary band and new hoof growth are - yay!  That means this is a this-season-only problem and not something we will continue to have to deal with once it's finally completely grown out. 

Since Rhio's hoof crack has reached a critical point, I do not know what is going to happen with him in the near future in terms of how much conditioning and/or competing he is going to be able to do.  I decided not to compete him at Mosquito Run last weekend because I don't want to overstress that hoof or have a larger chunk of hoof wall come off due to the rigors of competition.

Since Red is back to soundness, and will be legal to compete at our next ride in mid-August, I am embarking on a conditioning program for him so that he can truly be my backup horse and allow me to compete (only a 25 mile Limited Distance ride) even if Rhio is out.

Friday we rode 4 hours at Spirit Mountain, Monday we rode in the gravel pit doing hill work, and Tuesday we set off down the road with the intent to do about 8 - 9 miles of trotting.

Our home stretch of road, 1/2 mile along the shoulder of this paved (and really quiet) road, past a pond. You can see Red's left ear cocked toward the pond on our left, as we had just heard a mysterious shuffling sound followed by a "plop" into the water - I think a turtle hurried to safety.  This pond used to be home to some bullfrogs (though I haven't heard them there in a while), which, with their loud, guttural "Aou-ump" followed by a big splash as they jumped into the water, were positively *terrifying* for poor Red.  We would careen back & forth down this section of road from one shoulder to the other (thank goodness it is such a quiet road!) as the bullfrogs would sound off & splash on either side.

The pond, home to ducks and the occasional loon, plus many painted turtles and various frogs.

The gravel and the deer flies, however, had other plans for us and we completed only 6 miles, much of it at a walk.  Even with his front boots, he was still ouchy on the gravel on his bare hind feet and unwilling to trot after the first 3 miles or so.  There were at least 3 different types of "deer fly" type flies mobbing us anytime we got anywhere near any trees, so the only relief (despite a 15 mph breeze!) was in the totally open sunny areas of the road - which were also uncomfortably hot.  And, since he didn't want to trot, we couldn't move fast enough to get away from the buzzing monsters.  I broke a branch off a leafy tree and used it as a swatter, but we were still in danger of falling down as Red was so agitated by the flies, tossing his head, that he really wasn't paying any attention to where his feet were going.  He's a bit of a clumsy horse anyway, and with the added distraction of the flies, it just wasn't a good thing!

This road looks pleasant enough, but the sharp gravel & hordes of flies sent us home early.

It was a no-win situation.  Red was willing to continue, but neither one of us was enjoying ourselves, so enough was enough and we headed home.  We did stop at the other barn to pick up the old pair of Old Mac boots that Rhio wore over his foot bandage all winter and that I keep around for emergencies.  I put them on Red's hinds for the last mile home, and he was more than happy to stride along in his big trot once all his feet were protected.  They aren't very good boots for endurance, though, because they are large & clunky, and this set is nearly worn out.

Easyboot Epic on right front, Easyboot Bare on left front, and old-style Old Macs on both hinds. If any of his boot-wearing buddies saw him in this get up, he'd be embarrassed! 

Hoof Update

The lower part of the hoof is shiny because I applied a hoof sealant in an attempt to keep any bacteria out of the crack.  We have had lots of rain and therefore have lots of mud in the pasture, so I thought a little extra protection was a good thing. 

Rhio's latest farrier visit and our hoof crack/defect is nearly grown out at the heel.  We are hoping that when it hits ground level, the unaffected part at the heel stays intact while only the damaged hoof crumbles away.  It's really a wait-and-see right now.   The new hoof growing down from the coronary band looks perfect - but it is bulging out above the crack so that's another thing to keep an eye on.

Go Ponies!

Watching Kristi & Cody down by the water & wondering why we had to climb the hill 4x today but they only did it 3x!

I'm not sure Kristi really knew what she was getting into when we scheduled a ride for today!  I still don't have boots (waiting impatiently!), so we are stuck with the local trails & gravel pit.  I can get a decent (7 1/2 mile) ride out of it if we go around a few times.  We walked the little bit of gravel road down to the shoulder of the paved road, then set off at a nice, smart 8 mph trot.  We turned in at the old gravel pit just north of the county gravel pit, and wound our way around the 4-wheeler trail between the ponds and up across the ridge, then popped out into the county pit to continue down to our little mound / training hill.  There was only 1 bald eagle in residence today, and he left in a bit of a hurry when we showed up.  We went up & down our little training hill a few times, then headed off into the woods south of the pit along someone's deer hunting trails.  This is a good spot to canter, so away we went!  Kristi & Cody had no trouble staying right on our tail, and Rhio thought that meant we needed to go faster, so we argued a little bit about that.  The trail ends at a dead end with a very tall deer stand just back in the woods, so we turn around and head back the way we came.  We have to slow down for two sections - one that is a bit muddy and one that is full of holes - but otherwise I typically move out pretty well on these trails.  Cody was breathing pretty hard when we got back to the gravel pit access road, so he & Kristi worked on some active recovery while Rhio & I did the hill one more time.

Kristi & Cody surveying the landscape

We headed back into the trails for round two, then headed across the road to Dave & Carol's place, setting the horses there on fire and having a nice chat with Dave & Jack (the Border Collie) while Rhio & Cody munched on their greening lawn.  We headed out back to the trails that connect to our barn's trails, passing between the pasture containing the bulls/steers (2400# "Big Rig" who loves to have his head scratched stands out from all the rest) and the one containing the cows & new calves (so cute!).  We had a lot of fuzzy black faces staring at us as we passed!  Once onto the trails, we did a little looping up & down the hills and then headed home.  Once we got close to our home field, we could hear shooting (or something that sounded an awful lot like shooting) but didn't see or identify the source.  There weren't any bullets whizzing past, so I guess we were ok.  Cody was full of energy still on the homeward trip, although once returned to his pasture, he took a big snooze standing in the sun.

Kristi & Cody back in the woods - dressage horse, you say?  Not if you're riding with me!

I was happy to note that Rhio's sweat pattern was perfectly symmetrical and complete - no dry spots by the withers.  This was the second ride where I used thicker foam inserts in his Skito pad (3/4" instead of 1/2") and I think it's working.  Also, his foot is holding up great, although it's starting to look pretty ugly.  

Ok, kinda gross because the sweat brings all the dirt & grunge in his coat to the surface - but the point is that this is a beautiful sweat pattern!  

It's quite the crack/defect that's developing as Rhio's hoof grows out.  It looks wet because I just cleaned it & applied a sealant (in an attempt to make sure nothing gets down in under his healthy hoof horn & sets up an infection/abscess.) 

Look Mom!  Green grass!

Learning & Teaching

Kevin & I were just finishing up discussing Rhio’s feet (verdict: still have to wait & see what happens with the crack that is obviously developing from his injury – we suspect it will spread horizontally; also I will try to keep it clean & apply a sealant to it) when three barn buddies showed up to ride!  Yeah!  Steph took Cricket, I rode Rhio, and Kathy on Winston and Christine on Tomas rounded out our group.  It was quite windy and we decided a jaunt through the woods might be just the ticket – the trees block a lot of the wind. 

Kathy & Winston (L) and Christine & Tomas on our lap around the field

Steph & Cricket using the bareback pad

I booted Rhio in front (only have 2 functional boots right now – I’m waiting on a “fit kit” from Easy Care to determine what size Easy Boot Gloves to order – they have a trade-in program where you can send in up to 2 boots and order a new style of boot for 50% off, so I’m sending in my old Bares that have the gaitors torn off in favor of moving to their latest model, the Glove) and off we went.  I currently use Easy Boot Epics on the front hooves – this pair is Red’s but actually fit Rhio ok as well.  According to the Easy Care fit charts, Rhio shouldn’t really be successful in their boots – his feet are almost perfectly round & don’t fit their size measurements very well.  But, I have found that he does fine in the Epics on his front hooves.  I haven’t tried hind boots on him in several years, so it will be a learning curve this year.  If worse comes to worse, I can shoe his hinds and boot his fronts.  Kevin & I don’t think we will be able to shoe his fronts because of the hoof crack emerging from his injury.  Rhio doesn’t have much tolerance for rocky going, and since I travel the gravel roads for most of my conditioning miles, he requires some hoof protection.  I’m really excited about trying the Gloves because they are very lightweight, hoof-hugging boots with no hardware.  Most of the reports I’ve read from other endurance riders are extremely favorable about this boot.

 

Rhio modeling the Easy Boot Epics post-ride

Our trail ride was highly successful and granted us several opportunities to teach our horses new things (or, to remind our horses that they could still do these things).  The first challenge was a water crossing through an area that in the summer is swampy & impassable.  Currently, it is a large puddle over frozen ground – so I knew the horses wouldn’t get bogged in it and we could safely school them on water crossings.  Rhio ambled right into the water (I didn’t test it, but it had to be only barely above freezing!) and proceeded across with no difficulty.  He has typically been quite good about water, but I was happy to see that that hasn’t changed.  Winston went next, and required a tiny bit of encouragement, but crossed quite willingly.  Tomas was definitely refusing at this point, but Cricket came across easily (with a look of disgust on his face, I do admit – he didn’t enjoy it, but he did it!) and now he didn’t have much choice unless he wanted to be left behind.  So Tomas made the right choice and crossed the water in a controlled manner.  Good job everyone!  

Cricket showing Tomas the ropes on the water crossing

The rest of the trail ride provided smaller challenges such as ice in deeply shady areas, sucking mud in soggier areas, and a few downed trees to step over.  All the horses get gold stars for their good behavior and willingness to learn new skills!  We even crossed the water with no real hesitation on the way home.  Steph had the “Cricket Grin” that everyone gets when they ride him – and Cricket was puffed up & proud of himself.  Winston was gaiting smoothly and walking out readily.  Tomas only had a few minor incidents of frustration/confusion, but nothing that Christine couldn’t handle.  And Rhio was a good boy – although his challenges were yet to come. First, Rhio & I continued right down the driveway when we got back, even though the other horses were headed back to the barn. He didn’t like that much, but continued on when I asked him and didn’t give me too much guff.  We turned west and headed down the road into the stiff wind.  I dislike riding in the wind because I can’t hear traffic as well and am not as aware of our surroundings.  Luckily, it doesn’t seem to ruffle Rhio much at all.  I zipped my jacket up tight to my chin to keep the chill out, and away we went.  I had my GPS on, and although Rhio gave me a very pokey 5.7mph trot, he was trotting.  Rhio very much prefers to ride with another horse, and to start a ride with his buddies then leave them was really a challenge for him.  He did great!  We continued along the freshly graveled section of Pioneer & Church Roads; he was definitely seeking the softest footing he could.  His hinds were not only bare, but he was freshly trimmed, so the new gravel was not to his liking.  The deer obviously couldn’t hear us coming, because we scared up three of them who ran parallel to us for a while before cutting across a hay field.  Rhio just kept trotting along, looking at them with interest.  I concentrated on changing my posting diagonals, since we were trotting slow enough that I was actually posting.  I really tend to forget to switch diagonals, and at our faster trots I do a two-point “hover” kind of thing instead of posting.  We got to the “minimum maintenance road” portion of Church Road (a favorite spot) and headed down the now-open road, prominently posted “Road Closed in Winter.”  It is closed to vehicles but open to snowmobiles, so we typically run across some interesting things back in there – this time it included a severed deer head lying in the middle of the road.  Yuck!  Rhio was more concerned with the funny-shaped melting snowbanks (looked like fossilized creatures sticking out of the ground to me) than the head, and Kelso trotted right past it.  We turned around at about the 3 mile mark, and Rhio quite happily bumped his trotting speed up into the 7.5mph range (or, as I like to call it, the “going home” trot) and away we went.  He cruised along, tossing his head and eager to head back to the barn.  We stopped along the way to visit with 3 little kids and their mom out playing in their yard.  The little girl is clearly horse crazy, and I love to encourage that – plus leave a good impression on the non-horse folks in the area since I ride on the public roads so much.  Rhio was very amenable to having his nose patted and obligingly lowered it to 4 year old height.  It was school bus time as we were nearing the barn, and 2 went past us very courteously, slowing way down.  Of course, they don’t bother Rhio in the slightest, but I am very appreciative nonetheless.  At the driveway, I fetched the mail from Rhio’s back (a first – took a couple attempts to get him close enough that I could reach, but only because he REALLY wanted to go down the driveway) and then hopped off at the wide wooden stairs leading to the farmhouse.  I am not sure why, but I got it in my head that I was going to teach him to walk up and down those steps.  He was having none of it, and kept staring off longingly at his pasture mates.  I probably didn’t pick the best time for a schooling session on stair mastery!  But, we did 1 step up, and 1 step down, and crossed several stairs horizontally back & forth a few times, so I was happy with that.  Something to work on!  

Look!  Three feet on the bottom step!

Overall, we did 8 miles today, Rhio’s first in boots this spring.  The boots stayed in place, he had no rubs or marks from the gaitors, and had only 1 tiny interference mark on the back of his left hind fetlock.  It clearly had only been hit once, not repeatedly over the course of the ride, so I’m not going to worry about it.  Several years ago when I first rode him in boots, he interfered so badly that we came home from our first booted ride bloody on all four legs.  Granted, he was only wearing front boots today, but I was pleased anyway, as I hadn’t put any leg protection on for today’s ride (I’ll often use splint boots on him when he’s in the Easy Boots just to be safe).  If the weather forecast is right, I probably won’t get him out for a ride again until next week – it’s actually going to be a below average high (and 20+ degrees colder than today!) for the first time in March. 

(note: ride was Wednesday March 24)

 

Mission Impossible

You may be able to tell how much new, sharp gravel is now on our road - Rhio doesn't tolerate this footing at all!

Rhio & I attempted a conditioning ride down the road today, but had to abort the mission about a mile into it, because the county had graded the road & added a layer of fresh gravel.  Rhio is barefoot (I didn't think to dig out the boots yet this spring - guess it's time!) and doesn't tolerate that sharp gravel.  Bummer!  We did a little work in the outdoor arena when we got back, and called it a day.

foot update: last trim 2 1/2 weeks ago, when the arc to take the hoof wall out of weight bearing below the injury was redone - we've been riding so much that the hoof has nearly grown the arc out already!  Exercise increases hoof growth.  

and a better view of the injury itself.  The coronary band is looking great, but I'm not very happy with the large hoof defect that does seem to be forming.