Tommy Boy Gets the Boot!

Tommy Boy gets more hoof work done. He's still pretty lame; alot of thrush and infection in the laminae and white line, so Joanna proposed a more aggressive treatment. We treated his front and back hooves with Clean Trax. If you read about it, the compound sounds very impressive and treatment is in both the liquid and vapor phases of the material. It is very labor intensive and requires two to three people to work it.


First, the chemical must be keep cool, and Southern California in the summer makes that challenging alone! We kept it in the refrigerator until ready to mix.

Ready, mix! - One gallon of water to one bottle of Clean Trax. Pour into the treatment boot, and put a clean front hoof into it! Easier said than done. Like I said, helps to have a lot of hands around for this job - and a cooperative horse, like Tommy Boy! After both hooves are settled into the bag, some one must stay with the horse to be sure he doesn't move for 45 minutes while he soaks!

When the 45 minutes are up, the treatment soaking bags are moved to the back hooves and the front hooves get plastic baggie booties so the vapor phase can continue to work on the front hooves.

That's Gaia and Jessika working to get the back boot on Tommy. They had the hard job! I volunteer to sit with him during the 45 minute treatment!!





So here's Tommy Boy in full treatment regalia! Back boots are now duct taped on (where would we be with out our duct tape!!) He was not so happy about having another 45 minutes on the back and tried to kick them off.

Plastic bags duct taped on the front hooves. When 45 minutes were up, the treatment boots were removed from the back hooves, the solution now spent, was dumped out. Back hooves were then wrapped in plastic baggies for vapor phase of treatment (45 minutes).

Tomorrow, treatment continues with Stalosan F, sole support impression material and hoof casting.

"Walkin' Wild" - Holistic Approach to Hoof Care

I had the pleasure of meeting up with a horsewoman and hoof trimmer whose holistic approach to horse care in general and hoof care in specific appealed to my intellectual and emotional desire to provide the best possible care for my horses in the rather unnatural environment that most of us must subject our backyard horses to.

Fresh in from Utah, Joanna Schwartzel immediately presents herself in a professional, knowledgeable manner with the horse's whole health and well being foremost in her concerns.

I talked with her over the phone about my concerns for Connor and the hoof problems we've been dealing with over the last few months. Earlier posts include: Rotated Coffin Bone, Connor's Abscess , Initial Diagnosis, From Laminitis to Abscesses, and Radiograph Update.Connor still has a great deal of difficulty moving around in a smaller stall cushioned with wood shavings. He is extremely reluctant to pick-up his hooves for any cleaning and medication (i.e. douse with iodine), and my concern for his prognosis has been bleak.

Joanna came right over and began to work on Connor's hooves with such passion and knowledge I felt hope spring eternal! I think Connor sensed good thinks happening, too! He was cooperative and alert.

First, watch the slide show and you will see how bad his front hooves are. The red on point of frog is blood, and dead, rotting tissue is evident all over the sole.

You will then see Joanna cleaning out the dead tissue and lowering the heel to ease pressure on the coffin bone sole area when he walks.



Right hoof, the worst one, is then soaked in a solution of apple cider vinegar. A poultice of Betadiene, Arrow Root, Golden Seed Powder, Grapefruit Seed extract, Epsom Salts, Apple Cider Vinegar, "Sore No More" (a natural herbal liniment) and "Q-Shot" (a super oxygenated antiseptic spray manufactured by Bio3X,) is pressed into the sole and wrapped in a disposable diaper (actual it's a "pull-up") and fastened with duct tape. This was left on all night.

In the morning, Joanna was over early to remove the poultice, and what a difference in Connor's hoof - you can see for yourself, and he was walking with no signs of lameness!!! Obviously, he's got a ways to go before his hoof is returned to natural state of health, but...WOW!!

Star's Thrush Treatment - Begins!

Star is a 28 year old Mustang mare. We've had her for about 8 years, but she's been around Fallbrook all her life, and even did her time in the Fallbrook Pony Club (before we got her). Here she is today! She looks really great for an old mare...but she's got really bad feet. The problem is she pees a lot!! Doctor says she may be a....psychogenic drinker!!! Because of all these factors, she has always had mild to severe thrush. This winter it got really bad.

Here she is this winter, standing in her cesspool of muck and pee! This horse is pretty well cared for - again, not show horse pampered - but well cared for: she is turned out into a large sand arena daily (with her two buddies, the mini-mares Emmy and Sugar), she is groomed (hoof picked) once to twice a day by young adoring riders, and she has a mat that she can stand on to get out of the mud. But she chooses to stand in the mud and pee next to her two buddies (see them in the photo) and her thrush was the worst it has ever been. So, we decided some drastic steps had to be taken. And, of course, we'll be chronicling every step of the way.