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.

Tommy Boy - Feelin' Better! Lame horse kicks up his heels again!

Holly was here today to work with the horses.

She decided to give Tommy Boy a bath - he needed it! And being white (grey!) and a past show horse, he was good for his bath - though he did get a little nervous.


After, when we put his sheet on and then the hooded sleazy, he got very nervous! I think he thought he was going to a show!

He sure looked good enough!



Tommy Boy in the arena, kicking up his heels........



Does this look like a horse who could barely walk yesterday!!?? Look at him go! Towards the end of the clip, you can see his lameness becomes evident a little bit.

Tommy Boy - Hoof Care w/EquiCast

We worked on Tommy Boy's hooves this evening. Over the last several weeks, it's been evident that he is very sore and has difficulty walking. (He was on bute 3 times a week, and had joint injections prior to coming here - which wore off and left him struggling to move).


Left Front - his feet are practically flat due to false sole flush with wall - no concavity (1/4 inch depth at apex of frog); evidence of dropped coffin bone from chronic laminitis (He was wearing full shoes with pads on front when we got him about three weeks ago.) Sole sounded hollow when tapped. First, Joanna trimmed sole and frog, then packed with EquiPak CS (the neon blue stuff!). Adhere Equithane (black stuff) is then applied to hold a 3/4 inch foam pad in place on the hoof for added support while the hoof grows out. The whole hoof, pad and all, is wrapped in EquiCast. Entire procedure is repeated on the right front.

Right Front - again, sole appears flat; build up of sole is due to a combination of shoes and pads- there was nothing abrasive to naturally wear the sole. Possible causes are diet related, lack of circulation in hoof from limited movement, enzymatic and mechanical forces which all contribute to hoof wall failure. Peripheral loading is the mechanical force that tears the wall away from the coffin bone.. i.e. pressure or weight bearing on outer wall of hoof only; weight bearing not distributed to sole and frog as nature intended.

Tommy Boy will wear the EquiCasts for three weeks.

For more information on natural hoof care and hoof rehabilitation check Pete Ramey's website - Hoof Rehabilitation Specialists.

One Sweet Horse - Four Incredibly Bad Hooves!

As you can see, Jack has quite the hooves! No wonder this poor guy was tripping over his feet constantly! We saw a huge difference when his four shoes came off a few weeks ago. At that time Joanna gave him a quick trim, and left his feet to settle in to their new feeling of freedom!!

Today she was back ready to continue trimming and shaping his hooves. It will be a long, slow process to bring his hooves back to a more natural, balanced, healthy state.

Left Front - very grossly misshaped - extreme flaring; laminar failure, stretching of the lamina. (Perhaps a mechanical failure due to over compensation from soreness in the right hoof) What is so pronounced is the heels are under run, weight of horse is moved forward; instead of being shared equally by sole/frog/wall. Weak walls - (sound hollow when tapped) - disconnected toe. This hoof measures 6 inches at it's widest; 6 1/2 inches long; 4 inch toe length; 3/8 inch sole depth. Joanna trimmed dead sole.

Right Front - Hoof wall is flared at toe and pulled away from wall by one inch!!! Disconnect! Totally infected white line. Will soak for 4 hours in a vinegar solution tomorrow, then pack with poultice.

Right Hind - very deep thrush in central frog; excessive sole and toe length. Also, notice how hoof has been shaped oddly pointing out! What is that, duck feet?! No wonder he can't walk!

Left hind - not so much thrush. I was so overwhelmed with information, and frustrated to see how badly his hooves had fared under shoes!

Suddenly - There's a New Turn-out!

Joanna came over today to work on the horses hooves and announced she'd brought her husband to build a turn-out for the horses because that's what was needed to keep their hooves healthy and strong.

We had talked about putting in a circular turn-out around the perimeter of the property - eventually! and that idea appealed to me, but I don't think I was ready to dismantle half my pipe corral paddocks and re-assemble them into a nifty quarter acre run around for the horses, but that's what happened this evening! Jason (Joanna's Husband) and Bob (my husband) worked until dark to make it happen. (Then we went to J.J. Purty's in Fallbrook for dinner & Drinks)

And so now I'm worrying about how they are going to get along in this turn-out even though I know it's the best and most natural for them - it's that initial pecking order repartee that they go through that I worry about. And the Oleander bushes that are so prevalent along the fence line.

Jack - He's Bare Footin'!

We pulled Jack's shoes on Friday. With the busy weekend, he was allowed to just relax "feel the grass between his toes"; today, Monday, was his first day under saddle with no shoes, and what a difference!!! OMG!! He's picking up his feet and moving forward!!



Obviously, low on the training tree; we're just beginning to work on moving forward with steady rhythm, and he looks good. Amanda, who is riding him, noticed the difference immediately. Last week he was sluggish, not moving forward or picking up his feet. And you could hear the "clink" as his back shoes hit against each other with each step forward.

Another variable that could be effecting his performance is, we just started (Saturday, May 23, 2009) supplementing him with Red Cell.

Changing dressings on Connor's hooves

Slide show below shows Connor's left hoof, then right hoof. Notice on both, the abscesses (small, nickel sized reddish bulge) are healing; the edges of the abscesses are closing in with healthy hoof material. Side view shows high heel of Connor's right hoof.



For more information on holistic hoof care approach, see Hoof Rehab.

Connor's Hoof Wraps - Holistic Hoof Care

Holistic Hoof Practitioner, Joanna Schwartzel was back Saturday to work on Connor's hooves.
The first thing we did was bathe Connor; he had laid in urine and actually looked like he might have peed himself while laying down! A good blast of water cleaned out his hooves nicely. Then rotting hoof was trimmed away as much as possible, then the toe was filed. The sole was sprayed with a natural antibiotic, Banixx, then packed with "Q-shot" ointment, covered with gauze and wrapped in blue vet tape. A clothe diaper waterproof cover, that has a wear proof hoof sole made of Vettec Equi-Thane "Adhere" glue-on hoof repair, wraps around the entire hoof and is held in place with...duct tape! (where would we be without duct tape!)

Two things to note:

1. In the slide show above, the roundish, reddish bulge (about 1/2 inch in diameter) is the result of the hoof abscess pushing out of the sole.

2. In the photos below, the picture on the top is Connor's left front hoof; the photo on the bottom was taken off the internet and shows a very healthy, naturally trimmed hoof for comparison. (Beautiful!)

Connor's Week at the Spa

All week, since Holistic Hoof Practitioner Joanna Schwartzel first addressed Connor's major hoof problems, the old grey Thoroughbred has had daily treatments of Calcium Bentonite (Indian Healing Clay - the kind you use as a mud pack at a health spa!) with lavender oil packed into clean hooves; and then hand walked for 5 minutes. He walks slowly, but his mobility is improving!

Joanna was here yesterday and got some great photos and treatments to post after Mother's Day dinner.

PS I get no kickbacks from any of these links - they are just there to inform you!