New Farrier

Okay, I learned a LOT today about Chrome and hooves in general. Here is the story on the other farrier. He has a lot of personal things going on right now and has canceled on me three times. He also made comments about Chrome's hooves not being bad and that I should start riding him this spring (at two!) . . . um, yeah I won't be calling him again. No offense to anyone, but he can go back to trimming his Quarter horses and stay away from Chrome. His hooves can't be treated like Quarter horse hooves.

So I called my friend and got a new reference. I absolutely LOVE my new farrier! I know I said I liked the other guy, but I like most people I meet so um . . . anyway I know better now. This woman however was very friendly, knowledgeable and was explaining things in great detail and answering all of my questions. I felt comfortable asking her my silly questions and I got really good answers. She's also going to be a lot easier to work out a schedule with.

Here is what I learned about Chrome. The weird way that he was walking is originating from the hips like we suspected. His stifles and hocks are fine. She said it's caused by a combination of laziness, growing pains and his awkward growth stage (very butt high). His joints and hooves are great though. What a relief!!!

She agrees that both hind hooves are clubby, the left hind is worse as we know. She said that she wants to get him on a strict trimming schedule and see what she can do with trims. If the trims don't improve it and/or it gets worse she told me about some injections that we could try, but she isn't for sure if he's too old for them. Worse case scenario would be surgery and she explained all of that in great detail for me. It sounds horrible and painful for the horse so let's pray it doesn't come to that. She said he's only a two or three on a scale of five and that she does think trimming will improve it. Since he isn't going to be a competition horse he may be able to live with club feet the rest of his life and never take a lame step. It's just kind of a maintain, wait and see game.

She said he definitely toes out in both the front and rear hooves. I had noticed it in the front, but thought in the rear that it was just cow hocks. She said we will know in the next few months if we can improve that at all, but she said by the time they're two their knees are usually past fixing. I don't think toeing out is that big of a deal though for a trail horse or low level dressage horse. If anyone has any experience with it I would love the hear their stories.

The only other thing she said to watch out for is his hoof walls. He tends more toward the draft type, thin walls as opposed to the thick, strong Arabian walls. So far he hasn't had any problems with chipping or anything, so that's just a 'keep an eye on it' type of thing.

So she answered all of the things that had been worrying me a lot. It's a huge relief to have those questions answered by someone who can be there and actually see and touch him. :) I'm just going to focus on getting the club feet under control now and then we are good to go.

Sorry the post got so long, but I'm just so excited and relieved and happy. :D

New Farrier

Chrome doesn't look too happy in the above picture but I promise he wasn't upset. I don't know what that expression was about unless maybe I had just gotten on to him for being mouthy. It look like I'm petting him in the pictures so maybe he was just chilling. I don't know but aren't his new feet pretty? I'll get pictures of him on the road out front tomorrow or something so you can see them better.

Anyway I really like my new farrier. And, get this, he lives two miles down the road. I could literally walk to his house if I needed to. I also found out he actually trims for my neighbor too. He doesn't do shoes at all, just barefoot trimming. He seems really nice. He brought his wife with him and the four of us stood around and talked for a little while after he was done with Chrome. He invited us to go squirrel hunting sometime so his dog can teach Jackal how to hunt (yay!). They were both really nice.

The poor guy was in a lot of pain. He hurt his back a couple of days ago and was hurting almost as bad as my husband. Well maybe not that bad. The reason I don't have many pictures is because my husband broke out into a sweat just holding my little digital camera. :( He's fine once he sits down though.

Anyway the farrier said that Chrome has really great feet and that I shouldn't change a thing I'm doing with him because I'm doing everything right. He was surprised and happy when I told him I use salt water for the thrush because that's what he tells his clients to use and nobody will do it because it doesn't have a brand name. *rolling my eyes* Some of the people around here are really stupid. He was happy, and not at all surprised, when he heard I was having such great success with it.

He said Chrome's feet were very unbalanced because they haven't been trimmed before, but that structurally they are very strong and healthy. He said he naturally has steep angles (his rear legs are pretty straight) so he said don't worry about the short toes so much. We'll work on getting his heels lowered slowly over time so we don't make him sore.

He trimmed him, balanced his feet and trimmed back the frogs. He did point out an area on one rear hoof where the white line is separating a bit, but he said it'll grow out fine when we trim them regularly. He likes to trim his own horses every three weeks, but normally does his clients' horses every five weeks. He said I can go longer than that if I want since I have rocky ground. Depending on the money situation I might do it every three weeks for a while. I can always do a little rasping in between visits. He said the fronts were much better than the backs so apparently the rasping I was doing was helping.

Here is a picture of the rear hoof with the mild white line separation. The farrier was full of compliments for Chrome and I could tell he was genuine and not the type of guy to toss around compliments for flattery sake. He agrees he's going to be big and he'll make the 15.2hh mark easily. He liked Chrome's temperament and said I was doing a great job with him. I love getting compliments on Chrome. It's like being told your child is a genius by the school principle lol. :D

Anyway I am so happy I found a farrier I like. He seems like a nice guy who seems very genuine and honest. :) He was very nice to Chrome, even gave him a bit of a cuddle, and was very patient with him. He's just so different from the jerks we had available when I was a kid who would hit our horses with a rasp for trying to pull away (we did not have that particular farrier back ever again). And I'm so happy he didn't see anything to be majorly concerned about. He did notice the rear hoof looked clubby, but we should be able to get it back to normal. If it is a club hoof it's very mild. I'll just have to keep in mind when he's older that he has steep angles and straight rear legs so there won't be any jumping in our future (which I'm totally fine with). :) I'll get more pictures when I can.

Oh and thank you all for your kind comments on my last post. I do feel like downsizing is the best thing right now and as one of my followers pointed out it'll give me more time to go riding in a couple of years when he's ready. :) I'm so looking forward to that!

What's Been Going On

Picture taken 8-29-2010.

Chrome is doing well. He absolutely loves being out on the lease land full time. I love it because it allows them to browse around and eat what they need and they move around a lot more like a wild horse would in search of food. Horses are built to be continually eating and moving all the time, so this is much healthier than being cooped up in a tiny paddock.

I've been asking about his hooves on a forum and they think he may have a tendency toward a club foot on one of his rear legs, but it almost never occurs in the rear feet so it may just be because he needs trimming done. I've finally located a farrier that I like. He should be coming out tomorrow to meet Chrome and work on his hooves. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. No one else has ever worked on his feet, but due to my back still being in a fragile state I can't work on them myself. Besides I don't know enough about it to correct any problems that may be occurring.

I've been cleaning out his front hooves daily and spraying them with salt water to help combat thrush (a fungus that's common in wet areas). The frog (the soft v-shaped center of his hoof) is starting to look healthier in both front hooves. I'm doing the rear hooves when my back feels up to it. I'm going to work on teaching him to pick them up easier using a rope so I don't have to use my back. Maybe when he is more balanced (through practice) I'll be able to clean them more frequently. Luckily I don't think he has thrush in the rear hooves or if he does it isn't bad yet. The salt water does seem to be working really well. Oh and the gravel in the barn is a huge help! Now if I have to put his hoof down to rest my back I don't have to start all over and clean them out again. :)

I've also discovered why part of his mane is ripped out. I thought it was because the donkey was grabbing it when they were playing, but it isn't. He's rubbing it out on a tree. I checked really well and didn't see any ticks or bites of any sort. It may just be because it's dirty. When I have the time I'm going to wash his mane really well (tail too!) and condition it. Maybe that will help.

This next bit of news probably won't mean anything to people who don't own horses but I'll explain it as best I can. I was worried for a while that both of his testicles weren't going to drop (can be a problem in dogs too so you might be familiar with it). It's called cryptorchidism and if you're interested an explanation can be found on wikipedia here. The reason this is such an issue in horses is because the surgery to get the horse gelded (castrated) is a lot more expensive and more likely to have complications then if both testicles are descended. It would also mean having to contact the owner of the sire and letting them know that one of the offspring is cryptorchid, because it is thought to be hereditary. I am happy to report that Chrome has two perfectly descended testicles lol! For a long time one was missing, then it was there but carried high and a lot smaller. Now it has joined it's fellow and both appear to be normal. :) Yay for not having to pay more lol and this also means we can finally go ahead and get him gelded. Finally! The reason we weren't able to get it done in the spring is because we were waiting to see if they would come down on their own.

We also got the results back from my husband's MRI. He has two bulging (herniated) discs in his back. :( They are going to start out treating it with rest and steroid injections. Hopefully it will heal up okay. I really don't want to go the surgery route if at all possible. If anyone has experience in this let me know anything that might be helpful please.

After what happened to Rip (Aslan's brother) my dad is ready to take a break from raising animals, so the goats will have to come back here. He's also giving us his turkeys. He's going to let Rip be a yard dog instead of a livestock guard dog. They love him too much to give him up. So this means we might possibly have to sell the goats due to financial reasons and space problems. We shall see I guess. Thank you all for your prayers and good thought. :)

His Hoofiness

Okay, I have been looking back through the archives of the Barefoot Horse Blog and have learned a lot. The lines I was seeing on Chrome's hooves that I posted about here are called event lines. They can be caused by anything from founder, diet change, deworming, vaccinations, overeating, etc. And they aren't a death sentence. It's just the hooves way of saying there's a problem in the diet or management of the horse. His lines aren't as deep as some of the pictures she shows of horses who have had full blown founder/laminitis.

So, now I'm working on improving my management. I'm pricing gravel right now for putting in the barn, under the gate and by the water troughs. The gravel will help with drainage/mud problems were having as well as working to strengthen his hooves. I'm also going to trim (more like just rasp right now) weekly and keep a mustang roll on his hooves. That helps keep the pressure off the wall. I'm also using her suggestion of bathing his hooves in salt water daily to prevent/treat any thrush that could be causing toe first landings. Toe first landings (caused by heel pain associated with thrush) can cause low grade laminitis. I'm starting with his front hooves to get him used to the routine and then I'll add in his rear hooves. He's actually doing really well considering I really hadn't done that much hoof handling with him (bad me).

So I'll keep you updated with what I'm doing regarding his hooves. I'm hoping to get gravel delivered on Monday. Keep your fingers crossed that scheduling works out. I'll be sure to get pictures. Chrome should have a blast playing in it. I wish I could have gotten pictures of him playing in a mud puddle this morning. :)

Chrome's Hooves - Need Advice

Ever since Chrome and Zeppelin got into the feed shed and ate all of the grain I have been doing some research on founder, laminitis and barefoot trimming. I've known for a while that Chrome's hooves were getting a little long and I needed to trim them, but I kept putting it off because I was afraid of messing them up (I've trimmed my own horse's hooves all my life but I've never had professional instruction and it's been three years since I've done it). Looking at them the other day I noticed horizontal lines that I am almost positive are old founder lines (he may have new ones too), so that's what started the research.

My husband and I gave Chrome his first mini trim yesterday just to get him used to the positions, the equipment and the handling. He did really well. As would be expected he had balance and boredom issue like any young horse would, but he did really well all things considered. We didn't take too much off because we figured less is more. Below are before and after pictures with comments below the pictures.

The first thing I noticed is that he looks like he's toeing out. And the inside walls appear shorter than the outside. I don't know how much of this is incorrect growth, conformation or camera angles. Do you see the horizontal lines almost midway down? Does anyone know if those are old founder lines? Just for informational purposes Chrome has never taken a lame step in his life (knock on wood) that I've seen, but he did have heat in his joints a while back. I'd have to look back through my blogs to see when it was.

The bottom of the hoof before the trim. I definitely can see that the hoof walls are long. I don't know enough to know if his heels are contracted . . . maybe someone more experienced might know? Also his grooves are deep (and dirty! I have to start cleaning them daily!) and my husband noticed a bit of a smell so I might have to do an anti fungal treatment in case of thrust. If anyone has suggestions on the best way of going about that I would appreciate it.

We had already started to trim before I took this picture. I forgot to take a side shot. Again you can see the horizontal line. I don't know enough about angles yet to know how his are. And I'm also not sure if his heel is too high. Help? Also I wanted to mention that I've been searching the internet like crazy for someone who does natural barefoot trims and I've only found one in my state. I haven't contacted her yet, but I plan to soon. I might even point her to this blog post.

This is after the trim. You probably can't see much of a difference. I didn't want to do too much his first time for training reasons as much as trimming reasons.

The front again. The toe on the far right looks flared to me, but I'm not 100% sure how to resolve that. We do need to go shorter as you'll see in the coming pictures. That might resolve the issue. Again I don't know if this was caused by letting them get too long or low grade laminitis or conformation faults. I just don't know. I have so much information swarming through my head right now that I'm just confused lol!

Another from the bottom. Same hoof. Sorry it's blurry and his hoof was dirty again lol. As you can see we didn't take enough off, but I didn't want to make him stand any longer. I want to keep the session short and positive. Not to mention it was fifty million degrees outside lol.

Looking down at the hoof. I read that the hoof should match the coronet. To me the hoof looks a bit pointed (this is a front hoof). I don't know if this is because they are too long or if the heels are contracted (someone needs to explain that to me better because I don't understand exactly what it means).

This last shot was an eye opener for me. After perusing several websites I decided to run back out and get a shot from this angle. Wow! The walls are too long! We definitely need to do more trimming. The other thing that concerns me is that his soles are not concave at all. I wasn't really able to get a good picture that shows it. I don't know how to resolve that either.

Anyway if someone can help sort out these confusing thoughts and newly learned lessons in my poor aching head I would really appreciate it. If you know of someone who might be able to help me I'd also appreciate that. I'm not scared of any immediate danger, but I know enough now to know that his hooves are headed down the wrong road. I want to head off as much damage as I can.

One of the things I read that surprised me was that chemical dewormers can cause hoof issues due to gut disturbances. I never knew that! I've been reading a lot about founder and acidosis (which I was familiar with in goats, but not horses) and that's where I found that information. I had stupidly been worming Chrome every month as a weanling because that's what I'd been told to do to prevent damage from migrating worms. I've stopped doing that and will now be getting fecals done before I worm them.

Anyway thanks in advance for any advice, comments or encouragement I will receive from my fantastic friends. You guys have been really great. :)

Edit: I found this video on natural hoof trimming on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsXusOCNS-U&feature=related However it is several years old so probably outdated. It was interesting to be able to actually see it done. If anyone has any opinions on this (or on the video comments which were interesting) I would love to hear those.