Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2009 12:07 pm Post subject: October
Angel has started hunting - he is the latest rehab, who came with "navicular" and poor medial lateral balance. He was truly angelic this morning - more on the blog about him!
The others are all working well, apart from Hector who has re-tweaked his hamstring by flinging himself about like a buffoon on Friday, silly boy.
We are now in clipping mode as well - yuk! Endless task every 2 weeks from now till January
Right...well...should I organise the lameness workup and xrays at the vets?
Link's been occasionally mis stepping, going a bit short, ocassionally going "oooh" on turning to the right - for a couple of weeks he had pulses when I took him in. This was the foot we had lots of trouble with earlier this year and never really got a diagnosis.
Put him on a regime of being in the dry lot 12 hours a day and back out at night.
So I spoke to the vet and he recommended a full afternoon at the hospital, full lameness workup with progressive blocks from the tip of his toe to the tip of his nose, x rays maybe scans...
But over the last week or so there has not been pulses when he comes in in the morning, and he has been happier on that foot, and hasn't been snatching it or stumbling on right turns. Still does not like the really rough ground going across the yard - btu then I hate walking on it too.
So - decisions, decisions - insurance time is running out and I'm not convinced completely that it is fully sorted out and there might be somethign low grade grumbling away there. So should I go ahead and get it all done? Would be under inevitable pressure to put him back in shoes to "protect his soles" (which are a good 22-24mm thick on the xrays and I doubt need "protecting" as such).
oh lordy - you have to do what you feel is the right thing, no one can really advise you.
But my old girl had years of x rays and scans and all sorts of painful sh1t for various 'rumbles and grumbles' and I then realised it was diet............
Having fixed that she went rock crunching in weeks.
The point being - Brucea you know diet is an issue and you know your horse. The vet knows scans and x-rays and stuff, but how much do you trust your vet to really 'know' about horses rather than just the technology? So you might spend a lot and get no further or you might not go to the vet and then regret it.
My new vet (old one retired - I didn't kill him off - promise!) is, I think, through example of old girl and Grace et al maybe getting the idea. Maybe.
Certainly when he proposed various 'things' (for old girl) and I said, 'will that change the treatment' and he said 'no' he sort of took a step back and realised what he had been about to suggest was an expensive waste of time, money and pain.
I had finally got fed up of paying vets to satisfy their curiousity and experiment on my horse with no obvious benefits.
But Brucea - if you are concerned, you should go to the vet if you think that will help. I've only posted this because it took me over 10 years to realise my old vet was very nice, but bar giving jabs and the odd stitch, almost useless. My new vet, will maybe with a bit of training be better
Thanks horsesfirst. Well, I think the diet is as good as I can get it, the environment is less than perfect with having to go out to grass for half the day - but then again this is a horse who has lived out on grass 24x365 from the time I bought him 9 years ago and never had these problems before so I'm comfortable with what I'm doing at the moment.
(yes, I know, no one's horse had problems with grass until they realise they had problems with grass! I've known horses on grass for years and then suddenly one day they crash with laminitis - so I'm not throwing caution to the wind.)
So I'm kind of the opinion now that we will keep an eye on it for the next week - I've upped his linseed, seaweed, brewers yeast and so on for a few weeks to give additional support - if there are any signs of discomfort in the next week or so then we will go ahead and do the tests - if something obvious comes up then it is a bonus and we'll know something we didn't know before. If nothing comes up then I will know that there are still things I have to with diet and environment. I think it is the only way that I will be able to determine if it's something physically damaged, or diet/environment.
He's landing heel first and isn't sparing that hoof. It's just subtle and intermittent. In any case it will be interesting to see if there are changes in the x-rays over the last 8 months.
Radar is now so rock crunching that he has convinced two grooms at Somerford to de-shoe their horses. They are just gobsmacked at his ability to walk across the carpark
He drag hunted another four hours today up some of the worst tracks we've been on - stones on concrete - and didn't bat an eye. A 16 year old boy asked me why he has no shoes on. I said because I knew how to manage him without and he doesn't need them. And then he asked "But why don't you have him shod?" I was a bit speechless at that, and eventually replied by asking him why on earth I would pay £80 for a set of shoes for a horse who doesn't need them!
Yesterday Jazz did a ride that I did exactly this time last year. It was that ride last year that convinced me that I needed to change something - he was terribly sensitive on the stones. This year - no problem at all with sensitivity and much better concavity to end the summer. The result, I believe, of taking him off grass during the day March to October, plus additional magnesium and YeaSacc (which I have now changed to Brewer's Yeast with even better results, so far).
Button the Shetland has a huge belly but seems solid on his feet. He is only two and still growing, so that may help. _________________ smartiesdiary.blogspot.com
We're not having much success at this end with the rock crunching front. Repsol is still quite far from that and I am looking forward to winter as I have no options on changing his environment. Grass is still a big burden for us, I think that is quite obvious when I look at the rest of his diet and know that it is the best that it could be.
Quote:
yes, I know, no one's horse had problems with grass until they realise they had problems with grass!
Funny this Bruce, its like me with Repsol, I only noticed just how sensitive he was to the grass when I started restricting it ...!
Also, I'm wondering if there's 'something in the grass' this year at our yard. An owner of a normally barefoot (or I should say 'unshod' really) big (fat) cob has had him shod this year as he has raspberry ripple hooves and is very footsore.
Also, another horse who is very lami-prone, is on the same routine as he has been for the past 4 years and a couple of months ago was struck down by a bout of laminitis.
So maybe everything has been against me this year. I have just been booting whenever I ride out further and go on more rocky tracks as he is completely 100% sound on the tarmac and softer routes that we go on regularly.
I had the physio out yesterday and am relieved to know that he is completely fine - no stiffness or soreness whatsoever. I was expecting him to be quite bad as I have been keeping him in more often and he has been very footy on the tracks backwards and forwards from the field on a few occasions but the physio commented on how flexible and soft he was - I must be doing something right!!
What a fab ride the Isle Estate fun ride is. Lovely sunny day to ride along the banks of the Severn and have the option of jumping 100 optional jumps, most of which Fari flew across. Super stuff and a lovely day.
I think it has been an exceptionally difficult year fructose in grass wise. Warm (enough) and in some places quite wet.
'Madam' the little QH has just been placed 3rd in a tiny (in all respects) jumping class. One small step and all that
Bit of a b**ger that no one noticed she was barefoot - although short of time etc etc I did whip the rasp out and have a go at her fronts - while she snoozed with her head on my bum. (did I mention how big it is?)
I only noticed just how sensitive he was to the grass when I started restricting it ...!
My wife said this is how it is with people too - if they are intollerant of grains or dairy produce then when they start on the exclusion diet, any indiscretion produces an over-reaction and folks can be quite surprised. But after a period of time soemtimes the offending food can be reintroduced and tollerated well in small amounts. _________________ http://www.4hooves.co.uk http://4hoovesblog.spaces.live.com/default.aspx
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