Just an average gal trying to find my path on the road to health, happiness, peace and contentment. Oh...and having some epic (or at least entertaining) adventures (to me) along the way.
11/7/15 - Day 48 After discussing Coal's progress thus far with my mentor, I was advised to take off more toe and to start letting him go without boots so that his hooves will be stimulated more than they can be with the boots on. The day after this advice was given, I trimmed Coal again to aim for the better breakover that my Sensei suggested.
Left Front - Before/After
Left Rear - Before/After
Right Front - Before/After
Right Rear - Before/After
Still not there, but getting closer. Getting rid of more of the excess toe worked, as he was more comfortable after this trim. He is still slightly off on level ground, more pronounced heading downhill but improvement, nonetheless.
He is already due for another trim (1 week later) so that post will be forthcoming. Also, I picked up a tube of Super Fast by Vettec to fill/cover the gaping holes that lead up into his stretched laminae to prevent infection setting in from being exposed to the elements (mud manure, urine). Especially now, as it has been raining and cloudy for a week or so and the ground is very soft and muddy in the paddock. Which is also good for Coal to start going bare on instead of the hard packed ground that it normally is. Ride Safe All, ~The RoadQueen
Day 47 - 11/24/15 Some observations. No big changes have happened since the last trim, but I wanted to put down some thoughts. The founder rehabilitation case studies that I've been able to find don't seem to have a whole lot of detail. So these details popped out to me as not having heard them before. Going to put them out there in case someone in the future trips over my blog looking for information on founder rehab.
The weather has turned cold, and temperature seems to affect Coal's comfort a lot. He has started toe walking over the past couple of days, the temps have been in the mid 20's - high 30's range (F). Historically, his Right Front hoof is generally the one he favors the most. I had assumed that was because it was the one with the most rotation. With this new toe walking, he is favoring his Front Left instead.
The consistency of Coal's soles are really, really weird. Like a cross between hard plastic and petrified tree sap. Slightly translucent, very hard, very.....weird. When we started out, Coal's soles were nothing but mush. Think fried corn mash that didn't spend enough time in the frying pan. That's what they felt like. They were full of infection, rot and disease. Necrotic tissue abounded. I had to wear only certain clothing to treat him each day because the stench was so bad, it permeated everything I wore when I had contact with him.
Now, fast forward 47 days: The door has swung in the complete opposite direction. The soles are plastic hard, almost impossible to cut with sharpened knives, freshly rebuilt nippers, or even a brand new rasp. The frogs are equally as hard. To get to this point, I spent the first 2 weeks soaking his hooves almost every day in Epsom salt/Dreft water. Twice daily I either sprayed Vetricyn on his soles and in his infections, or used Pete's Goo (50/50 triple antibiotic-athlete's foot cream). Since day 3 he has worn his padded hoof boots. I wrap his hooves in diapers before putting them in his boots to draw moisture, pus, etc. away from his hooves.
Apparently, it worked. Maybe too well. Perhaps the dryness, while clearing up any and all disease, has also created super dry and hardened hoof undersides and that makes them painful to walk on. Today, after applying infrared light therapy to Coal's feet, I brushed melted coconut oil onto the soles of his hooves before applying the diapers and booting him. Coconut oil is known to be a terrific softener as well as having antibacterial/fungal properties. Plus it'll make his hooves smell nice. Can't hurt to try, right?
Two steps forward, one step back. One day he's kicking Guinness' ass for trying to get his hay, the next he is practically crippled. Then he's trotting around and playing. Then he's stumbling up to his stall for supper. This ordeal is such an emotional roller coaster.
In spite of the setbacks, we've come a long way, baby.
We'll see how the coconut oil treats him. I've contacted my hoof Sensei to get her perspective and opinion. See if she has any additional knowledge to impart from her mounds of wisdom.
Well, now here we be in the land of daylight savings time - aka - no daylight after work hours to take pictures or video of anything. Coal is still progressing on the two steps forward, one step back schedule. He is on 24/7 turnout with the other two horses and his progress has steadied quite a bit. Much less backsliding, more steady marching onward. He still wears his padded hoof boots 24/7 as he is extremely uncomfortable without them. Plus, it keeps nasty manure and dirt out of the spots where his white line is completely separated and hollow way up into the hoof capsule. Even if he becomes comfortable without them, he will continue to wear them until the holes have grown out so that they won't pack with foreign matter and become infected again. He wears baby diapers inside the boots, and they are changed out at least every couple of days, if not daily, and soles sprayed with Vetricyn to prevent any fungus or bacteria from causing any issues. This past weekend, I was finally able to get Coal trimmed with pictures of said trim. I took off a lot more excess hoof capsule, and did a lot more balancing where there were major imbalances. Day 39:
Before trim without his boots on - he's uncomfortable even on the rubber mat.
Left Rear:
Before
After
Left Front:
Before
After
Right Front:
Before
After
Right Rear:
Before
After
A good and bad thing is that Coal's soles, frogs and wall have hardened. A LOT. As in, I can barely get my knife, nippers or rasp to cut them, they're so hard. I would like to start hand-walking him in the soft grass barefoot a short stretch each day to help him use his hooves better. The padded boots are a real godsend for him, but I'd love if he could start using his hooves as they were meant to a little bit. I have to wonder if it will aid in his healing and progress. I figure that I don't have much time before the ground becomes frozen, so we will be going on walks in the dark in the evenings. I'll try it for a week or so and see how things are. So, things have been quite busy here in RoadQueenland, with the regular job, trimming job, winter preparations on the farm and attempting to have some time for myself here and there. Will try and get video the next time I see Coal in the daylight of how he is moving at this juncture. Ride Safe All, ~The RoadQueen
So Coal. He's doing really well! On Day 20 he got his front hooves trimmed again. The results were AMAZING. He was CANTERING around the paddock!!!!!!!
I SO WISH I had gotten video of him running and playing with the other two horses. When I saw all three take off together, I was barely able to pick my jaw up and dust it off. When I finally came to my wits and pulled my camera out, Coal was once again more interested in hay than anything else. I shooed him a little and he showed me this CUTE little trot. IS HE FREAKING CUTE OR WHAT?!
Ahem. Sorry about that - back to business. Here are some before/after results from his trim: Coal Day 20 - 10/27/15 Front Right (worst foot):
Before Trim
After Trim
Before Trim
After Trim
Front Left:
Before Trim
After Trim
The same day, the Dentist came out to visit Coal. Unfortunately, the dental visit didn't go as well as we'd hoped. The Dentist aged Coal at exactly 10 years old. He said that most of his teeth, while very sharp from "his last float being never" (his words) they were in relatively good shape. Except - for one. One of his molars was broken, splintered and infected. Horribly, smelly, rotten infected. Because of where in the mouth the tooth is located (near the back) and because the tooth had broken off somewhat below the gum line, the Dentist couldn't get it, try as he might. He tried to help Coal for a very, very long time, but in the end Coal was just in too much pain and the dental tools were not getting the job done. We decided that it would be better for Coal if we quit where we were, waited a couple of days, then try again with a vet and better pain management drugs. So, that's what we did. Thursday, Day 22 - The dentist came back out with some different tools and got the rest of that horrible tooth out without much fuss. Thank God. Poor little horse deserves a break. So now his teeth are good to go. The dentist will be back out in one month to make sure that everything had healed properly and that there are no further issues. Now all that's left is to grow some healthy hooves. Ride Safe All ~The RoadQueen
Day 14 - 10/20/15 Coal's front left hoof is much more comfortable than his front right. He is further rotated in the right hoof and has bigger abscess holes. Finally got to put the lights on the bottoms of both front hooves as well as around his pasterns. He reeeeeeally likes these light treatments. They seem to go a long way towards making him more comfortable. He yawns and licks and chews and dozes.
The blue vet wrap was just a measure we took to try to keep all the wires corralled so that he wouldn't step on them. These lights are pretty dang expensive. Also, check out his body condition! His ribs are a little more covered up compared to Day 1. :)
So his hinds had only been trimmed one time up to this point, and that was the day he came here. So, I went ahead and gave them their second trim. The hinds are looking way better. Left Rear:
Before
After
Before
After
Right Rear:
Before
After
Before
After
As you can see in the photos, the hoof wall separation in the Right Rear is the most extreme, while the covered up rot in the sole (that I've now uncovered) is worse in the Left Rear. *sigh* This little squirt has so many problems. Will continue treating and soaking etc until all the yuck is gone and new, healthy hoof is all that remains.
Treating Coal takes me about 30-45 minutes each morning starting at 5:30, and hours in the evenings. I'm usually out in the barn until 9-10 pm after getting home from my full time day job around 5:30 pm. This is some seriously exhausting stuff.....just in case anyone else is out there wanting to "try this at home". Be warned, it's not all pony kisses and daisy chains. Just sayin'.
I have to say though - this is all going to be worth it in the end.
Coal's overall demeanor and attitude continue to be pleasant. His body condition is still obvious, but his appetite remains voracious. He was wormed with a 1/2 tube of Safeguard on Saturday, and will get a full dose later this week. He is still loving his boots, although he is not as comfortable as he was on days 3 and 4.
Day 6 - 10/13/15
Coal has gotten a little less comfortable today still, even with his boots on. I gave him a little bit of a trim (what I was able to accomplish, he wasn't able to stand with 1 foot in the air for more than a few seconds at a time). Since Day 3, he has been spending all day every day on turnout in one of the sacrifice paddocks so that he can move around.
