Coal Update #2

Day 5 - 10/12/15

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.  

Soaking hooves

Left Front Before Trim

Left Front After Trim

Right Front Before Trim

Right Front After Trim

Left Front Before Trim

Left Front After Trim

Ride Safe All,

~The RoadQueen

Coal Update

Well, Coal has so far survived the first few days of getting him rehabbed with great spirits and a curious attitude.  This little guy is pretty neat.  His nickname might be Mr. Personality.  Always curious, pleasant expression on his face, and so far not spooked by anything, including tarps, plastic bags, and more.

Day 2 - Friday, 10/9/15

Day 2 was really hard for Coal.  His pain level was pretty high.  His stance was constantly rocked back despite the Bute-Less that he gets in his feed 2x's per day.  He was sore enough that even minimal hoof treatments were nearly impossible.   

Obviously in pain, but still a bright and cheery attitude.

Also still has a very good appetite.  He has been munching on his first cutting hay ever since arriving.

Since asking him to stand on 3 legs to allow me to pick up his hooves was out of the question, Mom asked if she could try some red light therapy on him.  He can just stand there to have this done and it doesn't involve him picking up his hooves at all.  I figured, why not, it can't hurt and it just might help.

You can see the red lights glowing from under the pad in this one.

We did his hinds as well.

Red light therapy, hoof soaks and food.  Now this is the life.

Coal was SO good about standing still for the therapy.  It looked like it felt pretty good.  The red light therapy takes about 15 minutes per session, so 30 minutes total to do his front hooves and then his hinds.  His front hooves soaked in the Dreft/Epsom salts mixture while his hind hooves got their therapy time.  He started yawning continuously directly after the red light therapy session.  It seems to be helping him.

Once the hinds were done and his soak was over, it was time to try and get some kind of protective cover on his hooves to keep shavings and debris out of the abscess holes in the bottoms of his hooves.  Because of the amount of pain he was in, re-wrapping with vet wrap and duct tape was completely out of the question.  

Coal came up with a solution for us, he backed himself into the corner of the stall so that he could 'sit' in the corner in order to lift his front hooves for me to get a cover on them.  I ended up using hand towels, I simply picked his hoof up, draped the towel over the sole and let him set it down right away.  Wrapped the towels as well as I could around his pasterns and closed it off with one strip of duct tape around the top.  It worked pretty well, they were still on when I came out in the morning.

Backed himself into a corner for support so that he could cooperate with me, bless his heart.

Half-ass hoof boots.  It kept debris out of them, at least.

Coal continued to yawn for several minutes after the red light therapy was over.

I didn't think to get any video of him attempting to move on Day 2, I was just too heart broken for him and worried about making him more comfortable.  I wish I HAD gotten video now though, because that would have made Day 3 all that much more spectacular.

Day 3 - Saturday, 10/10/15

Coal's hoof boots arrived!!!  

Many thanks to EasyCare, Inc.  After placing my order online Friday morning, I called them to see about getting the boots delivered on Saturday as Coal needed them ASAP.  They were extremely friendly and helpful, and by golly those boots were dropped on my front doorstep by 10 am.  Gotta love it!

So OF COURSE I sprinted out to the barn to put them on Coal and see how he liked them.  The results were miraculous.  

He was slightly more comfortable that morning, just comfortable enough that I could pick up a hoof, stick the boot on and let him set it back down.  He put himself in the corner again for support so that he could lift his hooves for me.

He had been begging to go outside all that morning while I was cleaning his stall, so as soon as I got the boots fastened, I opened his stall door and offered the dry lot attached to the barn to him.  He went outside and enjoyed himself quite thoroughly in the sunshine.

Hey, cool tarp!

ROLL!!!!!

So Coal got to spend several hours out in the sunshine, exploring his little dry lot and visiting with our two other horses over the gate.  Check out these videos.  The first video is from day one, the second is from day 3 with his hoof boots on for the first time.

Day 4 - Sunday, 10/11/15

Day 4 was even more of an improvement.   I didn't take any still pictures on Day 4, but I did take video of him moving around his stall without boots, and outside again with the boots.  The improvement on how he moves even without the boots compared to the day before is amazing.  Still a bit gimpy, but nothing like before. He is walking pretty much completely normal with the boots on.  

On Day 4, he also blew a new abscess in each front hoof.  I believe that being active and the stimulation provided by walking normally is increasing the blood flow into his hooves, improving circulation, and enabling his body to fight off the infection in his hooves by expelling it via abscesses opening up.  I was going to try to get his soles to harden up some so that he could start going about without the boots in the stall, but I've decided to leave the boots on 24/7 except for his evening hoof soaks and treatments.  I'm going to try to keep his soles on the softer side to allow the abscesses to open up and drain.  Continued use of the boots will continue to encourage movement, and thus keep working those nasty things out.  

Once he is not having new abscesses pop up and all existing ones are healed shut, then he will start being bootless in his stall overnight, booted for turnout during the day.  

His hooves are already going through some changes, so I will be giving him another trim, probably tomorrow on Day 6.  Now that he has boots to keep him supported, protected and comfortable, I will be able to trim off more of the excess hoof wall that is causing so much leverage and pressure on the internal structures without the fear of making him more uncomfortable.  

Ride safe all,

~The RoadQueen

Riding on the Coal Train

Today, October 8, 2015, a new horse arrived here at the farm.  His name is Coal.  

 

At the vet

Coal is a grey gelding, right around 14 hands high.  He might be a stock horse breed (Quarter Horse?) but there's no way to tell for sure.  I have not much to go on as far as his history.  My vet guesses him at around 10 years old.  Coal is badly foundered.

Fronts

Hinds

My vet gives Coal between 5%-10% chance of a full recovery.  His Body Condition Score is 3.  He has a 25 degree rotation of the coffin bone on his left front, and a 32 degree rotation on his right front.  We didn't get X-rays of his hinds as we didn't think we could hold him up to do so, he is foundered in the hinds as well but they are not as bad as his fronts.  My vet recommended that he be put down, but if we insisted on trying to rehabilitate him, he would need metal eggbar shoes and pads.

I'm going to take him in a different direction, and I'm confident that he will do well with the Barefoot method that I have learned and been providing, not only for my own horses, but those of several clients as well.  This will be my first rehabilitation case study since becoming a hoof trimmer.  I have been avidly studying Pete Ramey's methods and the functional information that he has revealed with the help of a team of veterinarians for a couple of years now, as well as apprenticed with a wonderful barefoot trimmer with Pete Ramey and Jamie Jackson training and apprenticeship under her belt.  I've spoken to my mentor about Coal, and she told me, "You got this."  Indeed.

Right Front - 32 Degrees Rotation of the Coffin Bone

Left Front - 25 Degrees Rotation of the Coffin Bone

All four hoof soles are abscessed and rotten.  If you press with the hoof pick, the hoof pick penetrates his sole.  He is a sinker, both P3 is showing through the sole of both of his front hooves.  There is no bone loss, so that is a very good thing.

The vet, checking out the extent of the damage

The odd fact that his BCS is only a 3 is working to his advantage, as if he had more weight it would make his recovery that much more difficult.  Usually, foundered horses are extremely overweight.  After picking him up today, he went straight to the vet to get checked out and X-rays.  He came to the farm with a very bleak prognosis, but try I shall.  My mom has been assisting in his care.  We had a clean stall waiting for him when we arrived.  Fresh hay in a slow feed hay net (which he will have access to 24/7) and a bucket full of cool, fresh water.  

Coal is covered in cow feces, and his hooves were packed and rotten with it as well.  He needs a bath something terrible, but the weather won't be warm enough to give him one until Sunday.  So far, he has the most perky, interested and bright demeanor I could have ever imagined for a horse in his condition.  His eyes are bright, ears always perked and curious about what you're doing, what you have, etc.  

Once he settled into  his new clean home, I set about to give his hooves the trim that they so desperately needed.  It's very painful for him to stand on all fours, much less on 3 legs while I trim on one of his hooves.  But, he was a real trooper and was completely willing to cooperate with having it done.  I gave him lots of breaks to rest (about every 30 seconds).  I was able to remove quite a bit of toe length, but was not able to remove as much as I felt was needed.  I took them back as far as I could without cutting into the spongy sole material.  I decided that it would be better for right now to leave that bit of solid hoof material there rather than completely take away the tiny bit of hoof that was supporting him.  Lord knows his soles aren't.  His frogs are also very rotted and full of thrush.

Front Right -Before Trim

Right Front - After Trim

Left Front - Before Trim

Left Front - After Trim

Right Front - After Trim

Left Front - After Trim

I really wanted to take his toes back farther on this first trim, even though he did seem much more comfortable with what I did do.  I couldn't take his toes any farther back without getting into his very soft soles, and I didn't want to go there just yet.  He will be on a weekly trimming regimen for a long while until his hooves are going in a better direction.  His new Easyboot Cloud Boots will be in on 10/10/15, and he will use them instead of his duct tape booties.  He will stay in those with daily care until he is comfortable without them. 

After his trim, he got to rest for a while in the deep shavings in his stall and we prepared a couple of tubs to give his hooves a soak.  Upon my vet's recommendation, we used a mixture of Dreft detergent and Epsom Salts mixed into warm water.  He stood with both front hooves soaking for at least a 1/2 hour.  I think it felt pretty good.  Once he stepped out of the tubs with his front hooves, we put his hinds in to soak.  Once again, he stood there with his hinds soaking for about a 1/2 hour before he decided to step out of the tubs. 

Front hooves soaking

Back hooves soaking

We fed him his dinner, which consisted of 1 cup of Empower Boost, 1 cup of Empower Balance, and one cup of black oil sunflower seeds.  He also got some hoof supplement and an ulcer treatment in his dinner.  He wolfed it down.  This boy LOVES food!  He has also been thoroughly enjoying his salt block and the loose minerals that we offered him. 

After letting his hooves dry some, we packed the abscess holes in the bottoms of his front hooves with wrung out cotton balls that were soaked in vinegar, covered them with paper towels, wrapped him in vet wrap, added a thin plastic cover to the bottom of his hooves, then more vet wrap, then made boots out of duct tape.  This method is what we will use to keep his hooves protected until his Easyboot Clouds come in.  I decided to get him these special boots with super soft cushion inserts that are made to provide relief and support to foundered horses.

His teeth are a mess.  They are so sharp, you can feel the edges through his cheeks on the outside of his face.  The dentist has been called and he will be out to take care of Coal's teeth either Sunday or Monday.  Also had the vet send a fecal sample in for Coal to see what his parasite load is.  

Before heading into the house finally at 10 pm, we added another bale of bedding to make sure his bed was extra soft and comfy for him to stand and lay on.  He is currently all tucked in, nibbling his hay and sipping his clean water.  Tomorrow morning when I go out to do chores, hopefully I'm greeted with a nicker like he did earlier today.

Ride safe all,

~The RoadQueen