August 17, 2015

I HATES It

When I last left Gem she was happily and safely tucked into her small pony paddock with my portable electric fencing. According to barn staff she didn't stay happy for long and soon began cantering circles, leaping, bucking and rearing for most of every afternoon. In addition, and even worse in my opinion, she learned that the tape was easily knocked down and she was then able to open up the paddock into a more suitable size for Queen Bee. Crap.

Options at the barn are limited, but workable. The best scenario, in my mind, was to let her out with the three crippled geldings in the arena pasture. It is larger than I want, but the next smallest on property at about 10 acres. The geldings are harmless and the fencing is in good repair. She could have room, friends and hopefully no accidents. The BO was happy to do so, but those geldings are on borrowed time and he was really worried that any added stress (such as an unruly Arab mare on medical leave) could tip them over the edge. He was willing to try it if we could be present for an entire afternoon to watch her and pull her if she riled them up.

It was very nice of him to allow this, but in the end I decided against it. I would feel awful if Gem was the reason one of those geldings had to be put down. I couldn't risk it.

That was a week ago and both the last I had seen her and had heard of her shenanigans.

This past Sunday we loaded up and headed out to see what state I would find her in. The barn staff was there and I saw that they had opened up the second half of her pen to make a larger area for her. This basically doubled the size of her paddock. Gem was sedately munching on grass in the new area. The tape was completely torn down with stakes laying in a mess all over the place on the other half. Miss Gemmie had clearly shown her displeasure of the original set up. She was looking shiny, fat as all get out and perfectly pleased with herself. barn staff confirmed that since they opened the other half, she calmed right down.

I grabbed her halter, scolded her for being such a PIA and lead her to the trailer to take a close look at her.

Her right hoof is looking the same: tight, painless, scarred in well. The hoof wall is cracking at the injury point, but nothing alarming and will just have to be monitored as it grows. All swelling has resolved to her other legs as well. As I walked her, I watched for any hints of lameness and saw none.

The palmer hoof itself was a mess though. The bar shoe just plain sucks. I HATES it. it traps everything in it and she has a massive case of thrush now. I scraped and chipped away a lot of it, noted how her heel is already contracting quite a bit and cursed the shoe a ton. The hoof was covered in No Thrush Powder, my favorite thrush remedy, and I moved on to her front left.

It was much better than the right since it only has a regular shoe, but still I could already see the years of being barefoot washed away as the heel is contracting and the frog is getting weak. I HATES it. Have I mentioned that?

Gemmie got walked to the barn and I lamented to Dusty. Couldn't I just pull the shoes? Pretty please? No, I can't. Sigh. She will remain in the bar shoe for 3 more weeks (6 weeks total) then I will switch it to a regular shoe until I can't take it anymore. Probably next late spring.

I trotted her in hand a little ways back out to her paddock and she trotted very sound. A good sign indeed.

2 more weeks until I can ride my fat pony again. 2 more weeks until I can decide if I want her kept where she is or put back in with the other mares. 2 more weeks. Just 2 more weeks.

12 comments:

  1. yeah, 2 weeks! I'm glad she settled into her Queen paddock, and is doing so well! Sorry about the shoes, that is hard. Did the farrier suggest any sort of glue on for support instead? I know my trimmer does a lot of rehab cases, and he has used a few different things, including custom cut-out renegade and easy boot glue ons, easy shoes nailed on, etc for horses that are compromised. But waiting it out will be ok too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've looked into the composite and plastic shoes a lot. They are a great product but they work on the principle of trying to allow the hoof to work more naturally and this lets the heel bulbs have some motion. Unfortunately that's what I have to avoid right now. I'm being a bigger baby than I should be about it all and she is doing great.

      Delete
  2. TWO WEEKS! You got this. Sounds like everything is moving forward well all things considered. Hurrah for soundness.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm just itching to trot her and see how she moves. The hardest part is taking it slow when everything is looking so great.

      Delete
  3. Deep breath . . . this too shall pass. Let the hoof get strong. It will not take much time in the relative order of the universe to get her barefoot again. And No Thrush is the bomb.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No Thrush is great. I get very OCD before an e ride and start treating her with it the week leading up to the ride even when her feet look good.

      Delete
  4. Just think this: after shoes, their hooves can recover in as little as 2-3 months! And if you use glue-ons like Eponas or Easyshoes for a couple of months before taking her fully barefoot, there will be NO transition period. That's how it was for my thin-soled creature. I'm sure it will be even easier for Gem with her great feet. :)

    Two more weeks to ride! YAAAY!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was thinking of seeing if I could use the easy shoes for a cycle or two prior to going straight bare. Mr. farrier came out to do Pete Monday and looked at Gem while he was there. Have a lot to write about that but basically he was shocked at how much hoof she has grown in 3 weeks time. The injured wall is nearly half down already. It won't be long before it is all the way out.

      Delete
  5. Two more weeks seems like it will fly (to those of us in reader land!), but for you, I'm sure they will drag.

    I'm sure hoping she comes up sound as a pound and remains so for you so you two can get back on the trails!! I've missed seeing updates from between the ears!!! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've missed seeing the world between those black tipped ears. I've been throwing ideas around of what to do with her if she isn't endurance capable again. There is always a plan B.

      Delete
  6. How frustrating for both you and her :( I hope she'll continue to behave now that she feels she has some freedom. Counting down the days til she's out of the bar shoe. It hurt my soul to read about her heels contracting already and the thrush forming under, where you can't get to it. Hurry back to barefoot!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm not a barefoot elitist or anything but having had her perform so well and now seeing the changes when in shoes I just can't understand those who are adamant that shoes aren't causing any harm at all. I know plenty compete in all sorts of disciplines in shoes but I have seen the physical changes with shoes and it isn't pretty.

      Delete