Hoof issues: Wet periople/white heel bulbs = scaley hoof regrowth

I called my farrier in a panic following observing the following on Kadey's hoof regrowth:





Can't quite see? Here's a close up of his creepy, scaley growth. Eeew.






It looks about the length that I've had him, which suggests a few things:

1. It's related to the feed I've moved him too from what he was on with the previous owner
2. It's related to the wet weather
3. It's related to the agistment place where he lives now.

The farrier said it was most likely number 2 and went on to describe the frog's relationship with the perioplium/periople. Which reminded me of the following pictures I took during the wet weeks we had when I first got Kadey:

The bulbs and periople were white, soggy and outright WEIRD. I think this is related and will take a print out when the farrier comes this weekend.

Hmm!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Saddle Fit clinic: Best money I've spent on my horse so far

Today I attended a full day saddle fitting clinic with Jane Clothier, a bodywork specialist who started studying saddle fitting after seeing so many horses suffering from ill-fitting gear.

It was a really enjoyable day - partly due to the fact it was 8 horse mad ladies in one space swapping stories and being distracted by commenting on passing equines; but mostly because saddle fitting is so insanely important and I so desperately want to learn as much as I can about everything to ensure Kadey is comfortable and happy.

I knew my saddle, a Bates Precieux, didn't fit him; but I had no idea just how much! It's too narrow at the back, the panels are too thin and it sits down on his shoulder due to muscle atrophy over his back (6 months spell + 7 years racing...). Add to that he's very tight and sore (oh hai again, seven years on the race track...) and needs a lot of work.

Strangely, I'm happy about all of this. I know what's up with my horse and can now work on a list of treatments to resolve the problems.

So, from here:

1. Book a saddle fitting session with Graham Aitken, master saddler. I'll have to buy a new saddle so I'm hoping he does a 'pay as you ride' scheme.

2. Try on the third saddle I have, the A/P that came with Kadey. The dressage that came with him is busted and my Precieux doesn't fit so I'm hoping the A/P fits well enough to use until I get a new saddle.

3. Book bodywork sessions pronto.

In the meantime, if the A/P saddle doesn't fit I might ride bareback or try to find some other alternative.

The saddle fitter said something interesting today - just because the horse is initially happy (or at least not markedly unhappy) in a new saddle doesn't mean that saddle fits, they may just be relieved that the old saddle is gone. Which is consistent with Kadey - his old saddle meant that he'd rear and grunt as soon as he was led out of the saddle up area and initially my old saddle didn't. But now that he's had a few rides in my old saddle he's less than thrilled about it and is letting me know. So I'm looking forward to getting a new saddle ASAP!

The farrier also visited today - he got me to buy a small hoof knife to take on minor trimming of Kadey's heels. It's a bit nerve wracking as I don't want to hurt Kadey, but at the same time I'm keen to learn more about horse management and to gradually take on tasks like this. Kadey's hooves were really good (unlike the last visit) and fingers crossed he's not too sore tomorrow when I go out to see him.

Kadey is 95% sound!!!

Kadey is 95% sound!!!

I visited him on Saturday morning - he met my boyfriend, they got along well :) - and he seemed a lot less tender when I led him down to the washbay to treat his hooves.

So today (Sunday) I gave him a light lunge to see how he went. He limped a teeny bit at the start of his trot work but was SO MUCH better! Last week he was visibly limping at the walk and clearly uncomfortable; this time he was fine and just limped a touch initially which disappeared after a minute or two. I even asked him for a canter in both directions and he had enough in him to do his usual 'lunge canter = bucking spree' moves.

I concentrated on a lot of transitions - walk/halt; walk/trot and just one trot/canter in either direction - to both give him some light work but also to get him used to listening to me and obeying commands. The 'stop' command is great now and we also seem to be speaking the same language now when it comes to the lunge aids for transitions.

Yay!

Going to spend much of this week lunging him and will try to book an evening or weekend session with my trainer for later this week as I think he's going to be a bit of a rocket under saddle! So much time off and full feed but no work = excitable horse!

But yay! I'm almost a bit shocked and scared - I've gotten used to just lunging and handling him; actually riding him, particularly given how silly he was last time, is a bit scary but I'm working on my mindset to change that. I'll blog later about a great motivational book I'm reading that has an interesting perspective on managing your fears and getting a better outcome and relationship with your horse when riding :)

Kadey was also really affectionate tonight. When I saw him on Saturday I hadn't seen him for two days and he was a bit standoffish. But tonight he was lovely, very affectionate and playful :D

Bit behind, will post pics of 'interesting' soggy white heels I took on Friday morning tomorrow.

Just wanted to post that yay, today Kadey got to try out his new winter turnout night rug. It's a Weatherbeata Orican Freestyle in medium weight - after breaking his Axiom rug after one wear I was looking for durability!

I don't have any photos as I didn't take my camera and it was pitch black, aside from the lights off the tackroom/office. I know when I see him tomorrow it'll be dirty and muddy as he'll invariably roll in it, but I'll take a pic anyway for posterity.

Another agistee suggested copper deficiency for his hoof and windsucking issues, so I'm going to look into it. I also need to return the call of the lady from County Herbs, so hopefully she can give me some pointers.

The agistment owner said the farrier took too much off the hoof and also made it so he's walking on his sole, which isn't cool. So I'm going to get another farrier out for a second opinion. I don't want to get into the second guessing game - as they say, opinions are like..... and everyone has one; but in this instance I've only had info from one person (my trainer goes to that farrier so she was just saying what he said) and Kadey is STILL lame and the agistment owner said it doesn't look like seedy toe. Argh, I just want a sound horse.

At the same time I'm trying not to focus on competing as I'll go insane; so instead I'm thinking about enjoying building a relationship with Kadey and having fun with him :)

Farrier update: Wait it out, sunshine

The long awaited farrier visit happened yesterday morning. His message was essentially - it's normal for this region and weather, suck it up and realise you're not going to get to ride a lot until it dries out'.

He was brilliant, he gave me a great lesson on the anatomy of the hoof and how to treat his issue, which is essentially a fungus problem.

He explained that the fungus existing in Kadey's hoof actually should exist in the hoof, just not where it is which is why he cut it out. He gave me an antimicrobial treatment to put on the affected areas once every 2 days and the rest of the hoof once a month or so for maintenance.

He cut off the broken and chipped parts from Kadey’s hooves and cut out the black areas of fungus, which he called ‘Fungus poo’ (his words, not mine). He said Kadey’s hoof shape was actually pretty good so whoever had been doing them had done a good job. I’ll book him again for 4 weeks time and until then hope for the best.

As per our phone call, he suggested walking/riding on hard and rough surfaces, with loose rocks the best and bitumen the next after that.

So… hopefully Kadey is a bit sound this weekend and I can ride him a little. I’ll take along all three saddles and show my trainer, who I’m hoping can come out at some point, so we can work out which fits him best. Knowing my luck it’ll be the jumping saddle!

It was hilarious all through the farrier’s visit as while he was giving me a very serious lesson in hoof care, Kadey was growing progressively bored and so getting up to mischief, including pulling the guys hat off, nudging his shoulder, picking up the (plastic) hoof stand and throwing it about and when facing into the wash bay, stole a few people’s items (brushes, sponges etc) and throwing them about in addition to pulling on the ceiling mounted washbay hose.

So very cute but SO VERY DISTRACTING!

The farrier also has some interesting rules – he trains in natural horsemanship and so works off body language; during the session Kadey wears a rope halter and is the farrier’s horse; I’m not allowed to interact with him in any way. Instead, my job is to be a post to give the horse a sense of security but still allowing him to feel that he (Kadey) is holding himself rather than being tied up. When moving around the horse I had to keep an open body and to make him step back use hip motions. I might look to do some natural horsemanship with Kadey some time soon as he’s a nice horse and I want to develop a better feel for him and a great relationship and bond  :)

Lame pony is lame :( BUT he likes me!

The good news:

Kadey has calmed down and is turning into a marshmallow - easy to handle and enjoys hiding his head in the crook of my arm. Awwwww!

The bad news:

He's lame. The limping I noticed when I free lunged him this week is because his off side for hoof wall is separating. I had my trainer out there and she had a look and recommended a really knowledgable guy who specialises in barefoot tirmming, who I've booked for Wednesday morning after the Easter holiday. Dammit, was hoping he'd come out while I'm on holiday!! Will have to beg the boss to let me start late that day :(

The guy said the best thing is lots of movement and as he's able to walk freely I'm going to start taking him for trail rides this week just to get some saddle time and to stop both Kadey and I going ca-ray-zee. I'm hoping by trail riding it'll keep us out of the boggy arena and into some hopefully harder ground that'll firm his hoof up.

My trainer advised that the trimmer may make some suggestions that'd be great in an ideal world but in reality would be hard, particularly given how strict my agistment place is. For example putting down rocks so they have something hard to stand on.

Apparently due to all the floods plus the acidic soil in the area where Kadey is agisted has led to a number of horses having fungal issues lately. I just want him to be ok and for this to not turn into a million dollar experience. Eeek!! His comfort and safety comes first, I just need some time to save up so I have a buffer again to cover me for any emergency expenses like this.