The farrier came today and trimmed Beau. He did as much as he could without totally laming the horse. The back feet weren't too awful, though with the muscle wasting, Beau was VERY stiff in the hips and though he was very good, it obviously hurt him to have his leg lifted. The farrier did as much as he could on one knee. We did put some coppertox on both back feet, and in the separation of the hoof wall on the front left. Seth (our farrier) said he didn't believe that Beau has been out on irrigated pasture. He said the hooves were very dry and tough...not mushy pasture feet. We'll keep a very close eye on his feet and rasp as needed. Since Beau is so emaciated, most of his new nutrition will go to build weight and not so much nourish the feet. That wil come in time.
Front Right - See the yellowish spot in the center on the bottom? The farrier is afraid this might be the coffin bone. X-rays would confirm whether or not that's the case. Beau is walking soundly on this foot.
Front Left - You can see where the front of the hoof wall is separating from the hoof. The farrier says that to him this indicates that Beau had foundered badly in the past. Hard to imagine him every being fat enough to founder. We'll eventually get X-Rays to verify any rotation. Beau is now gimpy on this foot.
Front Feet Before
Front Feet After
10 comments:
Geeze...I hope photo one isn't showing his coffin bone...that poor old man! Crossed fingers for him...
NIKKI
I hope it isn't his coffin bone either- The feet obviously still need tons of work, but they look so much better! I bet he has even put on weight already! I can't wait to see updated body shots!
Alee - LOL! I was thinking that earlier. I see it in his belly, though. Maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part. I'm getting a feed-through wormer to get him started.
I'll try to get a new body shot, from the same angle, tomorrow.
Oh my god, please let that not be his coffin bone. As a girl who falls in love with an old gelding every week, this absolutely breaks my /heart/ to see this poor old man like this. If I could, I'd have a pasture just full of old pasture ornaments that sat around the pasture and told war stories to each other all day.
That right front hoof sure looks scary... praying it isn't as bad as it looks. Just waiting for the funds I added to my paypal acct to clear, the miniute they do they're yours. Thank you for keeping us so up to date with his progress!
That right front did not look pretty. Hopefully it's not the bone! His feet look a lot better now though.
We've used Black Oil Sunflower seeds on the horses with horses who had nasty splayed feet like Beau's, to help them grow out faster and healthier. They really seemed to work and they are a lot cheaper than special supplements. It's also good for their coat, mane/tail, and in larger amounts for weight gain.
My belief is that founder is not due to "being too fat" but due to diet and lacking in the minerals they need. A healthy horse has healthy hooves. Does that make sense?
I believe they aren't healthy and their hooves show it when they have too much sugar in their diet.. my nails indicate when my diet isn't what it should be, why not the animals too? Oh wait, they do ;)
People put the chemical "coppertox" on the hooves to make them healthy... but I use the mineral copper to heal the hooves and make them healthy. I even soak it on the goats hooves where the wall is splitting/white line disease or when they have hoof rot/foot rot. They should not be rotting in the first place if they aren’t lacking in minerals, so my goats hooves are really nice and healthy.
I recommend Pat Coleby's book, Natural Horse Care. You may learn a lot reading her book. Goats hooves may be a totally different style than horses, and so are definitely trimmed differently... but the hoof problems that they get are exactly a like. Any problem a horse gets with its hooves, a goat can have the same... and I mean any problem! You name it, and I’d confirm it. And I know what you mean by too dry and hard, and having mushy pasture hooves... I can tell without seeing the pasture, what kind of terrain and pasture they have... I can also tell when a goat has been climbing on blackberry vines to reach the tallest and "best" (in their goaty brains) leaves! It shows in their hooves... they'll have broken off stickers in their hooves. I figure I’m super knowledgeable when it comes to goat hooves, but I’ve been learning about their hooves since I was 11. And it amazes me how much goats and horses relate when it comes to diet, health, the minerals they need and the hooves and what you can find out and learn about how the animal is doing, just by simply looking at and studying the animal.
BTW... its nice to see they have been trimmed up as nicely as your farrier could in one trim, but they have a ways to go to be 100% healthy. Good luck and I look forward to watching the progress of this horses rehab. Bless you and your farrier for doing what it takes.. obviously his previous pos owner knew... how could he not? and if he didn't... then either way he should not of had this horse in his possession. And no matter what the excuse, there could of been a solution and this horse didn't have to go through what he has... but what has happened has happened... I'm just glad Beau is in better hands and care now!
If the coffin bone is through the sole, I have a farrier here who has successfully fixed that before.
Those feet sure look better! Poor old man, I bet he made a few fancy steps when they were done!
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