Banner Update

I haven’t updated Banner for awhile, he is a very special case and I’m in constant contact with Michelle and Joe. They are doing the trims themselves and are doing a great job I might add. Banner is a hard case because not only does he have a Navicular diagnoses but he foundered and he sank dramatically in the hoof capsule. This would be a difficult case no mater what the skills of the farrier were, and probably in most cases a horse with this much damage would have been put down to relieve his pain. That being said Banner is not most cases, he has 2 people that love him and believe in their hearts that they can make his life better, and I’m right there with them. We are doing something that most say can’t be done, so with that as our motivation, and the fact that this horse is a fighter, everyday this horse moves forward. Now don’t get the wrong idea, Banner is not sitting around being in pain all day. Michelle rides him several time a week and these rides can be hrs long. He is booted and does very well with very little concern for his feet. For the first few months after I spent the weekend with Banner and did his set up trim, he had a very bad time at night after the boots came off. He wouldn’t move much and seemed to be waiting in the morning for Michelle to come bring him his boots and his relief. Banner is in his EASYCARE RX boots during the day and then BF at night. Michelle has a pair of gloves and now a pair of Transitions that she trail rides Banner in, and again most days he does fine. Banners feet are constantly changing as he grows a new hoof capsule on his front feet. His heels are opening up, his frogs are thickening and growing fatter and healthier. We are about 7 months into the rehab and most of the flares are gone an a lot of the hoof capsule has now reattached. In a few more months we will take a new set of X-rays and see how the coffin bone is looking in the hoof capsule, it will be interesting to see how much sole we have grown and if we have changed the rotation of the coffin bone. So this is Banners right front oh did I mention he also has high low syndrome, and his RF is his clubby side. His heel is coming your can see that the white line is becoming tighter and with less stretching towards the toe. It’s got a ways to go but also remember I’m not trimming Banner Michelle and Joe are, not bad for beginners hu? So this is the LF and the lower of the to legs and heels. The heels and the toes are coming back but this is Banner’s worse foot. Remember how thin the sole was on this horse when we started, I was surprise he could walk BF at all. He has set backs from time to time, and did recently because of the wet weather, but except for the last week or so he has been very good at night out of the boots indicating that we are building sole on these feet are getting better.
I’ve written quit a few Articals on how to rehab these horses and the things that they go threw so you will know what to expect on the journey, but I think the hardest part of these rehabs is what the owners go threw worried about the innocent soul in their care, and worrying about are they doing what’s best for the horse, could they be doing more, should they be doing less, it’s a real roler coaster ride sometimes. I think sometimes the most important part of what I do for my clients is reassuring them that they are on the right trail and helping them see the effects on the feet that their work is having. It’s a process and for most of my clients friends and their horses, it ends well and they have many more years with their horse, but sometimes it’s hard as is everything worth doing.

Giggie Update

It’s been awhile since I updated Giggie, so I thought I would show her progress. Giggies feet were very damaged from the laminitis and her founder, both front feet were rotated 10+ % and she was very lame when we started. I’ll put her pics in a series on this post so you can see them as it happened, but this is a very normal founder rehab, and you just have to stay with it until all the damage has grown out,the angles are correct,the founder flares have been removed and you have a new hoof capsule in the place where the old damaged one used to be. Giggies still has a few months to go for full growth but she is sound and happy and we will re xray her feet shortly. The last four pics were from Thur trim, it’s been raining here in Ca. So the feet are abit wet so you can see the dark wet areas in the quarters that are still a bit strechted but so much of the white line has now been reattached and is strong so like I said we have a little more to go but it is looking very nice.