A week ago today (July 14th) Jay went to the farriers meeting at my vet clinic. Unfortunately for us, they had FOUR cases that night (they usually only have three), and for whatever reason Jay was put last. So by the time Jay's turn came, another horse was still being worked on, people were more scattered, it was getting late, etc., and Jay didn't quite get the level of attention that I had hoped for, and that he would have gotten earlier in the meeting.
Jay was definitely more sound than he was when he went to the vet June 22nd, but was still a consistent 2 out of 5 lame on the right front, and at times he was definitely 3 out of 5 lame on it. His palmar angle is 0 degrees...flat...where it should be a positive angle of 2 to 5 degrees. His soles are also thin, approximately 8mm where they should be at least 10mm thick to be comfortable.
The farrier who has been helping Jay since June doesn't shoe with traditional shoes (she is an awesome trimmer but only uses Hoof-It composite shoes), so I spoke up early on and let the group know I would need a farrier. A farrier was there that night who just moved to North Carolina from Alberta Canada, so he stepped forward to do Jay.
A few ideas on how to best help Jay were floated about, such as using a natural balance shoe, or the quick "cure" of using wedges and pour in pads. I just want a sound and happy horse! Jay had been sound in regular shoes before this, and I was concerned that putting pads, etc. on him would just give him more to grab and pull off. Jay was trimmed (revealing BAD bruising on the right front...not surprising), and several shoe options (without using wedges and pads) were discussed. Thankfully enough hoof had grown out on that right front that there was something to nail to! Because Jay has thin walls, though, a St. Croix rim shoe was used, so that the nail holes are further to the outside. Jay was trimmed to move his breakover back, and the right front was fitted a little closer in the heel.
Jay left the meeting with two front shoes on! The vet told me not to change anything about his turnout routine for a week, so he was kept on stall rest with limited turnout. Well, on Thursday morning I went out to check Jay and found him with a swollen, hot right front fetlock with a wound on the back inner side, right where it would be most "convenient" to have been hit by the left rear. I was really not happy to find this, even though I realized that Jay could have even done this some other way.
I gave Jay a gram of Bute, and by mid-day the swelling and heat were down. That night Jay was sound and obviously feeling MUCH better than he had in a LONG time. It has been apparent each day since that he is really feeling a lot better and happier. Yesterday I walked the fence line in the pasture with Jay, and turned him out for the afternoon. Today he started on his new turnout schedule!
I hate it that Jay (and I!) had to go through this, but there have already been some very positive things to come from the whole ordeal. Jay is at a much nicer, better barn. Jay, DH, and I are so much happier there! Our new BO was even interested enough to go to the farrier meeting with us! Also, this past Saturday I saw the farrier who did Jay, and got to talk with him some more. So long as Jay does well with his shoeing, I have a new farrier who would have been very hard to find otherwise because he is so new to the area. (In fact HE didn't even know he lived close to where Jay is boarded...his girlfriend who knows the area spoke up that night!) He cold shod Jay, but should it be needed he also does hot shoeing, something that is hard to find in this area.
Later this week I will be able to start thinking about riding Jay. The vet said to not even think about it for 10 to 14 days. ...OK, I admit it, I AM thinking about it, LOL!
BTW, where is everyone? I know that I am guilty of being MIA/AWOL too! It has been a busy time with moving, multiple trips per day to the barn, moving barns, etc....plus I haven't been able to ride to post any updates on that! I hope everyone comes back! :)
8 comments:
Hmmm, I didn't WRITE this all in one huge long paragraph! I will see if I can edit it so it won't be so hard to read! Sorry!
Fixed! :)
I saw that you had 2 comments and was like - what? My post was up there for over a week and I only had 1!!!
Seriously - is this going to be us just posting back and forth? Ha...I'll just give you a call and we can save ourselves from all this typing.
I thought that was a way to get more comments on my post! :P
Thanks for coming and being part of our support team! :)
well, Im still not riding, but I am reading, sorry for the lack of comments.
Im glad Jay likes his new barn. Hopefully you will be able to ride him soon. 10-14 days isnt too long.
I, too, am now horseless as Kate's moving Pro at the end of the month to a new barn and I really need to be concentrating on graduating, so it seemed like the right time for me to take a break from riding. Maybe he'll be close to Dare now so she can ride him! If I can graduate in Dec and get a "real" job (or at least a real salary!) I may be able to afford a horse of my own without my DH looking TOO panicked ;).
Until then I'll keep checking on your guys and leaving comments!
I'm glad Jay is doing much better now, I was hoping you'd had some luck with him. I'm sure waiting 2 weeks is going to be tough, but just tell yourself that waiting 2 more weeks now is much better than waiting another 2 months for him to grow enough hoof to put a shoe on it!
Wow, lots of changes going on! Andrea, I guess this was somewhat unexpected since you were looking for a saddle, huh?
Well, it definitely made me happy that I hadn't found a saddle that worked for him yet!
I think Kate had a lesson last week and should've had another this week, so I'm hoping she gets time to get an update posted so I can hear how he's doing.
Perhaps she's busy with non-horsey things right now though ;).
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