Man training

I wanted to post these in the order they were taken. Grace used to have an issue with two people working in close proximity round her and she was not terribly thrilled about having her ears touched.

Well our girlie is getting brave! (And a bit fat I know, I know, but one thing at a time.) Here she is making up to my fantastic OH. He is quite tall, so he makes Gracie look tiny.

And having had a good smooching session they finished it off with breakfast. Gracie looks very content to me. And who wouldn't be with scratches and food being served up by your own personal man servant?

You get what you reward

Grace is out overnight and in during the day. I have found over the last few days that Grace's walk from the field to the stable has got so fast I could barely keep up. It took a while for the penny to drop.

I was rewarding her for reaching specific targets; so anxious for the 'prize' she naturally got faster and faster.

So now I am rewarding her for 'walking to heel', she is so smart she got the hang of it straight away.

We also started work on 'move over'. This really worried her at first, but within in a few minutes she realised it was just another way of getting rewards and then she settled down and started to really enjoy herself.

'Dancing' with Grace

Very important to encourage the back of Gracies feet to develop - at the moment they are still the immature feet of a baby. This will likely be due to inappropriate management when she was growing - which is probably true of the majority of horses in the UK and is an important but usually unrecognised element of much lameness and back soreness.

Lack of oomph in the back of the foot, plus less than ideal diet, exercise etc will encourage toe first landing and this is often a precursor to the development of navicular syndrome.

Gracie is 9 and low mileage. Not necessarily a good thing. Horses have evolved with the need to move a lot. The need is more than just physiological, its psychological too.

But of course while her feet are a work in progress we have to be especially considerate of how and what we do with her.

Where Gracie lives is a little low on facilities and we are not yet ready on any terms to hike up and down the road. So we are learning to 'dance'.

Just to encourage gentle and wide ranging movement. The alternative is to just lead her round in endless circles as the YO doesn't allow lunging or loose schooling in the sand arena.

It was kind of Gracie's idea. Having caught onto the whole 'targetting' thing with the clicker training she decided that she could target my right hand. So if I push my hand to her she steps back, if I put my hand on my thigh she steps towards me - if I wave it to the right she goes to her left, and if I wave it to my left she goes to her right.

I know nothing about dance, but if I can figure out how to put in a twirl or two I reckon we might manage a waltz :-)

But you will have to just imagine it because there is no way I am going to let anyone take any photos!

HYPP

A horrible inherited disease. There is a reliable test for the HYPP gene so it could be erradicated in a generation. For more information about this condition go to: www.bringinglighttohypp.org/
Particularly read the experiences sections.

But can you believe the number of horses which are HH has doubled?

As the gene is dominant even an N/H horse will have the condition. It is painful, frequently fatal and can strike at any age. A few horses with it will have relatively ok lives but most will not. And not just horses but people get hurt too. You'd think the people that care more about money than livestock might worry about that, but apparently not.

The whole thing stems from one Quarter Horse stallion called Impressive. He bred 2,500 odd foals. The condition has now leaked out into other breeds too because people have a habit of mixing and matching somewhat carelessly.

Grace is an example. Why would anyone breed a QH/Arab to a warmblood? Forget the fancy handles, she is a mongrel. A rather beautiful mongrel, but one that ended up on the meat waggon. And let's face it, the more crossed out a horse is the more likely that will be. Unless it is well trained and performing. And Grace is neither (yet).

And the connection between HYPP and Grace? Well I researched the QH element of her bloodline. I can't find any direct link to Impressive, but there are a number of unnamed horses in her pedigree so who knows? Anyhow I have lined my vet up to get her tested. I have no intention of breeding from her but I want to know her HYPP status for her sake and mine.

What I have discovered during my research is the sheer ignorance that exists among QH owners and breeders about HYPP. And the fact is that some people will do anything for money regardless of the pain that might cause.

Solid Foundations

Got a good reminder of the importance of solid foundations today. As usual it was my exceptional klutziness that lead to the situation.

So two days in a row I make a hash of dressing a foot. Yesterday it was the off fore, today it was the near hind. Today there is so much duck tape that removing the dressing was somewhat sticky :-)

Unfortunately I forgot myself and started tugging away somewhat impolitely (never a good idea to do these things in a rush). This reminds Grace that people have a nasty habit of tying ropes to her feet. So she very firmly takes her foot away and makes it quite clear I better learn some manners before I can have her foot back.

So we go back to basics, back to a place where hopefully she will feel safe (and I feel humbled). I get the fat end of the lunge whip and gently touch it to her leg, ask for 'foot' and away we go, no problem, no stress. Rinse and repeat three times with appropriate clicking and treating.

Then having 'apologised' and reassured Grace that actually I can do it nicely, Grace lets me remove the dressing from her foot. No stress, no hassle, easy as pie. Now why didn't I do it properly in the first place? Because I am a dumb human and I am lucky to have Grace remind me quite gently that I need to pull my socks up and not be so slack about things. She would have been within her rights to get a strop on and not talk to me for ages, but she isn't like that, she is actually quite forgiving.

Having got that episode over with we spent five minutes doing a little loose schooling. Time to get her exercising again, to develop her feet and to put brakes on the weight gain. I hate to admit it but the girl is getting a bit fat.

I also started to introduce her new diet. I'll post the ingredients separately.

Changes can happen in just 6 days

Grace's near fore, six days ago (the day after we pulled the shoe) and yesterday. Criticise the trim all you want, I know its not perfect. But just look at the frog development - way to go!

If it wasn't for the squiffy lump on the apex of the frog I'd struggle to recognise it as the same foot. It doesn't even look the same shape. But another 'tell' is the notch between the sole and wall at the tip of the toe.

The foot hasn't really changed structurally that much, but trimming away the flare and bringing the heels back makes such a difference. I am most pleased about the way that the back of the foot is opening up. I never expected it to happen so fast, especially as the environment, exercise and diet are a long way from ideal. (We are working on it).

Pavlov's Ponies

Gracie gets more expressive every day. She is now taking after Madam and likes to give her tongue an airing when food is on its way.

Previously rejected herbs are now considered delicious and we have managed to exclude all sugary supplements/treats and she is eating her dinner with relish.

Today she had a good go at completely polishing her feed bowl. I still have to hold it though. We are working towards it being on the ground, but its not been a priority.

Gracie can also now eat her hay from the front of the stable rather than having to hide at the back. And as usual spending time in her company left me totally blissed out.

I came home buzzing

Grace can do that for you. Simple things mean so much. I was being a total klutz this morning. Trying to gel her off fore and just messing up every step.

After much faffing I had got to the point of using the duck tape to hold the padding in place. Laurel and Hardy had nothing on me. So Grace, bless her, helped me out.

Every time I had managed to get a piece of tape ready she picked her foot up so I could put it on. She did this about a dozen times. How smart is that? And no wriggling or shifting before the padding was properly secure.

It is said it requires a lot of patience to rehab a horse. Well Grace has plenty!

This is the solar view of Grace's near hind. It's a bit of curate's egg. The frog is ok, but you can see the forward flare and laid over bars. The flare was worse, but before I took this picture I had already taken it back a bit. I trimmed it a bit more today and will post a photo of the completed trim when its done.

I used White Lightning Gel on the near fore today. I was going to do all four, but I acquired an audience and I didn't think it fair on Grace or me to have to perform without practicing first.

That said she didn't mind the gelling/padding and taping at all. I will get to the other feet as soon as I can.

I did do a bit of trimming with people floating about though. Grace is very settled and doesn't mind being trimmed at all.

Ouch!

In this picture you can see just how under developed the back of Grace's foot is. No digital cushion or lateral cartilages to speak of. Despite being bare for much of her life. This goes to show how important the correct environment is - without the stimulation of a variety of terrain and lots of movement their feet just don't develop.

Even so Grace's feet are adapting to her new barefoot life already. Her heels have widened by a couple of millimetres in front. The infection and corns are drying up and she is trying out her heel first landing.

Unsurprisingly, because the back of her foot is so weak, all this is a bit painful, not on soft surfaces, but the 100 yards from her box to the field is concrete and she has a shorter stride, with a lower head carriage for that.

Tomorrow, if all goes well I will put white lightning gel on her feet. The question mark is over whether I will be able to tape her feet up.

Oh and my hoof stand has finally arrived so I won't have to balance feet on my knees any more. I will start training Grace to use it tomorrow, unless it gets in the way of gelling her feet.

Invisibility Cloak

Horse shoes are like Harry Potter's invisibility cloak, only not so useful and much more unhealthy. Horse shoes cover things up, but it doesn't mean they aren't there.

So Grace had her shoes removed last Thursday and each day as I pick my way through the rotten, stinking material that was formerly hoof I find more horrors.

Each foot has its own receipe of rot. The near fore, underneath a half cm of thick black goo, was sheltering a suppurating corn which has started to bleed. This explains why it is hard for her to hold up her other fore leg for very long. It is just too painful for her near fore to take her weight for very long. I have cleaned away the goo, left more heel than I would normally to keep the weight off the corn and dressed the bleed with some broad spectrum antibiotic. I will continue to clean and treat twice daily until it has healed.

Her off fore also has corns, but they are not yet bleeding. The amount of infection in both fronts, all previously under the shoes, is huge, but not as bad as the hinds. On both front I have rolled the feet where possible, to relieve the flares and start to bring the feet into balance. I am going to do this slowly as the poor girl is stuck between a rock and a hard place. The fronts of her feet are sore because of the flare and thin sole, the back of her feet are sore from the infections and corns. While it is horrible now, it will resolve. The faster I can clear the infection the sooner she will feel better.

The hinds are the same but much much worse. But although I know its bad, part of me feels it can't be as bad as it was because at least now she has stopped 'backing up' her bed and standing in her droppings. - Horses with foot/limb/back pain will sometimes stand with their hind limbs jacked up on a ridge of bedding to relieve the pain - and if they have an infection in their feet they will stand in urine or droppings because although long term this contributes to the problem, in the short term it provides a measure of relief.

Grace was incredibly sweet today. I took a punt and left her untied while I cleaned, disinfected and did a bit of trimming of her hooves. She made no attempt to wander off or resist at all. And this is the horse that was supposed to be a nightmare to handle?

I am working on her addiction to sugary things - so not all her food got eaten today because I halved the sugar content, but she did eat most of it. Normally any horse I managed would get no sugar at all. But such was Grace's condition that getting her to eat was the priority. Now she is a good weight, her teeth are done and she is settled, we can dejunk her diet.

All blissed out

Not even 48 hours and Grace is already feeling the benefits. She was totally blissed out this morning. On the food front, she is more content when she is eating, she seems to be drinking less and her droppings have gone from cow splat squidgy to something approaching normal.

Foot wise, her front knee which was starting to knuckle over is now straightening up and she is trying for a heel first landing. Even though she has been in for 24 hours (for worming) she is still very 'chilled out'.

I have started soaking the bulk of her hay. When she first arrived she turned her nose up at it, but she is getting more willing to try new things and now soaked hay is very welcome.

Just deshod pictures

Overall the feet are flared, too long and showing signs of LGL. The foot with the big hole (off hind) is badly underrun. Three nails got left behind, two of which I got out today, but the third one is really stuck.

Grace has been patient throughout, but I am not going to push my luck. We have time to work on these feet at our own pace. I rasped each of them a little today, just to see how she would react really. Grace seemed totally unfazed.

For foot rasping I have replaced the clicker sound with the sound of the rasp being put on the floor. Of course the flaw is when I drop it, but rule 2 is I put the foot down, Grace doesn't snatch it away. So far so good. We are getting through treats fairly quickly.

I am pleased with how Grace has reacted so far, even for a regular horse her behaviour has been good, for a horse with her history, well, if you didn't know you'd never guess.

As a final note - not only was I messing with her feet but we had high winds, then sun and flies, and then deer scooting about and still she stood for me.

She is so different to the horse her breeder described. Maybe she is a ringer!

We did it!

Shoes off, teeth done!

At last in a couple of days when her mouth has healed Gracie will be able to eat in comfort.

And we can start work on enabling her to heal her feet.

Vet after initially being sceptical and a bit negative, admitted he was wrong and complimented Gracie on her behaviour, her progress and her general training. (Phew!)

I always knew Gracie was a good girl underneath all the stress, but of course its not an easy sale when your horse is having a fit because they are scared.

Photos:- Gracie under the influence, Gracie showing a nice bit of dribble.... Fore foot - frog good, foot flared, run forward and underrun, but fixable. Hind foot worse than front, very underrun but we will work on it and hope we fix it before it gets worse.

Well its not the banging that is scary

After this morning when Grace showed genuine fear (squitty droppings and box walking) when a farrier started to shoe another horse I got a bit worried. So this lunch time I thought I would test a few things out.

Grace let me pick up and clean her feet as usual. Then I picked up my rasp and started to bang it on the ground. Grace was initially startled but I think it was more surprise about what I was doing than any real worry about the noise. When Grace looked at me dropping the rasp on the floor, I clicked and treated. This got her hooked, so we continued the game, I banged my rasp, she took an interest and got rewarded.

So I then let her touch the rasp (the non sharp bit) with her nose (click and treat) before I started to test her reactions to the rasp tapping on her hooves. She couldn't have been less bothered, her only concern was how many treats she was going to get.

So I can only figure it wasn't the banging noise which set her off this morning, but the whole scenario of farrier and shoeing activity. Either that or she learnt to over come her fear in less than 30 seconds (which I doubt).

Well we are either ready for tomorrow or we are not. It's too late to do any more training now. I did spend 5 minutes on the phone with the vet going over strategy, which is basically I sedate her to the point of non awareness and then he does his stuff. Fingers crossed!

Ever watch House?

It's an award winning TV medical drama loosely based on Sherlock Holmes. One of the main philosophies of the lead character 'House' is that people always lie.

One of my philosophies is that horses don't lie. They may act in ways which as humans we struggle to understand or misinterpret, but on a personal level I have found that their behaviour is a genuine reflection of a) being a horse and b) their life experiences.

This morning a farrier was shoeing another horse, just as I was bringing Grace in. She was practically comatose the whole time until she heard the bang of the farrier's hammer at which point she became really alarmed and she started producing adrenalin fuelled wet droppings. She also started to box walk.

You have to ask yourself why? I have always found her very brave, very trainable. If sufficiently pushed she will take defensive action against a perceived and immediate threat, but you do have to 'push'.

I know the last farrier she met thumped her (and all she did was try to get away from him after that), but this took place before the farrier had started work. So I am speculating that something must have happened with a farrier prior to that, significant enough that she relates the noise of the tools with something scary.

Its a mystery, and also a useful warning. When we deshoe her I will endeavour to ensure that we minimise the tool banging activities. I wish I had thought this through earlier and I might have spent some time banging farrier tools round her. It just never occured to me - she is brave and generally quite scary things are observed, thought about and then, if they don't bite, are ignored. Please insert expletives of your choice at this point!

Honey has lots of uses

We are trying to encourage Grace to accept having honey syringed into her mouth. We need this for Thursday when the vet is coming to do her teeth (and help me get her shoes off).

So far she has learnt to touch the syringe, mouth it and to take the tip between her lips. She has also learnt to like the taste of honey (this was much harder than getting her to accept the syringe). Putting the two together might be asking too much.

So far on the odd occasion when I have managed to squirt a little honey into her mouth its come right back out accompanied by a very pronounced flehmen response.

We are making progress - her aim has improved dramatically and now she can get most of it in my hair with one swift spit...