Off fore progress

Off fore - day after deshod and this morning. Not perfect but getting better all the time.

Truly humbled and a little embarrassed and very Wow!

Okay, so yesterday I mentioned how Grace had adopted the VERY BIG WRITING approach to communication, with me at least. I am rather embarrassed to admit that today she had to take it a step further - think 'holding a child's hand to cross the road'.

I have no excuses, so I'll just get on with the tale of idiot human and mega bright, mega patient horse.

I knew it was high time I took a bit off Grace's feet. I didn't think it would be a huge amount, but bearing in mind I have to take the little and often approach with her feet, I knew we were overdue.

Out of habit I addressed the near fore first. She waved her off hind, then when I persisted she put it down and then let me do the near fore. I asked for the near hind, got the off hind. No joy, so I did the off fore. She waved the off hind, but let me do the off fore. (Getting the picture - well you are brighter than I was at 6am this morning).

So I go for the near hind again. This time she holds her off hind up - higher than usual - and on reflection I can almost hear her saying 'duh don't you get it - this is the one that needs the work!' Can you believe I ignored her again? So very very gently she just nudged me against the wall. Not squashed or threatened, but I didn't have enough room to work. I moved her over, and she moved me back. Rinse and repeat - and all the time she was offering me the off hind (which was on the other side to me - so no threat).

Finally the penny dropped and much to Grace's relief I attended to the off hind. And I am embarrassed again, really really ashamed this time. The bars, which I had been whiffling about for a while had lifted the foot into a little bit of a tilt, so she was leveraging on the slight overgrowth of the toe wall. To be fair, it wasn't huge, but it was enough to tear the laminae at the toe and leave a bit of a blood spot (about 3mm). Poor sod and ignorant me. Well I won't do that again and the next time she offers a foot for me to look at I will take heed and really look properly. And I won't um and ah so much - if the bar seems to need work, I'll try it - in the full knowledge that if I was wrong it will grow back in double quick time.

Remind myself to repeat my mantra daily 'horses don't lie!'

And the 'Wow!'?

Well haven't we come a long way? From a horse that would freak out when her boundaries were crossed to a horse that realises that no harm is intended, her human just needs a bit of gentle guidance. And she is figuring how to do that guidance, while still co-operating as far as she is able - and not scaring the human in the process.

So I am very proud of her, humbled by her wisdom and patience and a bit embarrassed/ashamed for myself.

She has twigged I'm a bit thick.......

Grace is adopting the approach of my old horse 'The Grey'. Realising that I can be a bit dim she is starting to 'talk' to me in the equine equivalent of REALLY BIG WRITING.

For example - I know she finds it hard to pick up her near hind when stood on concrete (because off hind is weak). But I still ask.

She used to just wiggle her ears and then freak out.

Now I get a really obvious tail swish and she picks up her poorly foot. Could she be any clearer in saying 'I hear you, I want to, but this foot hurts, so I can't.'

If I ask when she is stood on softer ground its not a problem, so long as I don't get silly with it.

Who said horses are dumb animals?

She is the devil woman.........

Can't get her out of my mind :-)

Since our little work session this pm. Didn't do a huge amount, but noticed something important. The last couple of days, when I have been too stressed and busy to do anything other than 'routine maintenance' Grace has become grumpy? sulky? or maybe a bit down in the dumps. Not sure because I haven't figured her out fully yet. But after today's work session she was very happy. Maybe she really needs to do something every day, even if its only interaction as opposed to exercise.

Today the barn is free (a rare event), so I take her straight from the field (yes she came to call from miles away out of sight again) and into the barn for a little interaction. (Please note I got the video the right way up this time! :-)

5 minutes of loose schooling and it as pleasure to note her action is freeing up all the time. Heel first landing in walk, which is very loose and swinging. Flat foot with some toe action in trot, but improving.

When the loose schooling is finished Grace lollops over to me for all the world like a spaniel puppy with a new tennis ball. I hold up my hand palm out flat to the front. Our signal for 'stop' and stop she does. So I decide 'why not see if we can teach Grace to stay?' The photo is about as far away as I could get before she 'broke'.

But maybe we have cracked the answer to 'Why did the call her The Witch?'. Is it because she has glow in the dark eyes! :-) (yes I know its really a reflection of my rubbish photography skills and not her at all).

Hooves are dynamic

Day after deshod, Six weeks later, Six weeks 4 days after deshod

Grace quite clearly has metabolic issues. She is not the worst I've seen, but she still needs 'managing'.

Our priority in the early days was to get her to eat, to get her teeth floated and her shoes removed. In the six weeks 4 days since her shoes came off her feet have improved a fair bit. The above shots are just of the near fore heels, but you can see how the heels are decontracting. There is even a visible difference just 4 days apart.

What you can't see in these pictures is how the frog has transformed from having the colour and texture of a piece of cheese to being more robust, grey coloured mega tough piece of india rubber.

When Grace's shoes came off and her soles shed the dead chalky layer, it was a bit alarming* to find her feet were more convex than concave. There is no doubt that she was uncomfortable for about 10 days on hard/lumpy surfaces. If her feet hadn't been changing shape so rapidly or if the walk from field to stable had been more than 100ft I would have booted or padded her feet.

Equally alarming was a) how badly her feet had been trimmed (by a qualified farrier) before the shoes had been put on b) the prospect of trimming the feet of a horse that was so worried by the process.

Now I don't need to worry, her feet are starting to become concave and she no longer worries about walking over hard surfaces. And she is very happy to be trimmed.

Of course all these external changes are being led by changes inside the foot. I can't imagine what that must feel like.

And what wands - [lavendar and lilac according to the cynics :-) ] - have been waved?

Diet is critical - and Grace's food is a long way from the current trend of premixed, sugary bagged feeds. And there are no expensive additives either. In fact feeding for foot health is very economical.

Environment is also important - and hard to manage for those of us on livery yards. The hooves need stimulating with 'appropriate' surfaces at the right time according to their progress. Grace is turned out in a standard overly sugary field. So I make up for it a little with the bedding I choose and a simple set of exercises; hand walking on concrete/tarmac and 'dancing' in the arena. I also keep her stabled for part of every 24 hours when grass sugars are at their highest.

For bedding I use Aubiose. I keep it dry (against the packaging instructions) as I find its crunchy texture seems to provide more stimulation than soft shavings or straw. Plus if looked after it is quite a dry bed, so helps combat fungal infections and thrush. It is also comfortable to lie down on (I've tried it), low in dust, easy to muck out and a similar price to shavings. For those who like a clean horse, it also drops out of manes and tails easily.

Think it through

Grace cantered to the gate so fast tonight she barely stopped in time. My beloved old Grey had a bad accident as a youngster doing exactly the same thing. From now on I shall wait until I am at the gate before I call her, because she stops when she sees you put up a hand. Not sure how that will work in the dark mind.

Grace did the same thing after our work session. When I signalled the end of the exercise she cantered up to me. No its not me she's keen on, but the click/treat reward. And yes she did stop in good time.

Not happy about 'move over' exercise when it involves swinging her quarters from her right to left, but she did it quite well in the end.

Grace seems to understand 'no' as well - so when she decided to cow kick instead of moving over and I said 'no' she stopped, thought about it and then tried the step over. It is almost as though she has been taught to kick - probably accidently, but whoever achieved this feat couldn't have done a better job if they had tried to do it on purpose.

I am going to think through the next stage of Gracies work quite carefully. There is a lot going on for her with her feet and general loosening up physically. It would be easy to push, because she is so willing. But if she gets sore she could easily get resentful and then we would lose everything we have gained.

Six weeks - off hind

Off hind, solar and side views. Left photos are the earlier shots, right hand are six weeks later.

No magic wands, waftiness or hippy activities :-) Just a good diet, adequate (not perfect) environment and an acceptable barefoot (not pasture) trim.

This foot was deeply infected and very sore. We have a way to go, but you can see how fast the foot has grown given the opportunity.

Sorry its sideways

Grace was in the far corner of the field hanging out with her mates - I couldn't even see her when I called. Then I heard a thunder of hooves and her head appeared over the horizon - I whipped out the phone, but by the time I was ready she had dropped to a steady plod. Sorry the video is sideways - I can rotate photos but video is beyond me at the moment. And yes she always has to go to the loo before coming in (in fact she gets quite upset if you don't let her).

3 month mark - no sugar or starch required :-)

No added sugar or starch required :-) or any other 'magic' (expensive) ingredients.

These pictures are just over 3 months apart, the first being on the day Grace 'landed' and the second is today.

We did a bit of training - pretended it was for Gracie but really it was for OH who has to help look after her when I go to Dallas in December.

Grace now leads beautifully, from both sides as you can see (OH hasn't quite got the lead on the near side bit yet). Grace goes past the killer chickens and the various items in the yard being very careful not to spook OH seeing as how he is just learning. But she can't resist using him as a scratching post after all that hard work in the rain. Fortunately she knows enough not to do this to everyone.

Result! - I didn't get kicked in the head :-)

Well Grace was very cute today. Got to the yard early as I had some work to do on her bed. My plan failed. She must of heard the car or something. Snuck my head round the corner and there she was waiting at the gate and snickering for me (ok let's be honest, not me, but her dinner).

As I have finally replaced my long reins I thought I'd have a play. She didn't try to kick me in the head; which I had half expected because of her anxiety about being roped again, so I took that as a good start. Education very elementary though, because she didn't have clue what I was on about. So I will start from scratch with her. All the time being extra careful as she can be quick to take fright.

We had a bit of a walk round the yard which I am building up daily now as I want her feet to start to wear naturally and I also want to stimulate the back of her foot more effectively.

I think her feet are decontracting - they are certainly better than they were, although I am concerned with the recent wet that the thrush may creep back. The bars look a little odd in the photo, but they don't look so bad in the flesh. Mind you the walls look considerably worse :-(

The first picture is near fore just deshod, the second and third are the same foot from the solar view and a quick squint at the back. You can see in both of today's pictures how the back of the foot is opening up and appears more robust.

You are kidding right?

It was raining when I went to catch Grace. She ignored her head collar and walked in glued to my shoulder. I don't think I could have left her behind if I'd tried.

Grace has had a few days off (ok nearly a fortnight) I blame work but in truth I'm just disorganised. Did get all four feet roughed out though which took several goes.

Oddly the recent rain has galvanised me into action and this morning Grace had her first 'work' session for a while. It was fun and funny. Sorry no pictures - I'll try and get some later.

Grace has been developing her heel first landing and I thought I'd see how she went on a softer surface. Up to this point soft arena type surfaces have not been good. This morning was different and I felt confident enough to ask for a bit of work rather than just mooching about.

Well I didn't need to anyway - a mare on box rest decided to start 'shouting' and Grace decided she really needed to see if she could escape from the arena (for rescue purposes?).

Well I said 'no' and the look on her face - she should have been a biped in red wellies with bows in her hair. She really thought that if she squeaked a bit and stomped she would get what she wanted. Sorry Grace, but compared to some of the efforts I've seen yours are pathetic. Not that I want Grace to learn anything more dramatic.

I didn't have to 'do' anything other than insist that she continue to move around the arena edge in the direction of my choice. And it really didn't take any effort, just a little squaring of the shoulders and 'the look'.

Grace is a good girl, she soon settled into her work and did some lovely trot, relaxed and as soon as I let her off the track she came in for some in-hand work. We did a little 'step over' practice and that went well so I rewarded her and turned her out.

Mutual trust

Well today I did something I only do with horses I trust a lot. I balanced Gracies fore foot on my knee. Its a big trust thing for her too because it does leave her more vulnerable than the usual foot pick up. And she learnt immediately that if I faced forward and asked for 'foot' she needed to relax it forward rather than flip it up and under.

The following pictures are near fore side view - you can see how her foot had been allowed to scoot forward in her previous life. Solar view of near fore - heel is decontracting nicely. Then side views of near and off hind. See how the nasty infected crack is rapidly growing out. Final picture is Grace being a safe perch for a magpie - there were two before I got my camera out.