uh-oh. Maizie was fine last night. Very lame this morning.

[magical thyme]

Left front is hurting. No heat or puffiness on the leg. I gave her some bute (horse aspirin) an hour ago. It should be just kicking in now, so I'll give it a few more minutes before checking on her.

Damn rain last weekend took away all the snow and left us with rock hard, cuppy ground. She probably took a bad step and bruised her hoof.

In the meantime, Dahli scratched her butt one too many times on the stall door and damaged it. I fixed it this morning -- it took me longer to find the power drill than the repair, lol.

I'm bringing them in maybe mid-afternoon to get Maizie on soft footing and be able to inspect more closely.

[Sanity Claws]

1. Did Dahli damage her butt or the stall door?

I sure hope you didn't use the power drill on Dahli's butt.

[magical thyme]

3. I don't want to call Dahli's butt unbreakable...

but I think that pony has titanium bones. Unless there is something stronger and more indestructible than titanium. Dahlinium?

[Tuesday Afternoon]

2. Hope it is nothing serious

Need more pix

[magical thyme]

4. So I checked on her....no better

she was lying down again, and let me clean her hoof while she was lying down. I tapped on it but didn't get any pain response. I have some nippers somewhere in the barn that I may be able to use as hoof testers once I get her inside.

In the meantime, I wrapped her hoof in a pampers with duct tape jic it's a bruise or gravels...to cushion it. She got back up on her feet, but she is very lame on it and occasionally lifts it to keep the weight off.

I started thinking it's her ankle, but still no heat; no swelling. Maybe she's just extremely wimpy. At least now, if I'm able to get her back to the barn, I'll be able to keep her stalled for a while.

[femmocrat]

5. Hope she is better soon!

And that it is nothing serious.

[magical thyme]

6. ooooh, she stubborn.

foolish girl had hobbled all the way to the back pasture, where I found her again lying down. This time with Dahli guarding her. I got her to her feet. It took nearly an hour of coaxing/dragging/holding grain in front of her/scolding to get her back to the barn. Treacherous, icy, pitted walk the entire way.

And then she refused...absolutely planted her feet and RefusED to enter the stall I spent all morning preparing for her.

I gave up for the time being. That may be best, since if it's hoof, walking around on smooth footing is best; if it is ankle, limited movement is best. The aisle gives her the option of limited, controlled movement.

Dahli seems to have moved from looking at her as competition for hay (even though there is never any shortage anywhere) to a friend to be cared for. Phew! So they will stay in for the duration. Next thaw, I will smooth out the ground as much as I can and let it re-freeze smooth. She doesn't get to go out again until she is all better and the footing safe for her.

She moves more easily in the barn, of course, than on the rugged ground outside. I can't really see a difference between her walking on smooth rubber-matted surface and soft bedding, though, except she occasionally nods especially deep when the surface changes.

So I still haven't determined ankle or hoof. This weekend I'll rasp her hoof back a little -- that will show if there's any bruising.

I remembered my performance boots, which would give support to her ankle. Damned if I could find them anywhere. If I don't find any bruising, I may try just wrapping her ankle to see if giving it support helps her. It just would help to know what I'm dealing with.

[elleng]

8. You are SOOOO good,

so MAGICAL!

[shenmue]

7. Awww

[riderinthestorm]

9. Abscess. ichthammol, diaper, duct tape and walking

Anytime a horse goes that lame overnight its an abcess. Especially after her frolics on the hard rutted ground?!

Good luck!



The new ones always have to test ya ....

[Tsiyu]

10. One of our black percherons had one white sock and hoof

and that one hoof would always abscess or get a stone bruise.

[magical thyme]

16. white hooves tend to be softer

I like Dahli's white hoof. It's much easier to trim

[magical thyme]

11. she walked out of her diaper yesterday, lol

Last edited Sat Jan 24, 2015, 10:35 AM - Edit history (1)

Abcess was my first thought. The degree of lameness fits and lack of any real response to bute supports that.

But the pain seems to be subsiding, though, which it shouldn't be. So I'm still leaning toward a bad bruise.

This morning I'll be running storm prep. This afternoon, the rasp comes out to see if I can find anything.

I hope she doesn't turn out to be like Algiers. Any time he got an abscess, they came out through the coronet band! Dog forbid he should let gravity help, like anybody else. Nope...the longest, slowest, most painful route. Couldn't open them to drain faster that way, either....

She's moving much better this morning. Actually, probably is an abscess...that's already opened and draining. that would explain the quick recovery too...

[magical thyme]

12. found it. gravels. draining out the white line at the inside quarter, about 1/2-1" ahead of the heel

When I trimmed her this morning, I found her left front foot with excess growth to the outside toe. Turning sharply to the right made her nod, due to pivoting on the inside of the left foot. I needed my reading glasses on to see it, though. Probed the spot with hoof pick -- OUCH!

It's probably been ongoing for a while. Her right front hoof had significantly more growth overall than the left, which tells me she's been easing the load off the left for a while. Pressure stimulates growth.

Luckily I have everything I need, although it's been so long since I used some things it takes some digging to find Since I learned to trim myself, I was able to fix all the hoof issues my 2 arabs came with, so it's been an easy ride for years. I couldn't for the life of me remember all 10 steps of the trim to tackle a new horse who is out of balance. I was stuck with 8 steps. Fixing lunch, I just remembered the step I missed this morning, so I can go back and redress. Her toes still look on the long side -- I had forgotten how to find the plane of the bottom of the coffin bone, so now can do that with confidence.

She was very, very well behave when I trimmed her. I only did front feet for her and Dahli both this morning. I'll try to get to the back later today, but I needed to get some chores done before the driving gets bad. And my back needed a rest, lol.

[riderinthestorm]

13. Yay! Pain relief is good... glad its something so minor. nt

[Enthusiast]

14. Thanks for sharing the horse updates, magical thyme.

[In_The_Wind]

15. I was so worried about both of you.

[magical thyme]

17. she's doing really great today

once they drain, they get better fast.

I also tied her for the first time. I trimmed her front feet with her untied, just with lead hanging on ground. Holding her front foot up, she wasn't going anywhere without be being able to grab the lead.

For back feet, though, I needed her to stay put. She was so well behaved yesterday I figured she probably has been taught to tie, but jic, I tied her only with a hay string so if she flew back she wouldn't rip the barn apart.

Turns out she ties really well, and she was as well behaved for the back feet as the front. It was a huge relief. I did exactly one pro job trimming many years ago. The person lied by omission about their horse's history, and I was nearly crushed when her horse deliberately pinned me with her hind leg. The idiot owner just stood there doing nothing while I struggled to get free. Then finally smacked the mare who released me. I went flying about 10 feet and crashed into the barn wall. Never. Again. You are very vulnerable when trimming hind feet. Need horses that are at least somewhat cooperative and not intent on killing you. Because they can.