The farrier came out wednesday evening for the regularly scheduled trim. I had already pulled the horses in earlier since I was going to be out looking at commercial properties for my new business. He immediately told me he was concerned with Gwyn's feet and wanted me to stop riding. Period.
Let's talk about a heart dropping moment there.
I was confused, because she had been foot perfect on varied terrain the previous weekend and wasn't acting sore or off at all. There was what I considered to be her normal chipping and flaking as she naturally wore her hoof down. The farrier wanted to put her in shoes.
He told me why and it made sense at the time but the more I think on it and the more research I do, the more I really REALLY am unhappy that I agreed to shoes. I don't think it was the right choice for Gwyn. She has always had a hard time keeping shoes on and I fear that I'm just asking for more wall damage the next time she yanks them off her foot.
Well, she has aluminum shoes on now, which so far look good. But I was told to not do my 30 mile rides I had planned for this past weekend at MetroPark Express and then in two weeks at Oak Leaf Run. Also no hunter pace on the birthday weekend.
I AM GRUMPY
I've been reading up. On Friday I changed up Gwyn's feeding. She's no longer going to get grain, just some timothy pellets and beet pulp pellets, soaked. I'll use up what supplements I have but from this point on she's getting moved to CA Trace (it's been ordered). I bought some soaker boots for her feet since it looks like there's a bit of thrush so she got to soak in 1:1 water:apple cider vinegar for a bit.
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| Back in bell boots again too |
The vet is coming out tuesday for fall shots and I'm going to ask her to test for any kind of IR. Gwyn is plump, and I want to make sure we don't go down laminitis or cushings territory. Xrays in June showed a beautiful coffin bone but thin soles. We are still, apparently, dealing with thin soles.
I'm getting a second opinion on her feet later in October, which is when the nearest barefoot trimmer around me is available. She doesn't normally come up to my area except for that weekend so I jumped on the chance. She's also a boot dealer.
My plan is to get the shoes pulled and put her in hoof boots and pads only if we're riding. She should be fine otherwise in the pasture barefoot. She's BEEN fine in the pasture barefoot.
So I'm grumpy. My fall/birthday horse plans fell apart.
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| A cold, foggy morning at Metropark |
I did try to get a grazing muzzle on her to limit the fall grass sugar high but that was a fail. It's lying, wet, in the middle of my pasture like a giant FUCK YOU AMY. She was SO pissed when I put it on her.
I did have a great day Saturday timing at Metropark so that was great and then Alicia rode on Sunday still and got FIRST! So that's AWESOME for her and I'm super happy for her! It's only her second ride, the first was at White River with me. She's hooked, it's official.
I'm going to ride on my birthday weekend. And I'm taking her to Oak Leaf but I'm not doing the 30. Probably just the Intro, so long as it's offered on Sunday. Ugh.
So that's mainly what the radio silence has been for (aside from being totally inundated with starting my own business, but that's a WHOLE other post)
Oh man what a bummer, hope her feet are ok! Glad you’re getting a vet out to do some testing too
ReplyDeleteThe vet was happy with my decision to switch her feed up but doesn't think we need to test immediately unless the feed change doesn't make any improvements. So I've got that approval there.
DeleteI think my comment got eaten or something. Did the farrier say why you couldn't ride or what he saw that worried him? What happened to the megasus runners you purchased? Did they not work out? Good luck with her hooves! Bad feet suck.
ReplyDeleteI think he's worried I'm going to just totally wear away her feet or something. It was not clear, which is part of why I'm unhappy. I wanted to do the Megasus but he thought there would be too much pressure on her sole in boots? That advice is apparently anathema to the whole barefoot trimming community when I went to online for advice. They think I should do boots with pads.
DeletePart of my issue with Megasus is that I don't trust them to stay on in the pasture since I couldn't keep the covers on the velcro. But maybe they'll surprise me. I'll be prepping her feet for Megasus when the aluminum shoes come off at the end of October and using those until the boots with pads I plan to buy arrive.
I don't think her feet are too terrible and she doesn't seem to think that her feet hurt given her galloping across the pasture at dinner. It's weird. I'll likely be switching farriers though, to one who is knowledgeable about all foot options.
Sorry to hear that but glad you are getting some more opinions on her feet!
ReplyDeleteIF you find out (Sorry I am just catching up on your blog) that she is IF?? I don't see a followup or I missed it but if she is Smart Pak has a grett supplement (I KNOW More supps) called Leg up Metabolic it is cheap and i have both Tate and Remus on it. Also I have them on Remission. Remus was on a different metabolic supp years ago when he was a bit hefty but it was a lot more expensive. and Remission is like 25 for a bucket which lasts about 2 months for me. I can already see Tate responding to it (he has been on both supps longer than Remus)> Just a thought. Sorry about her feet too......i hope the shoes stay on.
ReplyDeleteRemus has never been diagnosed metabolic or IR but let's just look at him and assume...okay :)