Equine Podiatry Clinic at Morrie Waud / Jimmy Schools Easy / Meet Diesel

Saturday this weekend I went up to Morrie Waud Equine Clinic for a "Podiatry Solutions to Improve Equine Performance". I have to say the educational portion for horse owners was unbelievably interesting. The second half of the day was more geared toward farriers, so when they started getting really into it, they kind of lost me and I kept catching myself day dreaming.

Here are some of my notes of the things I learned from the day:

• Bad feet = muscular deformity = saddle fitting issues
• Sore heels typically take 4 shoeings (every 4 weeks) to show improvement
• Always get Xrays to show foot formation - ask your vet to check the balance of coffin bone to the ground
• Big hind feet typically means the horse is more athletic, more to "push" with
• Wedge pads help alignment
• Once a horse is "cured" of lameness through proper shoeing techniques, KEEP IT UP. Going back to your old ways will make your horse's lameness return
• The goal is to always have the frog on the ground. Strong frog = strong foot
• Dont pick hooves before riding (unless the horse has been on stones) - The mud/manure that's naturally packed it's way into the frog is comfortable for how the horse walks & this way horses won't sink all the way into the sand & grind it up into their hooves.

Pretty interesting!! Basically, every single thing they mentioned in problem/solution for sore heels was like they had been just watching Jimmy and documenting every moment. If they have sore heels, they compensate on their toes, causing lameness. The lameness then goes up into their shoulder, and into their back. With proper shoeing & padding in the feet after regular, consistent sessions the horse will regain strength in their hooves & their shoulders & backs will reshape, potentially causing saddle fitting problems because their backs are finally relaxed and building muscle from comfortable, natural movement....

IS THIS LIKE DEJA VU OR WHAT!?!? Jimmy had ouchy heels. He went REALLY lame. We found Tim. He got sound. I had to get my saddle fixed. Oh. My. Goodness. Every word the farrier & vet team were saying to the crowd I felt like they just directed straight at me. Light bulb. Light bulb. Light bulb. It was pretty amazing. I text Tim and let him know that according to UW, he's the perfect farrier :-) God bless the team of vet/farrier that I have for Jimmy!!! Unreal.

In other news - we schooled a gymnastic today a few times and a little vertical off many different turns and Jimmy was quiet, easy & pleasant. No complaints, just good Jimmy. All is well in our world.

Horse show season is coming up so the pressure to perform is on & I've got a new project to work on that hopefully won't stick around too long, even though I'm kind of digging him a lot right now :-) His name is Diesel and he's a very, very cool dude. Here he is:

Diesel is a 16.3hh 2002 OTTB. He never raced, but he is tattooed so he was definitely brought up on the track. Based on his body and coordination (or currently...lackthereof??) he DEFINITELY was too slow for the track. He's just HUGE, everywhere. Big head, big legs, huge feet, and a belly you can't begin to wrap yourself around. He's as sweet and gentle as can be, just desperately in need of an education and consistent riding. He's learning, slowly but surely, and I'm really having a riot of a time with him. Every time I work with a new green horse I think, "Oh gosh. I really, really love this." and I seriously do. I have a passion for green horses that radiates through my core. I just love teaching their stupid little brains and making them smart little brains :-)

Diesel has impeccable movement and even though he's far from coordinated right now, he's definitely going to make a beautiful hunter. We're just riding walk/trot and he and I work on the ground so he has the cardio workout of cantering as well. In the field all day, he just stands and eats. He isn't active in the least so he needs someone to rev his engine a little bit (and work off a little of that BELLY!!!) He's learning steering and stopping. He steers pretty well, I can't say the same for stopping, yet. He's learning "HO" and improving every day.

Thankfully, I have the motivation of my November wedding keeping me going while he is tugging and leaning against me in the bridle and when I get home and lay on the couch with my muscles throbbing I remember "It's worth it. He's awesome....." and "....I'm going to have such nice arms for the wedding!" HAHA What kind of bride would I be if I didn't think of that as a reason to ride more?!

If you have anyone interested in a guy like him (even though I'm not exactly ready to part with him just yet...) you can see his online advertisement here. Oh, and we also have a really really cute pony for sale right now too. She's seriously adorable. Check her out here. 

Prayers for Lainie

My dog niece, Lainie, was hit by a truck at HITS Ocala last week. She's currently in critical condition with a broken pelvis, dislocated hip and very serious internal injuries. Someone was driving their rig way too fast down a "NO VEHICLES ALLOWED" marked street at HITS Ocala & nailed her. Please keep her in your prayers.

Podiatry Clinic – Morrie Waud

Click here to download the flyer.

I'm thinking I'd like to go to this, any takers? I'd love some company in the car ride up there so if you'd like to meet me in Palatine, I'll drive (my new Honda Fit!!!!!!!). It's $39 if we register before 3/7/11. Let me know :-D Dr. Jacob Goodin is the surgeon who performed JC's OCD removal surgery, so I'd love to go see him speak!

Quick Recovery From Jumping The Fence!!

Recap: Yesterday Jimmy tried to jump into the outdoor arena. In retrospect, I'm pretty impressed. Julie (BO) says Mick (17hh TB) was chasing JC and when JC went to turn & get away, the fence to the arena was there so he just lurched himself with all that he could to try & pull a fast one on Mick. Under the circumstance, it's astounding that he got as far over as he did. Cleared it with his front feet and pulled it down with his hind probably when he'd landed already with his fronts. He hasn't learned "Kick up ass to get out of the way of big jumps" yet. Who knew he had that much scope, anyway? Needless to say we WILL be free jumping him when all of this is behind him, because now I'm curious. Can you really jump that high...and clean, Jim? If you could set yourself up to that 5' fence, would you leave it up? I want to know. Maybe not really 5', but at least 4' just to see. Why not? He'll be healthy again.

Jimmy received SMZ's last night, this morning and this evening along with one gram of bute this evening in case he was still sore. As of this morning (Friday) he was still very sullen and had that look on his face that said "I am really sorry for what I did. I feel stupid."

When I got out there this evening he was wide-eyed and bushy-tailed and moved easily in his stall to greet me at the door - a very good sign! I slipped his halter on and he stepped right up out of his stall and out onto the cross ties. He stood well while I took his bandages off. He didn't bleed through the Telfa pads too badly - not enough to mark the vet wrap so I took the vet wrap off VERY carefully so I could reuse it. I buy it by the case, but c'mon...An entire unmarked, perfectly good roll? YES I will save myself the $1.50 and reuse that sucker! I'm a master at the three "R"s.

He stood comfortably while I SCRUBBED the wounds. Some more dirt had surfaced over the 24 hours he was wrapped up, but the actual wounds themselves looked WONDERFUL. Very shallow, nice pink color, and once I scrubbed thoroughly they looked nice and bright & clean - with no new blood! HOORAHH!!! The scrubbing didn't seem to bother him a bit. I put new antibacterial/antibiotic foam on to clean and dress the wounds & covered with Tefla, (recycled!) vet wrap & pillows/standings.

Now, are you curious to hear the BEST news?? NO HEAT. NO SWELLING. NO TENDERNESS ANYWHERE. Not around the wounds, not in the fetlocks behind...and most importantly, not in the FRONT FETLOCKS EITHER!!!! HOORAYYYYY JIMMY CHOO!!!!! The best horse in the world! I left his fronts unwrapped and he is no longer going to be receiving bute.

Jimmy & I hangin' out.

I took him for a walk around the aisle of the barn for about 15 minutes so he could sniff and stretch a little. We did our carrot stretches too & he didn't have any stiffness at all in stretching, no tenderness in his neck & he didn't have any pops today either, which is comforting to me.

I'm going to keep him in one more day, which I think is his last day on SMZ's. I want to make sure those wounds are nice and clean and on their way to growing hair back before he goes back outside in the snow - and I think I'll have Cass polo wrap his back legs so he has some coverage over those nasty marks on his legs when he goes back out.

Tomorrow Cassie & I will be taping the greenies for sale & I'll be posting everyone available for sale online :-) Stay tuned! It should be a very fun day!

Jimmy Tries To Jump Into The Outdoor Arena

I got a text today at 4:30 from Julie: "Jimmy took down fence he is injured".....OH. MY. GOD. NOT the thing I want to hear when I'm already thinking "30 more minutes until I get to leave & ride Jimmy".

A boarder was there & saw the whole thing: Jimmy & Mick (17hh TB) were playing & when Jimmy tried to pull a fast one, he saw the fence & tried to jump OUT of the paddock (fence is approx 5'+) & into the outdoor arena. He didn't make it, and took the whole fence line of the arena down with him. Mick, Maverick (another TB) and Jimmy then proceeded to run around like idiots and not let anyone catch them in the outdoor arena. Julie called me & hadn't caught Jimmy yet, but reported that he was very very lame and definitely injured. I cry hysterically at work & call Bill.

Fast-forward 15 minutes. Julie calls back, Jimmy has been caught, is very sullen, but doesn't seem too terribly injured. Everything looks superficial and although he's gimping, his wounds aren't as severe as they thought. According to the boarder who watched, JC cleared the front end (WHOA, JIMMY! 5'!? Really??) and didn't quite make the back end coming down. To me, it seems like he hit the fence at about a 45º angle and really tore himself up pulling the fence down. Was I worried then? Not at all. I know wounds heal....So I went to the next important place: his fetlocks. Front fetlocks. As in, the joints he just had major surgery on 8 months ago....fetlocks. They were puffy and very hot. :-( Ohhhh Jimmy. Just when I thought we were out of the woods. The jarring from landing from that high of a fence must have been more than they were ready to handle, so this will be what I'm watching the closest over the next few days.

I asked that they give him a gram of bute immediately to try & nip the superficial swelling as much as possible right off the bat. I got out there as soon as I could and doctored him up. He turned to face me at the door, very slowly.

While I scrubbed out the wounds and applied the dressing he did nothing. He stood like a statue, staring forward. He knew what he did was wrong and I could tell he hurt so bad he wanted to just lay in my arms all night long and cry that he was sorry. I scrubbed, sanitized, dressed, vet wrapped, pillow wrapped, and standing wrapped both back legs & he didn't move a muscle. I left him with his door open while I rummaged around the tack room for two more wraps to wrap his front legs for support, since the swelling had me so concerned. I left him alone for probably 5 minutes and had honestly forgotten in the whirlwind of things that I'd left him alone, loose, and unattended. When I turned the corner with my arms full of wrapping supplies for his front legs he was in the identical position, but staring at me, instead of straight ahead. Had not moved a single muscle. Oh yes, he is hurting.

I called John on my way home & he said yes a gram of bute every 24hrs and start him on 13 SMZ's AM & PM. Luckily Jimmy is good about eating pills and you can feed them to him like cookies- right out of your hand. Julie is a saint and going to John's for me tonight to get the meds. She is a Godsend.

So now that the post is long enough and you've been warned, I'll show you photos of Jimmy's legs. These aren't too terrible, but they aren't for the weak stomached. You won't hurt my feelings if you decide to close your browser....NOW.

Left hind – wound is deeper than right hind but
very small. Minimal swelling & very little heat.

Right hind. Minimal swelling & heat here as well.
These wounds are much more shallow.

Needless to say - he will be staying in for the next few days to rest & heal. John laughed when I called him & told him what Jimmy did, as thought he wasn't surprised at all. My little nugget sure has a lot of spunk!!! Apparently this was his way of telling me it's TIME TO JUMP HIGHER!!! This too, shall pass and when he's all healed up and ready to go back to work we'll start slow again and let him get comfortable before we do ANY kind of work again.

I can't be mad – it wouldn't be Jimmy if he wasn't causing trouble ;-) I wish he felt better now and obviously I wish he hadn't have torn the entire fence down, but I know he will make a full recovery from this and life will continue to move forward! I'm grateful his injuries are as minor as they are - LET'S KEEP IT THIS WAY!!

Starting The New Year Off Right

Well it's a new year and I'm going to try to update REGULARLY again! WOO HOO! Jimmy has been an exceptionally good boy recently and I am very happy with how his legs have been looking. No heat, swelling, or sign of discomfort whatsoever….in his legs. We'll get to what IS causing some discomfort later on.

FIRST: Lucy is a cantering MACHINE!!!! She's cantering up a storm in her lessons on the lunge line now and absolutely having a blast. She's learned that outside leg + rein + cluck = CANTER and Jimmy picks it RIGHT up! Every time he does it just like that she giggles and SMIIIILES wide. It's an incredible feeling to watch a horse I brought from nothing teach a rider who also knew nothing when I started with her just over a year ago. I am so grateful for every opportunity to teach!!!!

NOW: Onto Jimmy. He's started bucking. Not viscous or dangerous by ANY means, but certainly a "knock-knock: Mom, I'm hurting" type of buck. It started just before Christmas, I thought it was because he didn't like his gorgeous new quarter sheet from Lucy. So I punished him the first time. The next time, it was the same thing. When he went to do a lead change he'd buck. He has NEVER EVER EVER bucked with me, even in his earliest training days learning what leg pressure was and learning to canter (the typical time a horse WILL buck!) so after two rides with the buck I was concerned.

Saturday morning before Lucy's lesson he had a little too munch skip in his step, so I decided to lunge him first and what do you know? He REALLY bucked. He made a big motion a few times, then just kept kicking out, violently at the canter. Once he seemed to have it "out of his system" he moved gracefully and didn't show another sign of discomfort, so I let Lucy get on and have her lesson, making sure to watch his body language all along.

I was going to see John for more Adequan that afternoon anyway, so I asked if he could stop out and give Jimmy a little chiro adjustment Monday morning.

I jumped Jimmy yesterday and he was flawless. A potential client unexpectedly showed up while I was schooling him and I couldn't help but puff up with pride a little bit as my little wonder-horse jumped the 2'6" course I had set up in perfect rhythm. Cassie had set up a pretty serious looking oxer & I filled in the empty space on it with random pieces of broken boxes to make it look more "impressive" and Jimmy couldn't have cared less. He cantered out of the corner to a perfect spot and rocked it both times I jumped it, landed and did his lead change before I could think to ask. WOO HOO!!!! NOTE: The warm up I used Sunday involved a lot of bending and lateral work/leg yields to get him fluid through his hind end. The lead changes were there and there was no bucking. Do we see a connection?

On my lunch break today I called John, who said Jimmy's back seemed fine, not sore. He had a minor pelvic twist….but (in John's words) "His neck was a mess" WHAT?!? I'm wondering if all of that beautiful frame work that Jimmy does to himself (literally, I just use consistent leg and hand pressure, he puts himself in the right places) has him out of whack? Or possibly if from my playing like a short stirrup kid and laying up the neck while he jumps X's to warm up is knocking him out of whack?! OUCH OUCH OUCH!!! SORRY JIM!!!!!

I asked if carrot stretches are helping or hurting & he said keep doing them regularly as I have been. Who's to say if I didn't do them how much worse his neck would be. So we're gunna watch and make sure little Jim doesn't start bucking again in a few weeks & if he does, he will get another visit from the glorious Dr. J.

Having a vet I feel this comfortable with means more than words can say.

I hope everyone had a great New Year!!!

Question For Saddle & Back Experts

Since Jimmy is coming back into work (slowly but surely) I've noticed he gets back sore when I ride him bareback (this does nothing for my self-esteem...), and is much happier when I use a saddle. I've heard from my vet that saddles are obviously designed to use without any pads at all, but people started to use saddle pads to protect the saddle leather from the sweat/grime of the horse.

I always just use a baby pad with my Prestige Nona Garson. This saddle was made 'custom' for a different horse I used to own, but seems to fit Jimmy fine. I was instructed by the saddle fitter to only use a baby pad with it or thin square pad...

My question is: should I be using some kind of "comfort" pad on Jimmy during this recovery period since he's obviously sensitive to the weight on his back? He's noticeably less back-sore when I use a saddle, and when I don't put any of my weight on his back (no sit trot, etc.) he's even less back sore. Any suggestions? I've heard those ThinLine pads are wonderful, would it apply to this situation?

Thanks in advance  :-D

Nothing But A Pretty Face

Tonight I rode Pepe because the weather here in the sunny Chicago 'Burbs is B-E-A-UTIFUL!!!! So I took full advantage. Not to mention, I've lost 6 lbs (hooray!) but feel as huge as ever. A not-so-flattering photo was posted on Facebook today & it's psyching me out. Wedding is 15 montsh & counting! Must.Look.FABULOUS!

Pepe continues to be a pleasure. Walks, trots, canters like he's a seasoned pro. He's steering really well now too. Trotting is no problem, canter he gets hard in the mouth, but a little "adjustment" and he's right in tune. He cantered the little long stirrup ground pole "course" today beautifully too! Spots AND numbers! HOLLA! And in one line he swapped out, and swapped back over the second rail to land on the lead! WHAT A PRO!

He loves his left to right lead change, and does it with ease, but the right to left has been causing him a little frustration. I know it's just weakness in his hind and (well, his WHOLE self, really) will strengthen and appear in time! As for me - I am sitting on the couch taking shallow breaths because there is a shooting pain spreading through my spine. O.u.c.h. Problem with Pepe is that although he's a blast to ride, he's like riding a pogo stick. NOT COMFY AT ALL. It's kind of excruciating at this point because as my mom made me realize this evening, I haven't actually ridden consistently for nearly a year. This time last year Jimmy was lame from being cast in his stall and messing his legs up something fierce and as soon as it got cooler & he got better, I let him just hang out and teach lessons to Lucy. Time and Pepe will help me get through this.

Which brings me to my next point: Jimmy. He's still lame. Shocker. So the waiting game continues. I was talking with another boarder tonight and she said "What will do you if he never gets better? How long will you let him go on like this?" Which, I had kind of considered, but not out loud. Since he's only now allowed on limestone 15x15, lives in bell boots so he doesn't pull his shoes, has shoes packed with pads and filler, lives on joint & hoof supplements, gets Adequan IM twice a week, and is too lame to function outside his little cell....I mean stall.....Why would I make him suffer? This is definitely NOT what I'd call a life for him. It's never what I wanted for him. We'll keep giving it a go and hope and pray and dream that someday in the next calendar year he will come out and magically be sound again. If not, then I need to make that executive decision with John and do what needs to be done to end his pain and suffering because like this, he's no good to anyone and never will be. He's only miserable and thinking about him used to break my heart, but recently I've had a hard time even looking at him. Right now, he's nothing but a pretty face.

The Healthy Horse Workshop

Tonight was The Healthy Horse Workshop at Saddlers Row put on by KAM. It was wonderful! I completely enjoyed it. I loved learning about health and nutrition, and digestion, feed, supplements, intestines, hooves, EVERYTHING! It was just great. I really, really enjoyed it.

...Until... She started to talk about lameness. My ears perked up of course and in my head I repeated "Yes! Tell me why my horse is lame! YES!!!! TELL ME HOW TO FIX HIM WITH A PELLET OR A COOKIE OR DIFFERENT HAY!! PLEASE!!" And she went through tendons and ligaments and hooves and all these wonderful, informative things, all of them happen because your horse's gut doesn't function as it should. She asked if there were any questions, and I raised my hand, "What about horses with OCD's?" She said (in a nutshell) it's because the Mama had too much protein in their diets, therefore the Baby is born and will have OCD's. Once that happens, there's nothing you can do.

Once I heard this....the words just rung in my ears. I tuned out mentally the rest of the seminar and try as I did to pay attention and listen to what was being said because I do have a natural thirst for learning...I just absolutely couldn't. My heart hurt, my eyes burned, and I couldn't get out of there fast enough. There's nothing you can do. I AM SO SICK OF HEARING THAT. Tell me something I can do, PLEASE. I want to do something that is good.

I cried the whole way home.

Radiograph Jimmy Choo

I have been emailing John and he said:

"If still in the fetlock, we could try injecting it with IA Adequan (slt higher risk of infection). May need to reradiograph the joint to be sure no new problems (another chip or excessive remodeling post-op)."

So, we'll be taking more pictures of his little ankle. I haven't made the appointment yet, but it will be sometime in the near future. I'll keep you updated, as always. Away we go...

Praying for a Miracle

Holy moly tonight was a sauna at the farm. BLECH!!!! It was brutal.

I grabbed Jim and groomed him. I put DMSO in his hooves today, heard that helps with soreness...so I figured what the heck. Tomorrow I am going to the Healthy Horse Workshop at Saddlers Row, so I'll pick up some Durasole or Keratex, whichever they have in stock. Hopefully Durasole.

I got on, despite the heat, and started walking bareback. He felt great. Some days I get on and can just tell that he is happy and feels good. We walked twice around each direction, practicing flexion and lateral work across the diagonal. He was beautiful. I felt my heart swell, it felt so incredible to be on him and WORKING again. However, it was short-lived. Started the trot to the right and he seemed "meh". As we progressed to the right (still, straight sides only) he gradually became worse. To the left he was downright violent. No part of him wanted to trot. The bugs were getting to him, it was hot, and he plainly didn't feel good. I got off and took his bridle off and made him trot around me once. Left Front.

I'm trying to research online. Trying to find something to do or try or...SOMETHING. Anything that will help him. What breaks my heart isn't that I can't ride, it's that he's hurting and I can't help him. We've done everything and there's absolutely no improvement in his soundness. My parents say leave him in the field and let him be for a year. I'm a hands-on type. I can't do that. I tried for a week and felt horrible by the end.

I'm not sure where to go from here. I don't want to do nothing, but we've already tried "something" a lot of times. I'm praying for a miracle. Please help me.

Consistency Proves the Winner

Yesterday I went out alone and spent some time mono a mono with the Choo. He was very perky and upbeat while I brushed him, pretty animated and happy....until the Bute came out. I dosed him up with a gram before even looking at how he moved in the round pen so I wouldn't forget later.

Once the bute happened a carrot followed so he would swallow it all down...and one carrot went down, then he suddenly realized at the second carrot (while we were stretching) "AHH! THIS CARROT TASTES LIKE BUTE!! WTH?!?" and BLEH! out it went all over the aisle. From that point I tried and tried to get him to stretch, and he just looked at me out of the corner of his eye in the saddest, poutiest, mopiest way. Like a little toddler who folds his arms across his chest as the giant tears roll down his cheeks, feeling betrayed as ever that Mom put cough medicine in his apple sauce and he didn't notice until it was too late. Poor little Jimmy.

Somehow, taking out peppermint snacks that Lucy brought him changed his tune, and he was more than willing to show me 'what he's got' in his flexibility department. Thank goodness, I was starting to worry that now he's so stiff he can't even touch his elbow. Not the case, just needed a different flavor ;-) Yay.

After stretches we booted up and went to the round pen for the pain diagnosis. Since he can't answer "On a level of 1-10, how severe is your pain?" by stomping his hoof, I resort to lunging. His first few steps in the over reach boots were straight out of a comic strip, I swear. I was almost crying from laughing so hard. The whole walk down to the pen, he picked his toes up to his chest trying to figure out what the heck is on his feet. It. Was. Hilarious.

We got into the pen and he walked right out to the end of the line, put his head down, and went into a working trot. .....wait, what?! My horse, Jimmy Choo, hasn't 1. Gone to the end of the line willingly in months because 2. That means work, something that is a foreign concept and foul word to him entirely. So at this point I took a second and went, "Who are you?!"....then I saw what I had to blink a few times to comprehend. Sound?!.....my horse.....is sound?!?

He isn't quite 100%, but he's at least 85% improved. He is on the right path!! HE IS GETTING BETTER! In the videos below, you'll see that to the right he looks wonderful and the left he's still taking a short step every so often, as though he's "sore". I will take "Sore" over "LAME" any day!!!!

I think the consistency of bute daily, poultice, and wrapping the bulb of that left front heel has proved to be the best thing for him. Shoes were just a minor hiccup in the process, and he's proving MUCH happier without them. The over reach boots he will be wearing all the time. I'm going to watch to be sure they don't irritate his precious little hairs and skin over time, but this all seems to be the winning combination. Once he is really feeling all the way better for a few days I will wean him off the bute and the poultice. HOORAY! PROGRESS!!!!! Here's a snapshot of him from one of the videos. *drool* I love him.

The Barefoot Wonder

Well today I was filling up his new spray bottle with a fresh batch of fly spray while squatting on the ground and looked over to see how his feet looked today and noticed something.....

...He was barefoot. Left front (lame foot) he ripped off his shoe, clean. Just holes in his hoof wall where the nails once were. Oh Joy. What's miraculous is that his hoof last night was packed with poultice, wrapped in magazine papers, wrapped in duct tape...and wrapped in duct tape again. Yet, somehow he clean ripped off the whole shoe.

Upon further investigation I did not find the shoe in the field, but DID find that his right front shoe was loose enough that it was shifting sideways, which was enough for me to say "enough" and make him stay in the rest of tonight & tomorrow.

Soon as I got home I saw my amazing brother Dan was home and I went in to blubber to him about it, and his response was "How far is the barn? Let's go. I'll take the shoe off myself". Dan knows a little bit about absolutely everything there is to know about horses. He's incredible. So in the car we jumped, onward to Farm & Fleet in search of bell boots. We didn't find any, but we did get to the farm and pull off the shoe. Well, Dan did. I held Jimmy.

When Dan "pulled off the shoe" really all he had to do was wiggle out the nails. They were so loose, Dan just plucked them out like eyebrows. One by one. Pluck. Pluck. Pluck. Pluck. Pluck. Pluck...until the last one. He tried to wiggle the shoe a bit to loosen the nail and when he put any pressure on the hoof wall, Jimmy wiggled. He was obviously 1. Very uncomfortable from the get-go to have all of that weight on his left front and 2. Not at all happy having his hoof pinched at. Dan said he barely had any pressure on the "nippers" and Jimmy flinched at that. So, he's foot sore. Really foot sore.

I put him in the round pen to distinguish how sore really foot sore is....and found that he is, in fact, really body sore.

So here is my conclusion:

• Jimmy over-reaches and nicks himself in the heels with the front of his back hooves - leaving no scratches, scrapes or marks to the eye, but sufficiently bruising past the point of reasonable pain.
  
• This is what's made him foot sore in the left front, and from compensating with the right, consequently he is sore in both in the heels....from over reaching.
  
• The shoes only added to the whole "OUCH MY FEET ARE KILLING ME" thing, and he's got such a solid wall, he really doesn't need them for support. He's got it naturally.
  
• While playing today (which I'm thrilled he felt well enough to do) he probably torqued himself so hard while he got that shoe off, that his entire body is just aching. Not to mention the rest of the however-long he was out there, he was one-shoed and lopsided.
  
• I will not put shoes back on him.
  
• I will get over-reach boots (the nice Professional's Choice ones that don't flip around and have lots of support in the bulbs)
• I will pack and wrap his hooves/heels with poultice while I need to since he is so foot sore it hurts and he needs the soothing comfort to heal.
• I will give him a little swallow of bute at night before bedtime if he is hurting.
  
• I will wait 8 weeks until he needs another trim and have Trent or whomever come and take a look at his hooves, see how he's doing with the growth.
  
• Pending severity of discomfort throughout this process, I will talk to John. Really, regardless, I will talk to John.
  
• I will continue to search for abscesses and any degree of discomfort in his hooves, legs, shoulders, back.
  
• I will be the best damn mom I can possibly be - within reason. I love him, and I want him to feel better. And I'll do what I need to (again, within reason) to make that happen.
  

How's that for a plan?!? Please jump in with thoughts/experiences/opinions!

Farriers

So, I am in desperate need of a farrier who can come to McHenry and do pour-ins & pads on Jimmy's two fronts.

Got a call back from a friend's farrier - Jeremy Carpenter. Heard he has a great rep and does a lot of the show barns up here & in Ocala. HOORAY! However, it's going to be $200 every 6-8 weeks. Right now I pay $30. Gulp.

Is this kind of the....normal now for pour-ins/pads???


UPDATE
Trent Hinkle - my original farrier called me back. I made the executive decision (as John told me I might need to) to only have Jimmy put in front shoes, no pads. This will give him significant relief. Pour-ins & pads just aren't in the budget...or anywhere near the budget at this point. I'm hoping the steels alone will be enough support that Jimmy feels better :-) As much as I wish I could do everything 100% the way Jimmy should have it done, I've reached the end of my money train, and there's nothing left to give right now. God Bless having a full-time job that I love and the skills to have freelance clients!!! Front shoes with Trent will be $85 and he will be out tomorrow at 1PM. I told him I will have a helper there and ready, with a check in-hand for him :-)

Tomorrow I will be judging in Peotone.

It's In The Name

So tonight John came out. He started pinching and tugging and feeling at Jimmy's tendons. Nothing. Started tugging and pinching and wiggling his ankles. Pretty much nothing.

He did a little chiro, and Jimmy was tight and stiff and awkward everywhere. Jimmy was pissed. He did NOT want chiro. It hurt :-( Eventually he softened and became much more fluid. He did the stretches and exercises with ease within a few minutes.

Then the next step before John watched him jog was to hoof test. Do you know how many times we've hoof tested Jimmy? Like a zillion. Every farrier I've ever had with Jimmy I personally ask: Do you think he needs shoes? Say the word, I will tell you it is okay to put shoes on him. So John hoof tests him. What do you know? Left front: Sensitive to hoof tester. Indication of......*drum roll* Jimmy needing shoes.

So out we go, to jog him and see how he does. Well, he's lame. REALLY lame - the lamest I have seen him while lunging him, actually, ever. Left. Freakin'. Front. Both directions he was lame, not so bad to the right, but super lame to the left.

The decision was to block his left front hoof, to verify that is absolutely the source of pain and 20 minutes later we saw a Jimmy Choo trotting a Grade 2 instead of a Grade 3 Lameness. 50% improvement!! HOORAY! He was almost sound to the right, still lame to the left. But a huge improvement. John flexed Jimmy once and he only took two lame steps and jogged right out of it (while blocked).

So finally: the decision was to inject the left front since he was still a bit lame on it, he needed more joint fluid - and put front shoes on him!!!! HELLO! SHOES?!? C'mon, really?! How easy is that?????

Irony of it all, is every night for at least the last 4 nights I have dreamed that Jimmy was wearing shoes, or asking me for shoes. What the heck. Why didn't I listen?!? Horses talk through dreams, after all!!! So John said he definitely needs front shoes, not back, and if possible pour-in pads to give his heels some more support. Or the special high-heeled shoes....Anyone seeing the rest of the irony here?

My horse. Jimmy Choo. Needs high-heeled shoes. He thinks it's hilarious:

Anyone know a farrier who will come to McHenry?! John said he should get them ASAP - preferably in the next 3 days while he's inside on stall rest anyway.

Tumbling Down

Well, here we are again. Square one. Let me explain:

Today I spent (too much) time online looking up rehabilitation from OCD surgery and pretty much everything says the same - one day they're just magically better. Frustrated, I called Dr. John after work. He instructed me to call the clinic to make sure we weren't missing any pieces of the puzzle before he said "I'm on my way".

Called the clinic and talked to JC's surgeon - Dr. Jacob Goodin. I told him what's going on: Jimmy is wonderfully sound and beautiful on the lunge line, but gimping, head-bobbing and falling over under saddle at the trot. He did the worst thing ever: "....Hmm..."

GASP! DON'T "HMMM" ME!!! I DON'T WANT "HMM!!" I WANT TO HEAR "YES, JESS, THAT'S EXTREMELY NORMAL AND ONCE I USE TELEPATHIC POWERS HE WILL MAGICALLY BE BETTER AND TODAY YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO START HIM OVER FENCES!!!" (okay, not really, but seriously...Hmm?!)

Once I was done panicking while I drove from his "Hmm" I tuned back in mentally and tried to catch up to the part where he said "He should be better in a few days" but that didn't happen. It was just silent. I did what I always do when I panic - I started to ramble off what I thought maybe we could possibly do to see if there was any chance it would help him....and he politely listened the finally (it was really only a few seconds) said have Dr. John out because it's very likely it's still those fetlocks bothering him, since it's the identical lameness he showed before surgery *Queue disappointed sigh* but he can't say for sure without an examination, so John should come out ASAP to check on Jimmy. That's what I love about surgeons, they always suggest to have everything done "as soon as possible". He's been lame since Christmas, you really think I'm paying for an emergency call for tonight? You're dreaming, babe. ASAP = Thursday for us. That's the great thing about John, we speak the same language.

So John will be coming out Thursday night, pending the day goes well for him, to do another lameness examination on Jimmy. He will flex him and see what's going on, if it's still in the fetlock, or where the heck he thinks the lameness is stemming from. You know what I wish? I wish he took one look at Jimmy's trot under saddle and said "Oh, his fetlocks look fine, the problem is in his back. Do some chiro once a month and he'll be good as new tomorrow." But, I am realistic, and I am aware that money doesn't grow on trees, so I will listen to what he says, whatever it is, and take it with a grain of salt.

If after the exam it's still a mystery, Jimmy will just live outside for the next full calendar year (daytime only, I'm not that mean) and next summer I'll pull him out again and tack him up, and hope all is well. Maybe two more years. Who knows. I might be popping out babies by then anyway.

Maybe last year was all we got, and now it's all come tumbling down for a reason. Maybe God has a different plan. Maybe this is just a test.....I'm hoping in hindsight this is all 20/20, but really, no one ever knows.

UNBELIEVABLE

Today Bill and I went out to see how Jimmy is doing outside. I couldn't believe what we saw. Bill took lots of pix of JC and I, and I took pix of JC when I put him out in the round pen. I wanted to see how he was moving so I threw him out there for a moment just to watch him move. MAN did he feel GOOOD!!!! And my jaw dropped when I watched him move. He's sounder now than he's ever been in his life. He took my breath away. It was stunning. Here are some photos from the day. Enjoy!

The back of his stall opens up to the pen he goes into all day, which he loves. He can go in and out all day.

Then I put him into the round pen, to see him move...and saw this:

HOLY SMOKES AM I A LUCKY GIRL OR WHAT?!??!??!???

Like a good boy, when I signaled by bending over that it was time to stop running around like a lunatic, he came right to me and posed for his picture to be taken :-)

Bill took a final photo of JC and I when we put him back in his dry lot before we said goodbye.

I am so so SOOOOOO unbelievably happy!!!!!!!! He's happy and healthy and SOUND!!! No swelling or heat in either ankle whatsoever. He looks incredible. I called Helen (Barn Owner) and told her to just leave him out all the time now. He's doing great and the fresh air is good for him! There's not enough space in the dry lot for him to go wild, just enough for him to move around. I am so thrilled.

Update on Injections

Sorry, last night I was watching Glee while blogging, so I didn't really get into the details. Dr. John pulled some of JC's joint fluid out before he injected him, and it should be an egg-like consistency. Sticky, and it should string itself when you dab your finger and "pull" it....Jimmy's was like water. It was completely liquid, almost no pull to it whatsoever. So, he said that's NOT good and luckily JC is on the Adequan so over time his joint fluid will improve, plus the injections will help him.

I asked John how often we will need to inject JC and he said if we're lucky, just this once, which is GREAT news! But he said, if need be, we will do it 1 or 2 times a year. Definitely something I can handle. My old horse Slim used to get done every 6 months like clockwork and he got EVERYTHING injected that could be injected! Then again, he was an ex grand prix horse who was still doing the 3'6" with me at age 17. He was a champ.

So that's the update on JC's joint juice! It sucks and he needs lots of fancy supplements to make him well. Lucky for me I listened to John months ago and put JC on Cosequin ASU (man, that loading dose was a $tinker. Thank God it's over and a mere $54 a month from now on!!!)

UPDATE: On my way in this morning I was listening to one of my favorite songs, "Chicken Fried" and a line stuck out to me, "There's no dollar sign on a piece of mind"...which I really translated in my "I really think I know the lyrics" mind to "There's no dollar sign on peace of mind" because that's how I feel about this whole experience with Jimmy. The vet bills are getting higher by the minute it seems, but knowing he's going to be all good makes me feel wonderful and at ease about it all. There's no dollar sign on peace of mind.

Injections=DONE!

Tonight Dr. John came out and did Jimmy's injections. Short and sweet and now he's done! Friday, as planned, he still gets to go outside :) Here are some pix from tonight! One of him being a chub, and one of him all drunk from getting his fetlocks injected!

HA Injections

Yesterday John (my vet) and I discussed the fact that Jimmy needs HA injections to promote cartilage repair after this surgery. Since the chips were so pesky, they did quite a bit of damage in the cartilage to his fetlocks. Hence the Cosequin ASU, Adequan, etc.

The surgeon had told me that injections of HA were entirely optional, but the more John and I discussed them... I realized the option was plainly "get the injections, or else" HAHA. I love my vet, because he never sugar coats things like this for me. I was having a hard time making the financial decision to say "Yes, add it to my bill" (which is already creeping upwards of I-dont-wanna-admit-it-thousand) when I asked the same question I always ask him "What happens if I don't"...and he told me something that kind of hit me like a brick to the chest while running a marathon..."Jimmy's chances of being sound in the long run aren't very good without every bit of help you can give him. These injections will significantly improve his soundness, even in the long-run" So, crap. Tuesday night, we're getting injected.

When I first told Bill that Jimmy needed surgery, his reaction was priceless, "This is really going to put a damper on your Croc purchases." I love that boy more than anything in the world. Between him and Jimmy (even with all of his meds and shots and surgeries and bills), I'm pretty much as lucky as it gets :-)