Sunday's Ride

I've already posted the pictures of Sunday's ride, but thought I'd write just a little bit about it.

Estes has been on injured reserve since the HCR ride.  She developed some deep tissue thrush (that's what I'm assuming it is - I'm not a vet and can't diagnose) and hasn't been rideable.  Well, actually, she probably has been rideable, but we took some time to treat her.

She seemed to be feeling better and was definitely getting sick of being left behind so I decided to give her some Bute to take the edge off so that I could take her out to stretch out a little bit.  I'd just Buted her when Compass called to see if I would join her on a two-hour ride.  Heck, why not?  I threw Bill's bareback pad on to keep my jeans clean-ish and bridled up.

Estes was eager to go and quite the handful while I was waiting for Compass' guests to get mounted up.  Estes was beside herself that we had to travel at "dude speed" when she wanted to go. Even though Compass had invited us for a two-hour, I had to get back into town, so I went out with her and planned to break away from the group when it was time for me to head back.

I finally got Estes settled into dude speed and chatted with the guests who were not having nearly as good a time as we were.  Unfortunately, the female of the couple wasn't into the ride and was not having a good time.  Her husband, on the other hand, was having a ball and feeling guilty about it, it seemed.

Before I knew it, I was at my turn back point and broke away from the group.  I felt Estes sigh in relief as she picked up a quick trot along a sandy stretch of trail.  I was as anxious as she was to move and let her stretch out a bit.  I considered moving her up into a canter, but wasn't feeling very balanced myself and decided to stay at a trot.

It felt wonderful!  Her gimpiness felt like it was gone, but I'll chalk that up to the Bute making her more comfortable.  We sought out a few aspen groves on our way back, breaking trail in the process, and picked our way between the beautiful trees.

I rode a bit harder than I had intended and was sore for two days to prove it.  Estes, however, would have been much happier if we'd stayed out another couple of hours.

As excited as I am to be going to the WPA, I'm sad that it will be another week before I can get up go for another ride.

Fall Colors

It seems like summer just got started and here it is all over, as evidenced by the gold on the mountain.

When the gold hits the trees, it's time to break out the orange...

There are hunters a foot and the only protection we have is our ability to don the hideous orange.  Orange might not be my color, but alive is and I want to stay that way.

After our beautiful ride, Estes even got in on the orange action with a little Betadine soak...

Mrs Mom's Magic Arrow-y Thing-y

I sent Estes' hoof pictures over to Mrs Mom and had her do her magic.  Only one picture was suitable, but I found it helpful and thought I'd share it.

Red Arrows- that is where your deep tissue thrush is hiding. Clean the hell out of that area, and pack with any of the treatments we discussed



Lime Green Arrows- Shows bar tissue. Not out of hand, but you'll learn to trim that back to the level of existing sole


Blue Arrow- at toe- shows her breakover/ wear pattern for that foot. Nothing bad- just thought you might find it interesting to note.


Heels are flat and level- very nice. Might be a tad high, but hell this IS a true club foot you're looking at too.


On the top shots, all that really jumped out at me was that the heels on her non-club foot are a tad high as well, (which might well explain her sore shoulder- horse's have a way of evening themselves out to cope with issues in the distal limbs,) and I see some "lines" in the hoof wall. Some folks call those "event lines". I don't have a name for them, but note them as they are an indicator of changes in the horse's life, diet, exercise level, hormone levels, past illness, etc etc etc... The lower on the hoof wall, the long ago the event that disrupted the horse's system. Higher up obviously more recent. Not usually anything to worry about- just a good overall sign for us when we "read" the hoof.


I can't tell from photos how much retained sole she may have in there. May not be much, might be tons. Club feet tend to retain a lot.


Now- on that club foot- to test how far that deep tissue thrush has invaded, and how bad it has affected the internal stability of the hoof- you need to do the following:


1- lift hoof, and clean WELL- all cracks and crevices, and hidey spots.

2- place one hand on either side of hoof- thumbs over the sole, fingers wrapping towards toe.

3- Rotate inside hand towards to, outside hand towards heel.

4- Repeat, with inside hand going towards heel, outside hand going towards toe.


What you are looking for:

Flexion. Movement. Watch the hoof. FEEL the hoof- if you see and FEEL (FEEL is CRUCIAL) a lot of movement in the hoof, that shows you the internal structures are compromised.


Which means what?

Compromised internal connective tissue means a weaker heel. Means more movement on weight bearing. Means pain on movement.


Can it be fixed?

Yes- and with no shoes.

It will take aggressive treatment by you guys, packing those openings and cracks. Hooves can heal themselves amazingly well. All we need to do is clear out the crap that has taken over in there, provide exercise to tolerance, a good diet, proper balanced trimming and staying on top of ANY thrush that will try to invade.


Your supplies:

Q-tips

PenG soaked cotton balls, tubes of the mastitis treatment, triple antibiotic- any of those will work

Or White Lightening soaked cotton balls


Any of the above to pack the holes with.


Recovery time will depend on how deep the tissue was compromised- but within a couple months you should begin to see an entirely different frog and sole. Watch her move too- she'll tell you how things are feeling in there.


We've (and by "we", I mean Mom and Bill since Estes lives with them) been treating Estes with Pen-soaked cotton balls, which seems to be helping her movement.  Monster is working with her this weekend and will take her out for a short ride to get her stretched out.  I have hope that she'll be sound again soon.

Budweiser Tribute to 9/11

This supposedly only aired once, as a tribute to those who lost their lives and helped in the rescue of the Twin Towers attack.  Thank you, Budweiser, for a beautiful tribute.

Estes' Feetsies

So here are some not very pretty pictures of Estes' feet.  Probably her shoulder problem is coming from the ground (as most of you were kind enough to point out).  She's in desperate need of a trim and I'm working on getting Mrs Mom out to Colorado to teach me how to trim her.


The fronts...

The backs...

Club foot (front right)

What do you think?  Besides the fact that her back right is in bad shape - are the heels constricting on her club foot?  I think I saw, and certainly smelled, some thrush.  Mrs Mom tells me that deep tissue thrush is common in clubby feet, so we're starting treatment for thrush.

Sorry I'm missing lateral views, as they didn't turn out well.  Next time I'm at the lodge I'll see if I can get some better lateral views.

I'm At A Loss

Estes has been gimpy off and on the whole time I've owned her.  Mostly she's been able to stretch out and get through it, but as she gets older, her gimpiness gets worse.  She's got a club foot (front right), but I feel like her gimpiness is coming from her right shoulder, because if I stretch her out or get her adjusted, it goes away (for a while).

Mom and Mrs Mom have said that club feet sometimes have an issue with constricting heels and deep tissue thrush.  I've picked her feet and didn't see any signs of thrush, but I suppose it doesn't mean it's not there.  So, if you guys would look at this video and tell me what you think is going on, I'd appreciate it.  Mrs Mom asked for pics as well, so I'll get those up next week.

Monster did the honors walking and riding her - I think her gimpiness is worse when she's being ridden.



As I'm watching this for the millionth time, I see good range of motion through the shoulder, but I know from stretching her out that it's super tight.  What about her wrist?  Does it look like she's maybe hyperextending it?