If you need something to change

If you need something to change then you need to change something.

Or the other version which is my favourite all time quote: “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting the outcome to change”

So the few of you who read my previous post, Barefoot Brain ache, will know that we need something to change in the gorgeous grey Cal’s less than perfect feet. I would love to have another rock crunching barefooter that skips easily over all surfaces.

The four pillars of barefoot performance are Diet Environment Exercise Trim (DEET hmmm)

Diet we can write a book about but our management has been pretty focussed for a couple of years. Environment is evolving- track around the field, surfaces being developed. Exercise- mostly adequate, we can always do more. The best barefoot horses do 50 miles a week.

Cal hasn’t been jumping very well over the last few months and we have all been scratching our heads about what the problem may be. Husband Gary and a couple of friends were all sure it was foot related, I thought it was more likely to be breathing related as his feet were not particularly worse than they have been in previous years. A healthy horse should have healthy feet, so my reasoning was that if the feet aren’t healthy, the horse must be systemically unwell.

http://hoofgeek.com/hoof-balance/

However Gary finally decided that speculating about the whole horse and systemic problems was getting us nowhere and proved his commitment to the cause by taking Cal off to Nantwich Vets for hoof x-rays, for which I am very grateful (truly I am darling xx)

Unlike the previous set, these recent x-rays were technically well executed, with hairline and frog marked and position on the board even and balanced. If you ever need to get hoof X-rays done then the link below contains really helpful information on how to do set them up to be of maximum use- I wish I had found and read this link before I got the first set of pictures done last year, as they just were not good enough to be truly diagnostic. And as paying customers we should know what quality we expect and deserve.

http://www.thelaminitissite.org/understanding-x-rays.html

So the X-rays were technically beautiful but quite shocking: Cal’s soles were paper thin. Amazing he was working at all really. The pedal bone is thin and plate shaped and the angle to the ground was very flat. The advice from Campbell the vet was that he needed “rest” and shoes with pads.

Now I’m not into contradicting vets but I have learnt over the last few years that vets (like surgeons) (I’m a surgeon) are really good at recommending what they know and understand and really bad at examining alternatives. So a vet with limited experience of barefoot horses and no experience of barefoot rehab is unlikely to recommend a barefoot solution to a barefoot problem. Hence the search for a barefoot friendly vet.

So much of what we do to our horses is for our convenience and wellbeing and not theirs. How can box rest be good for animals designed to move 20 miles a day? How can 3 small meals a day be good for an animal that produces constant stomach acid and eats for 16 hours a day in the wild? How can individual stables and single turnout paddocks be healthy for a species that loves to perform mutual grooming and rolling activity and engage in horseplay? Since our horses have been living out in a herd and showing us how well they can look after themselves provided with the correct husbandry conditions, I have come to understand how vital movement and species specific behaviour is to the health and mental well-being of the horses in our care. #friendsforagefreedom should be the mantra of every true equestrian

https://www.facebook.com/scottishabrc/photos/a.302847419893853.1073741830.289363031242292/640345712810687/?type=3&theater

So rest, shoes and pads.

“rest” in our book means natural day to day movement as much as comfortable. Hooves need stimulation to grow so any form of foot rehab must include the maximum possible movement. The question is how to make that movement possible, helpful and comfortable.

Now I had got myself to a point that were metal shoes absolutely essential then I would consider them. absolutely essential

Now, after years of practice, I am really good at thinking outside the box and I’m sorry but I firmly believe that nailed on metal shoes are intrinsically harmful to horse foot health,

http://www.inside-out-hoofcare.co.uk/articles/the-side-effects-of-metal-shoes

So the correct question is “what did the vet hope the recommended shoes and pads would achieve?”

And could this aim be achieved by other means?

e.g. glue on shoes or hoof boots?

The aim of shoes and pads was to thicken the sole. Apparently constant even pressure on the sole causes the horse to put down more sole, and it can happen really quickly, over a few weeks or a single shoeing cycle.

Epona shoes looked really good, but there is no one local fitting them yet.

http://www.eponashoe.com/about/eponashoe-difference/

Can we achieve this same effect with hoof boots? Allowing for the enormous soup plate feet?

My previous hoof boots have been clunky, flicked off at canter, spun around, and generally looked too heavy and stiff to wear for long periods of time without rubbing.

Until now 🙂

http://scootboots.com/

are just an amazing product. They are lightweight, soft flexible but still sturdy rubber, they fit Cal!! they sit beautifully, there is room to fit a 3mm pad inside the boots, the clasps are simple and functional. So far Cal has been wearing them constantly for about a month, with no rubbed hair or skin damage and only minor thrush. I have been taking them off once a week to let the air get to his frogs and to treat with cider vinegar. The soles are getting thicker day by day.

Photo below shows Scoot Boot in background and fairly typical foot picture in between trims.

The other thing the x-rays showed was quite how long his toes are. I knew this.

The white line has been stretched for ages; his feet look OK at the top and then have the tendency to curve off out like Turkish slippers. Successive trims haven’t shortened the toe much, I got to a point where I myself was taking the toe back a little once a fortnight in between trims but they almost seemed to grow again overnight. And if the toe is running forward how can the sole get thicker?

So if you need something to change….you need to change something.

So I eventually came to the conclusion we suddenly needed to be more radical.

Eventually = Lots of soul searching, reading, advice, internet consultations, trimmer consultations, more research, more reading.

And then suddenly= a big gulp, a prod from a pair of experienced horse professionals and a bit of gut instinct.

Toes right back to the white line, heels left alone.

Sole shots to follow. 

His landing was immediately better, as was his action. It’s not a miracle, but he is stomping around with his boots on. He dragged me down to the house the other day. I’ll report back in 5 weeks.

Does Cal the gorgeous grey, feel better in himself?

Yes immeasurably.

Is it all about the feet?

His breathing has also improved with the advent of autumn….I guess I won’t know which inflammation feeds which until next summer.

We’ve also gone right back to basics with diet- that’s a story for another day.

DIET                           EXERCISE                              ENVIRONMENT                                          TRIM