Since then (Tuesday) I have not taken Mara out at all, not even for hand walks. It's scary and frustrating that a horse who practically does no work at all can be not 100% sound. I haven't even gotten to the point where I'm conditioning her, due to cirumstances you all know about. Her workload this past month was groundwork and conservative lunging 30 minutes, and 30 minutes of undersaddle work at mostly the walk, 3 days per week. Also an occasional trail walk in hand where she also carries me a little way.
I'm thinking it's hoof related due to it being her first Winter living off concrete. Remember when I got her last April, she had rock hard hooves from standing on concrete 24 hours a day, all Winter long. (Concrete stall with concrete paddock.)
So this week and going forward, at breakfast I clean Mara's feet fastidiously, including brushing them out until they're dry, then I let her eat on thick dry bedding. After her noon nap I scrub her feet with Betadine and a toothbrush, or put neosporin in any crevice I find in the frogs. I'm going to start alternating anti-fungal cream too. I sharpened my hoof knife and got some flaps cut out, and only found a couple specks of black potential-thrush. Her frogs/heels are not sensitive to hand manipulation, but she does not want to walk over the gravel outside her paddock.
I keep them off the pasture in the afternoon, only after the evening hay (at dusk) do I open up the paddocks and let them out to the field. No sugar at all for Mara, or at least, very little. I give her the heel of the bread loaf but the donkey gets normal slices. The donkey gets apples but none for Mara: (
Why am I not feeding free-choice hay? Both my animals are So Very Fat. I don't know what from - they both share one small bale per day. The bales here are much smaller than in America, perhaps half the size/weight. It's like they're fat on air. Our pasture has nothing much to offer right now except movement and browsing. I give Mara one cup of soaked beet pulp with vitamins per day. The donkey gets a handful of pellets out of pity. Optimally I would be feeding them both straw as well, but I haven't located a source yet. It's been a long time since I've had a fat horse.
She's getting much better at lifting her hooves (still not perfect, can you believe it?) and when she gives me her LF and RF equally easily, I'll take it as a sign she's feeling better.
Here is a video of her trotting on the day when I realized she was lame. There's not much to see here because she's trotting at normal speed: http://youtu.be/UQhAobAKRrw
I started teaching her to pick things up with her mouth, since she does that naturally. The cloth didn't work so I tried a stick and that really worked. The thing is, I can't get her to spit it out when I click the clicker, to give her the treat!
I gave her an old ripped up tarp; I laid it on the ground in her tiny paddock, covering almost the entire paddock, and asked her to turn on the haunches, moving her forelegs onto it. She really has no fear of tarps at all. I'll have to find something more challenging.
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Although Mara is an all-weather mare, preferring to stand in pouring rain (and hail and snow) than to stay dry, I wanted to try on one of Baasha's old blankets in case she ever seems cold or for when it gets down to -10C. I think it fits. I had this blanket altered because it's such a poor design, when a horse would lift its tail to poop, the sides of the blanket would pull together under the tail so the blanket would catch the poop. I took it to an alternations shop and asked them to cut out the tail area. It seems to have worked. I don't like the neck design of this Schneiders blanket, in pouring rain the entire chest of the horse will be wet, and it puts pressure directly on the withers. And now with my alteration, the butt of the horse isn't gonna be toasty warm either: (
At least it's big enough that I can get the belly straps fastened on my marshmallow of a horse. The Amigo blanket straps don't reach under her! (Can you buy extensions for the belly straps for particularly round horses?)
This blanket has faded from its orginal rich color. I think Mara would look great in dark burgundy if I were to pick a color for her besides black and white.
10 comments:
Are there any labs in Germany that do hay testing? Grass hay can still be high in sugar, and if you're concerned about insulin resistance, I'd stay away from straw for sure. It's notoriously high in sugar. There is a great Yahoo group called the Equine Cushings and Insulin Resistance group run by Dr. Eleanor Kellon, an equine vet specializing in nutrition. There are members from all over the world sharing resources. I hope this helps.
And I hope Mara's lameness resolves soon!
Footiness is very often metabolic, rather than mechanical. Could be the overweight is pushing her a bit over the line. The typical things that affect hoof health are feedstuffs that are too high in sugars, but if you aren't feeding her those then it's possible it's her weight. If you can get it, a supplement with biotin, zinc and copper might also be of some help in growing solid feet.
You may want to try a slow feed hay net.
You may want to try a slow feed hay net.
Sorry she's lame! I would look into good hoof supplements. Can you get smartpak over there? Dani has decent feet but with her little cracking in the quarters I started her on a supplement that has what Kate suggested. So far so good, still early to tell but especially when they are just getting hay they are lacking other nutrients they would normally get from pasture. Hope you don't have to shoe her but I know with some horses that often is the answer. Good luck!
I have found that my barefoot horses are always a bit 'hobble-ly' over gravel and rough ground - not because they are lame, but because their feet are sensitive to the unevenness of the surface.
Of course, if she's lame on flat, even surfaces as well - like an arena - that probably indicated some sort of soundness issue. An abscess perhaps? My horse lives in 24/7 pasture turn out, and will occasionally blow an abscess, which will have them a bit lame, but usually not too much.
I think some times they just get a little bit of grit, or small stones up through their white line and that can bother the hoof. I have found that the problem generally resolves itself okay, but you could try soaking with epsom salts to draw the abscess out.
bonita of A Riding Habit
I have a Schneiders blanket that I got cheaply at a used tack sale, and it fits EXACTLY the same way. No tail flap, so Fee's bumcheeks are exposed to the weather, the shoulders are all wrong, argh. I only use it with a fleece blanket under when the weather turns exceedingly awful.
Feet: Sounds crazy, but can you find some concrete for her to stand on for a few hours each day? (I know...I know...but if it worked before...)
But I'm still betting on an abscess, rather than a metabolic thing, especially if she's not tender on all four.
Keep us posted!
So sorry she is lame, I hate that unknowing what is wrong feeling. Is there any grass right now? I know after cold the grass is very sugary. What about feeding in a small-hole haynet? You can put less in, but it takes them longer to eat. I'd also be careful with doing TOO much to clean the feet, scorched earth effect if you overdo it. Good luck!
Saiph A, I wish I knew. I know we can have soil tested. I had no idea straw was high in sugar; I know it is recommended for donkeys who don't need rich food.
Kate, right, in trying to be conservative now I'm keeping them off grass during our short daylight hours. I have a great supplement here with those minerals, I'm really happy that it is balanced carefully. Most people would not consider my horse fat but I cannot feel her ribs, and she has neither a ridge nor a crease along her spine. Withers are padded so I score her between 5 and 6. To me though, that looks very fat and she does not need that weight on her soft feet right now.
Emily, I have some really nice small mesh hay nets for Bellis and Mara. It is amazing to go with the smaller mesh - they waste absolutely no hay, not even one piece of hay gets lost. I attach a net to the bottom of a trough.
Christie, Smartpak, wouldn't that be a luxury. Americans have it all: )
Bonita, see Smartpak comment above. I've looked for epson salt with no success here.
Aarene, the weather gets "two-blanket-bad" where you live? Geez! That's funny you have the same experience with a Schneiders blanket. That adjustable neck velcro strap is so ridiculous. Why would anyone want to make the neck hole smaller? That will really bother the horse when he tries to put his head down. Mara's paddock is geotiles, which are pretty hard plastic, but obviously not as hard as concrete. I wish I had the money to invest in different footing options right now: ( It was on my to-do list when I lost my job.
Irish, although we have not had many frozen nights at all (2?) I'm still making sure they are not on pasture in the afternoons. The small mesh hay nets are WONDERFUL, I'm so glad I finally got good ones. Don't worry, I don't use anything caustic on the feet. Usually I wash them with vinegar but now I'm more focusing on drying them out and keeping them dry as long as possible.
I'm behind on reading blogs..... again! I'm getting caught back up though. I hope Mara's lameness cleared up. Chrome has been a bit tender over gravel too. I'm thinking it's because he's overdue for his trim though.
Anyway I was going to mention with the clicker training, if she picks up something and you click, but she won't take the treat, don't worry about it. Just keep going with the training. A lot of times holding onto the item is the reward in itself because they are having so much fun. Chrome would get distracted all the time when he was younger and would ignore the treat. I didn't let it bother me. :) Try playing with her and/or introduce another item or something to distract her if you're wanting her to put the item down so she can pick it up again. If all else fails just praise her and walk away until she gets bored and drops it, then you can ask her to pick it up again. :D I'm happy she's so enthusiastic!
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