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We Are Flying Solo

August 22, 2013

I Could Fund Dr. Bob's Retirement. I Probably Do.

Stomp.  Stomp.  Stomp.  Stomp.

With that, we were down for the count again.  If you follow us on Facebook, you already know that Encore has the dubious distinction of managing to bruise all four of his feet at once.  While I felt rather relived when Dr. Bob pronounced his diagnosis, as it was far better than whatever mysterious thing my brain was dreaming up, it was still frustrating and a bit disheartening whilst in the middle of it.  Bite me, fall schedule.

This year has been akin to hoof  murder for many, though.  It went something like this:

Enjoying dinner in a ditch in mismatched anti-stomp finery.
Wet
Dry
Wet
Wet
Wet
Dry
FLIES FLIES FLIES
Wet
Wet
FLIESDRYWETFLIESAGH!

Shoes came loose, muscles got sore from ground concussion, and everyone ended up aggravated.

Sometimes it seems like my sexy brown horse is bent on getting out of work.  Each time we get into the swing of things, we crash into the wall.  Even Dr. Bob shakes his head a bit because Encore has great conformation, wonderful athleticism, and worlds of try.  And there is certainly not anything wrong with him outside of his back's arthritic changes, which have done great with injections and caused no further issues.  He just seems to have picked up his owner's penchant for hurt-yourself-just-enough-to-be-annoying.  Naturally, Mr. Solo Of The Wussy Feet...is fine.

Making a list of his creative ways of hurting himself does make me feel better though.  Yeah, that sounds odd, doesn't it??  But it does remind me that they are all just poorly-timed little things.   A pulled ligament, a foot bruise (psh, who does just one, go big or go home!), a sore muscle.  Irritating, yes, but undeniably a part of owning the sporthorse!

His back feet have already blown out their abscesses.  His hocks were a bit sore from compensating for sore feet and more stomping, so we injected the lower hock joints to tide him through healing (heck, he raced for three years, it's not like he's never had a joint injection) by reducing soreness and letting him move more smoothly and naturally.  Interesting tidbit:  I asked Dr. Bob if there was any data about hock injections in terms of future prognosis, as I know he keeps up on his science.  I was very happy to learn that with hocks, the injections do not exacerbate any issues or limit your treatment window in the same way that coffin or fetlock joint injections can.

He'll stay on his bute until his front feet decide to erupt, remaining in a light riding schedule on grass to help keep the blood pumping in his feet and encourage those bruises to move out and heal.  And of course, I broke out my Durasole and introduced the two of them, along with my fly boots!  I already know from his radiographs that he has lovely, thick soles, they just need to be a bit harder this year to battle the crazed weather on top of hard ground in which rocks are a cash crop.  I also picked up this nifty little battery-powered fly mister for the run-in shed.

Keep an eye on those tootsies, folks, and don't forget, proactive is always better than reactive!  And less expensive, sigh...

15 comments:

  1. Oh no!
    Yep, global warming is here. Rain? Here? During the summer? 80 degrees and pouring doesn't happen in N California. Coupled with Worst Fly Season Ever, gah. It's hard on legs. The horses legs too. ;) Hope Encore is back to normal quickly!

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  2. Thanks! Yes, welcome to our world. Don't forget the coastal areas that are already flooding thanks to sea level rise. Although, I guess, since I am a freshwater biologist, this means my work area gets smaller and more easily accessible?

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  3. I hear you on the flies, not only is my farm 15 or so miles from the coast, but its also right next to the Dismal Swamp. YEAH! Not. Those fly misters are great! I've had one in my run-in since we've had the farm. Just make sure you put it up high enough that curious equine noses won't dislodge it or pop the loading door open. My husbands ApHC used to do that before I put it up higher. Lazy mare of course never touched it.

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  4. All of this plus my TB has THIN soles. He's been on and off lame since him PPE. FAIL. At least he grows hoof evenly and has a solid wall to work with. Sigh.

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  5. I hear ya. My boy has some mild foot soreness at the moment, too. Even with good, solid feet, the constant stomping and weird weather is just brutal.

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  6. Tons of rain and then dry as a bone, followed by tons more rain. It's been a weird time weather wise in NC for real.

    I'm watching Val like a hawk as we already had a long-a$$ abscess nightmare this spring. Hope Mr. Encore heals up fast!!

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  7. Thanks, and my thoughts are with all the horsey feet out there! Cooperate and humour your riders, whydoncha?!

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  8. Bah!! No fun. Thank god my redhead has grown a halfway decent foot since I got her (her soles were so thin you could depress them with your thumb!) and goes like gangbusters in well-fitted boots, including galloping and jumping. PHEW on that!

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  9. You could be writing about my gelding - not the best feet (my farrier says he's seen worse). All my horses wear fly masks, fly sheets (with neck covers). Got fly boots this year for all four legs *and* bought Old Macs for my gelding Friday because if he didn't wear them he'd be a repeat of Encore. It's a pain, but this year none of the horses have chipped feet, Friday only gets sore if I misjudge the ground hardness after the rain and don't put on his Old Macs. Ain't these horses fun?

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  10. Andrea, glad the red beast has grown a better foot out! And HAT, sounds like your horses go about masquerading as giant ghosts, hahahha!

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  11. So I take it you aren't going to the jumper show either! While there's nothing wrong with Foster (for now *knock on wood*) this rain has seriously screwed up our schedule and I can't go tomorrow like I wanted! Weather be crazy...

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  12. Bleh, that sucks, but at least it's not something worse! I spent 4 months on abscesses this winter, no fun.

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  13. Four months?! Argh, hate the things!

    Nope, brit, won't make the show, maybe in Sept, sigh.

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  14. I was given a 3 (almost 4) year old thoroughbred in May 2012- he wasn't broke and didn't have shoes on him. I didn't have money for shoes at the time, but figured I'd have to put them on sometimes...

    magically, he is still running around (novice) without shoes. never taken a lame step. it's freaking amazing! However, his feet are also CHOMPED TO FREAKING PIECES from the dry weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet x80000 fliessss ridiculousness going on. I cry over the aesthetics of his feet. But somehow he's always sound, and the farrier has been in utter disbelief that he's a barefoot thoroughbred running around just fine ha.

    I'm a huge fan of anything with turpentine in it for the bottom of their soles- seemed to REALLY help toughen up my boy's feet when I first got him. I'm pretty sure it helps the boys with shoes, too. And durasol is my fav.

    Good luck with all the feet problem! :(

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  15. Alchemy, I would LOVE to leave Encore barefoot -- I kept him that way until fall 2012. Unfortunately, I needed to start studding him because he slipped on course and hurt himself, screwing up our fall season.

    He grows tough feet and did fine bare or just with front shoes for the first year (it grows rocks around here -- sharp pointy evil ones). Too bad you can't just file spikes into their hoof wall for extra traction!!!

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