Eradicating founder--Part trois

Meet Dandee. I was called by Dandee's owner Wilma in Nov. of '08. Wilma told me Dandee had foundered that Spring and diagnosed with Cushing's. The reason for her call is she was at the end of her rope seeing Dandee in such pain and so miserable. She was considering putting him down but wondered if I could take him and do something for him. Of course, we aren't a rescue (we're a rehab center) so the answer the second question was, no I couldn't take him but I could help him.

Wilma was doing everything the vet had prescribed. Dandee was dry lotted, and on Pergolide, but the prescription wasn't working. He in pain, lonely and grumpy. This was not the horse she had bought and worse she was now becoming afraid of his aggressive behavior. Wilma felt it was cruel to keep him this way.

I went to evaluate him and the condition of his feet were appalling. (Unfortunately I don't have any before pictures but trust me they were awful.) He is (another!) one of those horses whose wall did not grow longer than the sole, it just flared forward. The farrier would try his best to "shorten the toe" but all he would do was nip into his sole and this made Dandee VERY sore.

I trimmed Dandee as I do, which is from the top, and Dandee never looked back. He was totally sound after the trim and his owner was VERY happy. We also talked about alternatives to the expensive medications. I'm not a veterinarian but when an owner is being bankrupted by high medication costs with no visible results, then a change must occur. There are several herbal remedies available along with a good vitamin/mineral supplements that can make dramatic differences.

Dandee now is turned out with his herd mates and is totally sound. He has regained his former pleasant attitude and his hooves look and operate just as they should. We still need to grow in a more connected hoof wall, but the improvements are great. Dandee is even shedding this year! ( he did not last year)

Wilma wanted her story shared because she spent so much time and money and did not see any results. She was frustrated, her horse was miserable and her pocket book was empty. Now, she has her horse back and her wallet is recovering!

Understanding and eradicating founder

I met Doug Bruce for the first time several months ago at my clients H.F. Young's farm. He watched me trim H.F.'s Percheron mares and asked many questions about what I was doing. He told me he had a foundered horse and he was not sure if he was getting the right trim job for this horse. Then on February 21st Doug showed up again at H.F's and wanted me to look at his horse.

Duke is a 10 yr. old Halflinger gelding who has foundered every spring since he was 7 yr.s old. Duke has the type of hooves whose walls do not grow 'long' in the usual sense. Instead, they grow flared out and even with the sole. This is a problem for conventional farriers who trimmed the hoof by removing wall from the bottom with nippers. This invariably exacerbated the flaring and kept the hoof in the vicious cycle of stretching and separating that it was in. Worse, by trimming only from the bottom the horse lost precious sole material and the result was pain.

I trim "From the Top" which brings the toe back safely without removing any sole. By removing the leveraging forces that are pulling the wall away from the coffin bone Duke's foot has a chance of growing in properly and in a year he will have gorgeous healthy feet.

The side benefit is that by not removing any sole I did not cause Duke any pain during his trim. Doug said he had never seen Duke stand so well in all the years he had owned him. He'd always been a problem for the farrier but he was a perfect gentleman for me. Perhaps he was such a gentleman because I didn't hurt him. Hmmm? Now, Doug thinks these hooves now look great right now! And they do, for Day 1. Wait till he sees them in another few months, he won't believe his eyes. That's why I take pictures!

Of course, we are also implementing dietary changes and supplements to help support Duke's body since we know that founder is not just a trimming issue it is a metabolism issue.

Doug wanted us to tell his story because there are many other horses out there like Duke. Horses doomed to a life of misery because none of the professionals that owners rely on for health care know what to do to fix it. We'd like to show them there is a way, not just to cope, but to fix it! How can we as a community get on the radar with vets and farriers in order to help more horses live healthier, happier, more productive lives? Ideas welcome!

Eliminating "dominance"

I subscribe to a book discussion group on yahoo called DogRead. Yes, it is about dogs. But, hey, I've got dogs and when it comes to training, well, good training is good training. So there is always something of interest. Anyway, this month's author is Jim Barry and the book being discussed is called, "The Ethical Dog Trainer."

It is interesting how often times people think that training horses is somehow different from training dogs, mainly due to the fact that one is prey and the other predator. While it is true understanding the species does help us train better the fact is the basics apply across the board. Jim is a trainer who believes in using positive methods as do I. So the post he titled "Dominance" caught my eye since that is a word that gets 'bandied about' in the context of horse training just as it does among dog trainers. So, I wondered what he'd have to say about that and it turns out it really resonated with me.

"I have almost entirely purged [the word dominance] from my vocabulary with clients, except when they raise it and I then try to offer different perspectives. One that I have found to work well is the idea of "teamwork." It helps the members of the coaching staff (Humans) to realize that they have some key responsibilities to the athletes (dogs), namely to teach the basic skills, establish the rules of the game, and change the game plan if necessary." --Jim Barry

Now, he says "dogs" but that quote could just as easily said "horses". My own opinion about dominance is that it is a word that is way over used among horse folk. I like the idea that my role as the Human in the Horse/Human (or Human/Human) equation is more like that of a (good) Coach as opposed to the Boss or (even worse IMO) the "Alpha Mare". I guess that explain how it is I can feel that teaching horses or humans utilizes the same basic skills (adjusting for species as needed of course!).

Amazing recovery

It is pretty obvious from the photo that Jazz, a 3 year old TWH, is in a lot of pain due to founder. Jazz is currently residing at Mustang Alley Horse Rescue (located in Greeneville, TN and owned by Kathy Grant). Jazz had been surrendered by her owner who had recently purchased her because it was obvious that the horse was in trouble. However, being a horse novice, she didn't understand just how much trouble she was in. When it was clear she was in over her head she sought out Kathy's help. This was back in November, 2008. Kathy's farrier was doing his best but the horse wasn't improving and even bute was not able to provide any comfort. Most would put the horse down as a lost cause. Somehow Kathy contacted Lauren around the beginning of February 2009.

When we arrived poor Jazz was pretty miserable. We looked at her feet and they were, not a surprise, a mess. The previous farrier was doing the conventional founder trim which is to leave the heels high. This is supposedly to relieve pressure on the digital flexor tendon. This never made any sense to us because it just forces the coffin bone into a more leveraged position. Lauren's trim is based on bringing the coffin bone into a normal position and trimming away the lamellar wedge (which is what really forces the rotation). This allows the foot to start growing in better from the top down and in several months the horse will have 'new' foot--sans rotation. That's the plan!

Knowing the crucial role that diet plays in recovering from founder Lauren immediately suggested eliminating grain and starting her on Devil's Claw for the inflammation and pain and Silver Lining Herbs' Kidney Cleanse formula. She further advised taking Jazz off the bute.

The other crucial factor in any barefoot transition is movement. So getting her walking is important. Lauren fitted Jazz with boots in order to help her be more comfortable walking. This really helped a lot and Kathy complied with all the suggestions for diet changes and gentle hand walking.

We couldn't be more excited to see this photo taken 2 weeks into the new program! She still has a long way to go but this is already a huge improvement. Jazz's prospects for the future look mighty good indeed. Kathy is doing great work at Mustang Alley... all non-profit. She deserves all the help she can get. Check her out at http://www.mustangalley.org/

It doesn't have to be like that

I have been working for the last couple/few months with a 6 yr old gaited mare named Pamela. The mare is owned by a lovely, but mostly inexperienced, older couple who are so tickled with the change in their horse. When we started this mare was so not OK. The slightest sudden move would have her leaving just as quick. Even though this mare had been ridden before (in fact had been a 'show horse') it was full of tension and worry. As soon as the rider mounted the mare was... outta there. The previous owner apparently thought this was normal and 'just the way show horses should be'. Huh? OK not my world. But the fact is, the horse is now in my world and I say, it just doesn't need to be like that!

So I decided to work with the mare as if she'd never been ridden before. I've been visiting with Pamela once a week and working on haltering, leading, ground work, and preparations to ride. My goal has been to ride this girl bareback wearing just a halter and lead rope.

Initially it took a good 30 minutes to get her to agree to let me put a halter on her! She lives with her son in a good sized paddock so I spent a lot of time convincing her that she should even let me approach her and touch her. In the beginning as soon as I touched her back she was gone--to the other side of the paddock! Now the process is down to 5 minutes.

I've also been doing a lot of ground work in preparation for riding. It's all been about getting her relaxed, focused, and softly following my feel. Clicker training has played a crucial role in getting her to believe that maybe she's left that other world for good. I've been very happy with her progress. And yesterday I achieved my first goal which was to ride her bareback! I even managed to get it on video.

There are three videos. The first one is the haltering process. The second one is the ten minutes or so I spent prepping to getting on. The third one is getting on and walking a little ways. It may not seem like much. I guess you'd have to have seen how uptight this mare was before to appreciate just how sweet, calm, and OK she is in these videos. A great start to a new life.