FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread 12

[HairOfTheDog]

The FreeRepublic Saddle Club - (very out of date) Who's Who *pics*

This is a horse chat thread where we share ideas, ask for input from other horsemen, and talk about our riding and horse-keeping. We have a lot of different kinds of riders and horses, and a lot to share, usually about our horses, sometimes about our dogs, gardens and other stuff we do. :~)

I have a ping list for horse threads that are of interest, and MissTargets will ping everyone most mornings. Let MissTargets and/or me know if you would like to be on the ping list.

So... like the previous threads, this is intended as fun place to come and share stories, pictures, questions and chit-chat, unguided and unmoderated and that we come together here as friends.

Previous threads:

The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - thread ONE
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - Thread TWO!
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - Thread THREE!
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread FOUR
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread FIVE
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread SIX
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread SEVEN
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread EIGHT
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread NINE
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread TEN
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread 11

New folk and occasional posters, jump right in and introduce yourselves, tell us about your horses, and post pictures if you've got them!

[HairOfTheDog]

Well, I just gave him some. I agree. Even if it is his feet... bruising or inflammation, it might help. I'm not sure we want to interfere with the process if he's abscessing, but I don't think he is. I'll give it to him for a few days and see.

We were out of molasses, which I usually dissolve the bute in, along with water. The bottle I've used for years must have finally been empty last time. So I dissolved it in Orange Mango Gatorade in the syringe and walked it out there and gave it to him. It smelled good. He didn't seem to like it any more than usual, but Cyn was real interested in it. ;~) What do you think of that?

[Duchess47]

LOve the picture :)

Orange Mango Gatorade sounds good - if it smells as good as it sounds like it would, no wonder she’s interested.

I don’t think giving him Bute for a few days will hurt him at all, and he’ll feel better.

[HairOfTheDog]

RE: Bay's feet hurt

[Duchess47]

Okay, I followed links and even watched the video. IMHO only, Bay is not terribly lame (I was really worried reading the threads). He looks stiff (he's a bit past middle aged and it's cold and wet)but he doesn't look ouchy. His neck looks a bit thick but not really cresty and like I said, he's a bit past middle aged. I wouldn't panic, let your farrier pull his shoes for the winter if you think he'll do okay barefoot and let him rest. I personally don't care much for cob, I think I'd put him on equine senior. He looks like he's carrying a bit more weight than usual but that might just be the winter hair.

Bear in mind, I'm not a farrier or a vet, but I've sure watched a lot of horses that are off. Also, he's not my horse so I wouldn't catch the subtle cues that you would. How do his eyes look?

[HairOfTheDog]

It’s his eyes and expression that make me think he’s lame. He’s got no spirit, no daring do...

I’m not concerned about his neck, really. He’s had that cresty neck since I got him. Half of what I think people think is crest is his overgrown bridle path. So I agree that’s a false trail, I think.

The problem with equine senior is I don’t feed near enough grain for it to be a balanced meal. I feed less than a pound at each feeding and I’d have to feed at least three pounds to get the minimum nutrition to not have to add a vitamin supplement.

The Mare and Maintenance is concentrated for people who don’t feed very much. I think it’s a good choice and I’m weaning them off the cob, mixing it now and will slowly go to the straight pellet.

I appreciate that you don’t think he’s that bad. I tend to think he’s about to crash or founder if I don’t do something rather quickly. I just hate to see him moping around.

[Duchess47]

How does he look/act if you give him some bute? How does he stand? Does he point a toe or put his weight more on the back feet? Are his hooves warm? (I’m pretty sure you said they weren’t) Is his gait off (short stepping or anything like that?

[Duchess47]

Imagine you have a sprained ankle or a bad corn or an ingrown toenail. Does he seem like that?

Or, imagine being stiff and sore from maybe really hard work. Does he seem like that?

[HairOfTheDog]

I think he might have been better today after the bute. He’s still off at the trot, but he did it... trotted in when I went out at dinner. He doesn’t stand funny. Not foundery.

[HairOfTheDog]

He’s not that ‘acutely’ limping/hopping lame, like a sprain. More like an ache, or like both his feet ache. Like the video. Normally I can’t stop him on the lunge... And today I’d be prodding him to get him to trot.

[Duchess47]

I don’t think you need to panic. Hard not to do, I know. Try to keep him comfortable until the farrier gets there and just pull his shoes. See what happens with that.

Didn’t he wear pads for a long time until fairly recently? You might think about going back to them - ask the farrier what he thinks.

We’ve got a couple of horses that can not go barefoot in the front (and we don’t have rocks), they just have tender feet. Farah is one, no riding, nothing but lounging around but she goes lame without front shoes.

I sure hope he gets better rapidly, I’ll be praying for that. Winter is hard enough without going through it sore.

[FrogInABlender]

Aw Jeez!! I can’t believe that! And I can’t believe that he won’t come out until Thursday! I think I’d definately take Walkin Fool’s advice and send Mission Farrier School the pics of Bay’s feet because I really don’t think they’d like what they see. But I know you don’t want to burn any bridges with this guy just yet, so maybe save that one for later. Hopefully you’ll have some luck with the names you found over on the Farrier Forum. Did you ever check with any of the people listed over on the NB site?

[FrogInABlender]

I’m headed out for a ride this morning (it’s going to be 70-something degrees!) but I’ll check back in later. The parade went great and I’ve got some pics and video but aren’t sure how good they are yet. I’ll upload them later on to see. Talk to ya later...

[HairOfTheDog]

Have fun on your ride... Talk to you tonight!

I’m just sipping coffee here and trying to figure out what I’m going to do today.

[Duchess47]

How is Bay today?

[HairOfTheDog]

Ah - he’s good. - or rather, he’s not too bad. I was just about to post a link to the update here:

http://forum.horse.com/fb.asp?m=529709

New farrier coming monday.

[Duchess47]

Good - I’ll follow the link :)

[Duchess47]

:) I am not going to post over there, I’d have people yelling at me I’m sure. I really believe Bay is stiff, his feet may be a little off (I don’t like the shoes or the way they are done) but he sure doesn’t seem to be in major pain to me. He’s walking and trotting along say - hey, let me find a sunny spot okay. I’m supposed to be off for the winter.

[HairOfTheDog]

I think you’re probably not far off and I don’t think anyone would yell at you :~) I do think his feet hurt, but I think it’s not unreasonable for him to be a little stiff in the cold.

I may do a round of bute for a week and see if it loosens him up.

[Duchess47]

I doubt he will even need bute for a week. Just try a day or so and see how that does.

:) I can handle Frog and Becky yelling at me but the guys on horse.com go for blood.

[HairOfTheDog]

A few grouches, but rarely ever blood ;~)

But that’s fine, we’ll talk here :~D