Farriery

[altivo]

We had an "emergency" visit from the farrier this morning. The horses are normally on an eight week schedule, and he was due two weeks from today, but Tess' hooves have grown out so much in six weeks that she was getting little chips and cracks on the edges. Gary thought the sole of her hoof was flaking badly, too, though I was pretty sure that was OK. Anyway, we asked John to make an early visit which he did. He agreed with me that the soles shedding was normal due to the wet weather after being very dry all winter. However, she did need a trim, and he took quite a lot off each foor. She was very well behaved, though at one point on the off fore she twitched a bit. Then he asked me if we had vet wrap, which we did but it took me a while to locate it.

Turns out she had a "corn" on the sole of her foot that had been there for some time. He's been working around it and just trimming it level for a while now. He decided today that he should remove it by cutting it out. That's why she twitched, I'm sure it hurt a bit. She bled for a moment, but by the time I found the wrap, the peroxide, and he got an infant sized disposable diaper from his car to make a pad for her foot, it had already stopped. Just a few drops, really. He cleaned the wound with peroxide, padded it, and put blue vet wrap over it. So now she has one blue foot, for just a couple of days. No sign of lameness soo far, though he did find a fairly large stone embedded in the sole along with the corn.

I guess horses get corns on their feet just as people do, or like we get calluses at least. He said it was started by a bruise or perhaps that stone, and the hoof grew thicker there to cover it. She's a fastidious girl and isn't likely to get the foot too dirty for the next few days, and that should be all she needs.

Comments

[avon-deer.livejournal.com]

Can weather conditions affect hooves? That might explain the early visit.

I had no idea horses got corns. I had to have one of those dug out once. It's amazing how we live in an era where we have put men on the moon. Yet when it comes to pain, all the chiropodist could offer me was a rolled up rag to bite down. I felt like some 18th Century sailor being flogged for stealing from the galley.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Well, there are several factors, actually. Weather enters into it, but the fast growth is probably nutrition. After her grass founder incident three years ago, our vet recommended giving Tess a food supplement for hoof health, and I started her on one. Hooves grow out slowly and it took over a year before we were sure it had made a difference. In June I cut back on the amount we were giving her because her feet were starting to look really healthy again. Since that time, on every visit John has trimmed nearly a half inch from her hooves. He says he can't believe how well she is doing.

All I can say is it darn well should be better, that supplement is expensive and I've bought a dozen or more buckets of it now.

As long as I've had Tess, which is half her life, six years now, she's been "touchy" about that off fore. Not lame, just didn't like having it handled or cleaned. This corn thing could be the reason, and perhaps the rapid growth has let us clear it up for good... I hope...

[soanos.livejournal.com]

Aww... Poor Tess. Well, I hope she will be okay now, now that the stone is out of the way and her hooves can grow normally.

Give her some hugs and carrots from the zebra for being a brave girl. :)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Heh. She's limping just slightly this afternoon, though she seemed normal this morning. John did say she might do that. Unfortunately, I think she's also smart enough to do it for sympathy. I was going to take her out to the pasture, but decided not to do that because I didn't want her on uneven ground with the limp. She was making a fuss, so I gave her a little extra hay, something she always likes.

Yesterday after John finished, I figured she'd go back to her morning hay that she had not yet completely eaten. Nope. She kept following me along the fence hoping for a treat. I figured she'd been good enough, and gave her a couple of horse treats (small biscuits of pressed grain flavored with vanilla or peppermint.) John usually disapproves of that but he didn't say anything.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

Poor Tess, but at least she didn't put up too much of a fuss.
A stone and a corn, poor tess.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm about to go check on her and see if she's OK. But I don't expect any trouble. John knows his stuff.

[hellmutt.livejournal.com]

Good horse chiropodist. Have biscuit. Good Bluefoot, too.

The detail about using a nappy for a foot pad was so surprising, it made me smile.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

He has recommended that in the past, but I always figured I couldn't tape it on so it would stay put. This time he showed Gary how (I was holding her head and couldn't see.)