The Unshoeable Wild Mare.

Well.

We had some amazing dressagey-type work going on, but them I took a video and realized how absolutely horrible and incorrect my position is. Just BAD. And how bad she likes to duck behind the vertical.

Oh man I look bad. I mean, she looks pretty good. But I don't understand how she does better when I do worse. This is how it always happens. That's just a still from the video. I'll post the video when I get time later this week...

One of the better moments:

You wouldn't know from that or the video that she is absolutely FIGHTING me and running through me like a freight train at the canter. I'm chalking it up to being out of shape and having not been in work for 3 months, but still. She was being STRONG.

She had a day off and then the next day I rode, I tried to correct my position and the ride was just crap. She wasn't going that fast at the canter, but it was choppy and unbalanced and she was totally not listening. Just wanted to fly around and ignore me.

Casey suggested we just trot around "the old way" (hunter-Amber) and let her relax. We are picking back up today with a lesson...a no stirrups and much two-pointing lesson. My muscles are already screaming.

The possibility of her jumping again has been discussed. We will have to see what the vet thinks ultimately, but Casey and I both agree she was happiest and moving the best when she was jumping. I was totally against going back to it at first, but considering that she has remained pretty much the same, except for that one point in time where I feel that Bob screwing up her hoof angles made her lame, through everything we've done...are we really dealing with lameness anymore, or are we dealing with a conformation issue and a horse that just bumps those toes on the ground because that's just her movement. She DOES hand heel first on the hind and she DOES track up. I examined this in our video. She has a ton of "lift" in the canter.

But we will see. If we keep the fences low and the work moderate, and keep vets and chiros involved, I want her to do it if she can because she wants to.

Now...you might be wondering what's up with my blog title for today?

Well, yesterday her old farriers were in Goldsboro and called Casey to see if anyone needed any of their clients had thrown a shoe. I told her if they had time and wanted to come by, the could go ahead and shoe Amber.

And upon their examination of Amber's hooves, she doesn't even have enough hoof wall to hold a shoe. Super. So we are waiting a few weeks for more hoof to grow down, and then we will see what we have.

The last blog I posted, I was talking to the other barn farrier, Roger. I like Roger, but I've decided to go back with the Stallings because Casey really thinks I should - and they are vet recommended in the area, after all. I still need to call Cat and let her know what's going on. I hate to drop her, but if we are going to come to terms and finally say that after all we have done, if Amber picked her feet up an inch higher and moved the same way, we would call her sound - so the focus for now should be to stop her from dragging the hoof back to a level dangerously close to her white line (or in it!). And who knows? Maybe she does just need support back there.

I don't think it will, but if shoes DID stop her toe dragging, I would probably throw up...and then laugh.

We're still here!

I haven't posted in forever. I've been staying really busy as of late!

Anyway.

Where we last left off, Amber was still battling a mystery fungus with balloon legs.

Turned out, she HAD gotten into fireants, and she developed cellulitis. It got pretty nasty. After several daily betadine scrubs, SMZs, Surpass cream and stall rest with wraps, she's doing well. Unfortunately because she stocked up so much with the cellulitis, she's now prone to stocking up in her pasterns in her stall.

We got the cellulitis under control in a couple of weeks. I got the OK to start working her again lightly from Dr.Wheeler. After discussing the stocking up with her she also approved that I let Amber be on 24/7, since she only stocked up in her stall.

Well, Amber disapproved. I thought she enjoyed 24/7, but the heat has become so miserable she just wants to come into her stall in the day - this, I am 100% sure of, and this is why: I was opening the gate for a little girl to put her pony away (Amber now stays with all the ponies in a dry lot during the day), and as I was closing the gate, Amber BARGED right out. And ran straight to her stall. So if that isn't a clear message of what she prefers, I don't know what is. It's so muggy and hot they sweat just standing around, and even though she has a shelter in the dry lot, it's still much cooler in her stall with the fan circulating the air.

So that is settled. Hopefully the exercise she's been getting will help curb the stocking up - Dr. Wheeler was hoping that would be the case.

After thought, observation and getting an opinion from Casey, we agree that Amber looks the same as when we started our quest for "soundness". I think improvement we were seeing was wishful thinking, point blank.

Here is what I think. I don't think the root problem has a damn thing to do with hocks or stifles. Being that I can FEEL the difference in her pelvis, I will say that was something that needed to be fixed, but again - I don't think it was the source of the problem.

The bullnosed back hooves are now more of a concern for everyone. They have been bullnosed since the first day I met her. No farrier or vet ever said a word about it, so I assumed that if it was a problem, they would have informed me and make an effort to correct it. Feeling a bit foolish at my ignorance, I now know that Amber has a negative coffin bone angle.

With this bit of information, I'm starting to think about the possibility of navicular in the hinds.

It's a bit of a long shot. It seems to me that what's probably caused her "higher up" problems is from the lack of heel-first landing on her hinds. That's not something I'm too worried about right now, but something I want to keep in mind. Being heel-sore, for whatever reason, is also a possibility.

Dr. Wheeler was suggesting wedge shoes for the hinds. I'm on the fence about it. The Stallings were suggesting eggbars...again, not so sure about it. Talked to the other farrier today, Roger, and he is pretty much in agreement with me that the toe dragging may very well just be something Amber does due to conformation, or even just having sore/poor heels.

Pretty much all the professionals working with us right now are like...well, if she drags despite doing everything possible, it's most important to minimize wear on the toe as much as possible and be adamant to watch for signs of discomfort, or when she's reaching her personal limits of physical ability.

Which brings me to the point of just throwing shoes on the back. She came to Casey a couple of months before I bought her with shoes - I bet there was a reason. I wish I could get into contact with her previous owners. While I still believe that barefoot is better, my opinion on whether or not horses "need" shoes is changing. We will see what it does for Amber. We've tried everything BUT shoes. Maybe it will provide support she needs to do better. Who knows? But whether or not it improves her dragging is semi-irrelevant. Shoes are going on regardless to minimize toe drag. With Dr. Wheelers approval, still pending (I need to call her), I want to try a plain, flat, steel shoe only on the hinds the first time. Even if she goes to the wedges, I'd feel more comfortable giving her time to adjust to the shoes before we use shoes that will pretty significantly change the angle at which her hoof sits.

I really liked my barefoot trimmer's trims. But I don't agree with what she's doing to treat the bullnose (rasping it), and while I'm more than willing to work with her on that, she doesn't offer shoes, and at this point, I simply feel that shoes are one of my last-ditch efforts. I've got that list in my head - try the shoes, if need be, go to wedges. At least it will curb the dragging (which, due to her lack of activity, is nearly gone all together now - but she needs to start working again and building muscle). Another one of my last ditch efforts is an animal communicator. Do I dare mention this plan to the farriers, vets or Casey? No. I feel that any "leads" I get would be stuck down pretty quick. It's pretty far fetched. But right now, I feel my money is best saved for emergency. After the communicator, my very last attempt to figure this out would be X-rays and nerve blocking. This is the last attempt because the cost will be hefty and it will be some time before I can afford it. The communicator cost will be miniscule in comparison, so spending money on that while I save will probably not make a huge impact, and who knows - it could change the whole ballgame.

So that's our plan for now. She's just as awesome as she ever was under saddle. Her manners on the lunge are a lot better. She understands what I'm asking for better. Walk to canter still frustrates her a bit but she does it nicely. Will still soften and collect and round her back like a champ. After she warms up, she will also drag her nose in the dirt like the little hunter I try to make her be occasionally. She drags like nobody's business at the walk and trot, but she doesn't drag at all at the canter.

I feel pretty confident about Roger's suggestion of flat steel shoes. Let's face it - I'm willing to pay for alum. wedges - he has an opportunity to make more money that way. Suggesting the cheaper option because he thinks it will be better is a good sign. I hope we are able to stick with him - I'm stick of trying to find the perfect match for her feet, and it does her NO good to have to get used to a different trim every time she gets done.