01-15-08
Cabos' front feet are very long all the way around, with shelly,
crumbling wall, flat soles, flared toe, and general poor hoof quality.
He has hardly any collateral groove depth at the apex of the frog.
Heels are very long, and toes flared out in front. Cabos was wearing
half-round, square toed shoes, and his walls had been rasped back to
the toe of the shoe. His frogs are narrow, but made ground contact
after the shoes were pulled. I did not want to trim frogs and make him
more sensitive, nor did I want to remove much heel height at the first
trim...my goal is to transition every horse as comfortably as possible
while still making progress toward a healthy new foot. Instead, I
beveled the toe strongly to improve his delayed breakover, and
minimize mechanical separation, and made
sure his heels were as balanced as possible (given the crumbly wall).
I did not trim bar, nor did I force sole exfoliation; I can reevaluate
this horse on a daily basis, so no reason to rush...one step at a
time! A horse that is too sore to move will make no progress. Cabos
has been sized for boots so that we can keep him as active as possible
through his transition.
02-28-08
Horn
quality is much better than I had feared when we first pulled Cabos'
shoes. The weather has been a little fickle -- wet, then hot and dry
right after that, so although I'm sure there is some sole shedding
about to happen, these feet are holding on tight to sole for now.
That's okay...Cabos has been very comfortable through his transition
to date. It won't hurt for him to retain that first "shed" for a
little while; it will help avert the tenderness that typically
accompanies the first exfoliating cycle. I took very little in the way
of wall or heel height today, mostly just rolled toes.
 04-20-08
Time for a chlorine dioxide soak, although Cabos' heels are starting
to widen. Making some progress on the medial/lateral imbalance on the
left front. Still no sole shedding; he's hanging on to everything.
Cabos has been comfortable from day 1 and continues to march around
with no tenderness. Waiting for some sole exfoliation and we'll see
what happens then!
05-06-08
We have a little bit of sole exfoliation, finally! Frogs are still
ugh. White Lightening soaks continue!
06-01-08
Watching that dorsal flare finally getting close to the bottom of the
hoof. YAY! Cabos has been banished from the grass pasture.
With his history (a mild laminitis attack following vaccinations last
year) and the fact that he shows signs of insulin resistance, it is a
smart move. Considering adding a twice daily tsp. of jiaogulan
(nitric oxide enhancer) to his diet as a preventative measure.
White Lightening treatments are starting to improve frog health!
10-13-08
ARRRGGGHHH! Cabos was doing so great, until he
started going back out to the grass pasture several days a week again.
Now that white line separation is baaaaaack. Cabos is getting a
grazing muzzle!
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