Dude gets rechecked

Yesterday Dr. Kim of Animal Health Options came back to town to make her rounds and she rechecked Dude. I trotted him out for her and although he was still off on the right rear she felt he was definitely moving better and he looked pretty good. She also used her thermal camera to look at all the same areas she checked the first time, and while there was still heat in his right hind, it wasn't nearly as bad as when she was first out. There was also some heat showing in his left hind from compensation.

Following the original plan, Dude still has another month on solo turnout, and then I guess we'll check him again. Kim said she'd recommend some herbs if it seemed like he was going to go out with his buddies and mess around; something to take the edge off, presumably. She also recommended that I do some core work with him to strengthen him for when he does go out and return to work, for stabilization and better management of his body. He's long backed and heavy and not the most agile of horses, so core work I'm sure would be beneficial (maybe Dude and I both can go on a program!). The book she recommended is "Activate your horse's core" by Narelle Stubbs and Hilary Clayton. I like the fact that it's a book/dvd set and there are a few good reviews on Amazon, but with a $54 price tag I'm going to have put that purchase off for a couple weeks.

He was chiropracted ... with much unnecessary drama just because he is a big baby. As with shots, he basically reacts to the vet's approach and then relaxes when he's actually being treated.

I had taken Dude off bute a  bit over a week ago because he seemed to be getting cranky with me when I curried his stomach, and I thought he might be bothered by the bute. He's been on a dose every other day since July, so it's been a long course. Now he's just on the  Horsetech OptiMSM and Glanzen GL (lite), vitamin E, Equilite's probiotics, and rice bran.

Fingers crossed that he continues to make progress.

Rain rain go away

We've had a stretch of wet weather. The horses lost one day of turnout last week, but it's been raining so much over the last couple days that the fields are a mess and they'll be staying in tomorrow. Last night I arrived to find mud caked horses. I love how they look at me, filthy yet all perky, like "What?"

Dude is usually just muddy on one side since he doesn't roll from side to side and rarely drops twice to hit both sides. Bestie, on the other hand ...

This is what was left on the barn aisle floor after I groomed them tonight - a nice grey dust circle and bunches of mud and gravel from their hooves. Nice dark circle in the middle where they were standing and blocking the flying dust!

Fall shots

First, a little shot taken earlier this week on my way up to work. I love fall in Vermont! Up in the mountains, the foliage has changed more than down by the barn, where it's still pretty green. But the temperatures this week are a little crisper and the horses seem to like that, along with the fact that there are fewer bugs outside. Fly masks have been retired until next spring.

Normally we do Potomac Horse Fever and flu/rhino boosters in the fall. This year, Eastern Equine Encephalitis and West Nile have been recommended by our veterinarian as boosters, due to recent evidence of both in Vermont in an area not too far south of us. I think it's the first time in the 12-plus years we have lived here that I've heard of EEE surfacing. There has been local news coverage over the last few weeks and it's a bit scary. Heartbreaking for the families impacted by the two infections and subsequent deaths that have occurred with people. Our vet's Facebook page has identified two equine cases thus far.

Dude and Bestie had their boosters last Friday, and will get the rest of the shots this coming Friday. No ill effects, just very slight lumps on their necks at the booster site.

I was off to Tennessee mid-September for several days to visit my parents so I haven't ridden much lately. The two rides I've had since I've been back have been good ones. Bestie was off a week and a half while I was traveling, and I was able to get right on her. Once upon a time that wouldn't have been a good idea. Hugs and kisses to the new mellow Bestie. :)

Supplementing with Vitamin E

Dude's been on a vitamin E supplement for, gosh, I don't even remember how many years. It was suggested by the vet one fall when he seemed to drop a bit of weight, and the hay quality wasn't that good going into winter. He gets a scoop of Elevate powder that delivers 1000 IU in his evening grain. The hay at this barn is definitely higher quality, but the grass gets eaten down pretty quickly in the summer, so I just keep him on the dosage year round. I was interested recently to read an article in the Holistic Horse newsletter about vitamin E supplementation; it sounds like he could go a bit higher, and I'm wondering if Bestie should start on it, too. Something to discuss with the vet when they visit for the next go-round of Potomac shots, which should be coming up soon.

Importance of Vitamin E in horses, holistichorse.com

Update on Dude

Back in June I wrote about Dude and Bestie having a visit from the holistic vet we've known for years. Dude was off on the right hind during that visit, and she diagnosed him with a possible abscess in his right hind hoof and a hind end injury, possibly groin, from his slippy slidey fall in the mud the previous month. For a few days after her visit we tried to soak his foot in an attempt to draw out the abscess, but he was unusually uncooperative. One day Katie was there attempting yet again to soak him, and there happened to be another farrier there trimming horses. When prompted by barn owner Julie he offered to take a look at Dude's foot and trim it up to see if the abscess would release. He trimmed him up pretty good, and thought it might actually be a bad case of thrush rather than an abscess. Given his hunch, and the fact that Dude wasn't interested in soaking - odd, as with past experience he's normally fine with soaking for abscesses - we decided to treat for thrush.

His hoof ended up cleaning up pretty well (as much as his back feet ever do), but he was definitely still off on that right hind. So we called in our regular vet from Vermont Large Animal Clinic. After ruling out other possibilities, Dr. Phil said it seemed like a right hip injury, and pointed out that his muscle tone looked a little sunken on his right hip. He recommended that Dude should be on solo turnout on as flat a pasture as possible for four months in hopes of preventing further tweaking. No riding, of course. Deja vu moment ... haven't we heard this before ... flashbacks to his hip injury several years ago = * heavy sigh*. At least the vet said four months this time; last time it was a full year off.

So, at this point, Dude's about a month and a half in to his treatment. He seems to be doing ok in the little paddock; there are a couple geldings next to him on solo turnout that he likes to hang out with along the fenceline. It's wonderful that he can go out all day and stroll around because he'd be going nuts if stallbound. There's not much grass in the paddock, especially in the last couple weeks as summer winds down, so we try to give him at least a half hour of hand grazing when we get there at the end of the day.

At Dr. Phil's suggestion, I added MSM to Dude's supplements for anti-inflammatory benefits. Over the last month or so, he definitely has filled out some and isn't so ribby. Perhaps the probiotics, which he started in late June, are helping him hang on to the nutrients in his grain and hay better. He's got a full supplement container now with HorseTech's Glanzen GL Lite and MSM, vitamin E, Equilite's PrePro plus a 1/4 cup of rice bran to wash it all down tastily.

A bad summer for hooves

Although our summer hasn't been as dry as some parts of the country, it has indeed been dry. I really noticed the effect of the lack of moisture on the horses' feet during this last farrier cycle, which ran from mid July to a appointment earlier this week for a trim and shoeing (for Dude) and trim (for Bestie).

Dude and Bestie have very different hooves and are on the same combination supplement with biotin in it for hooves. It was interesting to see how the dry summer weather affected them.

Dude, who has soft feet, fared better. His hoof edges got a bit ragged with some chipping. Bestie, who has harder hooves, had significant chipping and vertical cracks.

I was relieved when farrier Scott came out this week and cleaned them up. Here's what Bestie's feet look like now (with a coat of Absorbine Hooflex All Natural Dressing):

Pretty nice. 

Changes at the barn

Over the last month there have been a couple exciting changes at the barn. 

Especially nice is the newly painted and redecorated bathroom, with lavender lower walls and floral prints, a huge new vanity, and hooks on the wall to hang clothes. Barn owner Julie had her horse stuff in the bathroom before, so there wasn't much room if anyone needed to change, and I'm sure it was a squeeze for her and at times inconvenient if someone was in there and she needed her stuff. She now has a spot in the tack room, so a whole end of the bathroom has been freed up for changing - the space is to the right of the vanity. Super nice, especially for all of us who come straight from work.

The other project that was completed recently was a redesign of the feed room, located in the center of the barn just off the main front entry. Larry installed an old kitchen counter along the side wall, which gives much more convenient access to everyone's supplement drawers (which used to be stacked wayyy high). Grain cans are off to the left and along the back wall, and extra grain bags are kept under the counter. Larry also installed a big utility sink just to the right of the entry door, meaning no more trekking down to the other end of the barn to access the big sink and hot water in the former milking room. Larry hooked up a water heater in the bathroom, so there's hot water there as well as in the feed room.

I really appreciate the way barn owners Larry and Julie are always making improvements. Feeling a bit spoiled!