| SOME CASE HISTORIES | "Call Me
Ishmael" Feb. 8, 2004 |
|
|
SEE
ISH TROT OUT NOW! AND
GALLOP!
|
Ish is a 9 year old
Lippizan/Thoroughbred gelding. He stand 16.3 hands. Disciplines history
include Dressage through 3rd Level, Eventing and Jumping. He also has
some Western background. He had been diagnosed last fall with
Navicular and to such a degree that the owner had been advised to
simply put Pegasus down as his riding days were over and the disease
would only progress. I was called in to remove his bar shoes with wedge
pads (2 degree) and subsequently trim with a Natural Trim as a last
resort.
Ish presented as a sweet natured, calm horse in obvious pain. He was unable to hold his hooves up for long periods of time. At the trot, he presented as head-nodding lame especially with the left fore. Hi back end was tense and bunched. He did not stride out but, instead, took small, choppy steps. Both front hooves were in egg-bars and the backs, which were also diagnosed as navicular, were barefoot. No extremes were noticed about the hooves after the shoes were removed except that the inside of the left fore and the outside of the right fore were longer than the opposite sides of the hooves. His walls were a bit long and the heels, also, a bit long but not extremely so. The same appearances exhibited on the rear hooves. All four hooves had overgrown bars. Frogs were notably shrunken on the fronts but wide and healthy on the rear hooves. There were no ridges on the outer walls and nothing else was noted pathologically. Trimming was a bit long and tedious but fastidious. Ish had to have many breaks in between holding his hooves up. Unfortunately I did not have my camera with me for photographs but the illustrations to the left depict the general balance of the hooves after the shoes and pads were removed but prior to trimming. The bars were cut down. The walls were rasped down so as not to be weight-bearing; the toes were brought back a bit; the heels rasped down about 1/8th of an inch, the hooves were balanced and given a nice, flat plane; the toes were rockered to a 15 degree angle in the fronts and all 4 hooves were mustang-rolled. After getting the fronts done, we took a wee break and allowed Ish to move around the indoor. As soon as we released him from the lead he tossed his head, let out a buck and rear and took off! He strode out with unbelieve tracking and float - with absolutely not a hint of lameness! He trotted in small circles, he trotted in big circles, he cantered and galloped in both small and large circles. He reared, he bucked, he tossed his head around as if to say YA HOO!!!! He spent about 10 minutes just yahoo-ing it around then settled down to a nice, long strided, relaxed walk. His rear end had loosened up and un-bunched. he wrinkled brow had disappeared. His owner broke down into tears saying she had never before seen him move so freely. After his romp the rear hooves were trimmed and the session ended. Follow-up trim-care will take place in 4 weeks with the owner instructed to contact me immediately with any concerns or questions. Instructions to make sure he gets as much free exercise as possible were left with her and other than that, nothing else need be done except to observe his movements in all gaits. I also recommended that the owner get some B-L Solution to use just in case he does become sore. Subsequent reports will be posted here as we continue to monitor Ish's progress. Please read the note I received 02/05/04
from Ish's's owner after our 2nd trim work. Click HERE.
|
