Well, not really OUT! But I did actually lead her outside her pen for about 10 minutes today! That was all she could handle! She did really well, but she was breathing really fast and obviously nervous, even though we stayed right next to her pen where surroundings were familiar. She did try to bolt a few times, but it wasn't to get away from me...it was to get away from my dad who was standing in the pasture keeping an eye out for the other horses (making sure they weren't coming in from the outer pasture). We walked a couple of circles around him, and when we'd get to where she felt like he was behind her, she bolted forward, but as soon as she came against the leadrope (which I had a really good hold on and my weight set against her), she came around and faced me and stopped freaking. We just kept walking in circles and changing directions (she's leading so well now!), and she did start to calm down. Then I put her back and she was super relaxed.
I also trimmed her front hooves for the second time. I think they are pretty close to where they should be now. A lot more sole peeled out with this trim and her hooves look nice and concave and I think that we got to the bottom of the furrow between her hoof wall and sole. This time, I was able to give her a full blown grown up horse trim, with the hoof stand and rasp and everything. She's really good about it. I just had to take my time and let her check stuff out and give her breaks before she got tired of standing with her hoof on the stand. She was awesome. I also spent time picking up her back feet, but I'm not asking her to hold them up for very long yet and I have not picked them out. But I think I will very soon. Now that her front feet are normal size (and tiny!), her back feet look terrible. Her and Griffin have feet that are just as overgrown, but her feet are smaller so they don't look as bad as his...but they are.
I also dumped hydrogen peroxide into the furrows on her hooves to try to work on the thrush problem. It hasn't gone away with just trimming, so I think I need to treat it and help it go away. Kachina, the sweety that she is, just lets me dump the foaming bubbling peroxide onto her hooves where it runs all over and fizzles!
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3 comments:
Kachina is amazing - such a good, sweet mare. Congratulations on your progress.
Sunni had a real bad thrush problem too and I just kept using Thrush Buster on his front foot. It appears to be gone now...the foot is dry and no black stuff. You can also google "Pete's goo" for a mixture that Pete Ramey uses. I HATE thrush! I haven't tried peroxide yet, but if he gets it again, I may!
I really like using peroxide. It definitely works, and there's something about the fizzling and bubbling that I find very satisfying. I feel like I can see it working, even though I know the fizzing is actually the thrush bacteria trying to deactivate the peroxide. It really bubbles in every area where there is black though...even the white line.
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