White Hooves - a Misunderstanding?

So the old poem goes:

One white foot, buy him.
Two white feet, try him.
Three white feet, be on the sly.
Four white feet, pass him by.

Did we maybe misunderstand what people where trying to tell us by this? I've looked long and hard to find any evidence that white hoof wall is in any way lesser than black hoof wall and still found nothing apart from old wives tales. To say that unpigmented horn is weaker is like saying that unpigmented fur or hair is weaker, and I've never heard anyone say that their white horse's tail breaks more easily or is crappier than their black horse's tail - it really makes no sense.
So.... what have we missed?

The answer came to me last night when I was talking to the vet. Greasy heel!
Horses that have white socks are more prone to this than horses who have pigmented skin/hair, even on an individual horse the greasy heel is more likely to occurr on a white sock than one without. The vet went on to explain to me that the sun plays a part in the process of a greasy heel infection. Often it can start by a small sunburn, photosensitivity or an allergy, this in turn becomes itchy or will leave open areas of skin - perfect for an infection! Add to this concotion wet weather or dewy grass and we have everything we need for the perfect incubator: heat, damp, protection and food!

What can we do to help prevent this quite common infection?
* Reduce the effect of the sun - we can help with this by using fly boots, which are made from shade-cloth material so will reduce the UV on the area and lessen the chance of burn. In some situations this may not be viable as it may increase the humidity of the pastern area. Alternatively putting zinc or sun cream onto the back of the pasterns will also reduce the chance of a burn.
* Reduce the damp - I know it's impossible to change the weathe ror stop the dew, but we can reduce how much stays on our horse and how quickly it dries. Clip out the back of the pastern from heel the fetlock so there is little hair there to trap damp. When there's lots of hair on the pastern it can create it's own little micro-climate, warm and damp and protective for any infection - lose the hair, lose the climate. This also makes it heaps easier to put suncream or zinc on.

Once you have an infection there it is important that you are very consistent with treatment. The scabs will need to be removed to start the healing process, and the skin will need to be kept supple. There are a million and one treatments out there for greasy heel, but when push comes to shove, talk to your vet, as your vet will probably know what treatments will work best in your area and situation.

No Hoof... No Horse :Sole Guard

I like to try things, so I can understand what they CAN do and their limitations. So last trimming we decided to see if some Sole guard would help improve the seperation my horse has in her hind hooves. It was just a temporary measure, as the trimmer was getting to the point where he was running out of options to help get her hinds back on track!

This is her hoof all prepared for the sole guard. See the "ditch (white area) between her outer hoof wall ( grey) and her sole ( dirt coloured atm). This is the area the trimmer has been trying to get to "heal". Also notice in this horse the vertical toe-line where her sole and wall connect, this shows drastic change in her hooves. I should have done something about this sooner!!!! No ones perfect and we trust in our professionals.
That green nstuff I hear you ask? It's blue tack. Under the blue tack is some copper sulfat ewhich has been put into small cavities that had formed. Left unattended they could have become abscesses. Why blue tack? Just in case all the yuck hadn't been removed it's easy to pull out and clean up.

Sole guard is like a rubbery plastic stuff, that comes out liquid and sets into a semi-solid. The SG was put into the "ditch" and covered in a special plastic sheet while it set.

Once dried, the plastic can be removed and the area cleaned up. I will state this is NOT the intended use of sole guard, which s generally used on the.. you guessed it... soles! We were just using it as fake hoof, to see if it worked. I've been told it's a great product, we were just trying to cheat.

Sole guard, used in the proper way, should last a few weeks, depending on your environment and how much you ride. This lasted about a week, and made her no worse or better off for the time it stayed in there. Back to the drawing board eh?

Another trimmer came by to do a different horse, so I asked him what he though we could do?
He was amazed that we'd tried this, and thought it to be a waste of time ( and money..grrr). He felt that putting stuff in there would make it worse rather than better, and suggested to put a roll to reduce the chance of her doing more damage as she rolled over her toe which was currently flat. He explained it like fingernails:
Think of the horses sole as the tip of your finger, and the wall like your nail, in this analogy the quick is the same as the laminae boundary ( sensitive to insensitive). When you "walk" with your finger, you will roll from the pad through the tip and onto your nail. If your nail is too long it will pull back painfully on your quick, this is akin to seperation of the sensitive to insensitive laminae, commonly called "white line seperation". That's YOUR finger which is not weight bearing...... think about it for the horse. Makes a little bit of sense doesn't it?

Hooves rolled ( nice guy did it for free for me! So he could explain it totally), and she walks off pretty well. Weight bearing has been reduced from the walls and increased onto the sole callous. She's great in the arena, and on the grass, still a little tender on the driveway ( gravelly on a hard clay surface). There's improvement, but I'd like to see more....
....the quest is on to find the better way for this horse!!!

Like to learn more about hooves?

http://www.hoofrehab.com/

http://www.uq.edu.au/~apcpolli/

http://www.farriervet.com/evolutionfarriery.html

Horse-Eating Showtime!!!

When you go to a competition or Pony Club and your horse behaves badly what do you blame it on?
I can guarentee you the number one answer to that is FEED, well that's the number one answer that comes out of most people's mouths when I speak to them. "My horse's feed needs to be cut because he was a moron at the Show on Sunday".....
I would love to slap them around, unfortunately that would get me fired.
IF your horse is a bit hyper at a show, but perfectly sensible at home here are a few non-feed related things to tick off your list that may be causing the problem:

*Your horse's paddock companion has been removed from the situation and now your horse is trying feverishly to find him/her. This happens a lot in Pony Club horses who are constantly stabled/paddocked with one other horse. You'll need to take measures to acclimatise your horse to the thought that the world does not implode when his/her friend is removed from the situation. Start small (seperate paddock or move across the breezeway in the barn) and work your way to them not being close to each other for extended periods of time. If you work through this slowly it will be a great acheivement for you both.

* YOU are stressed out. Often people will say the show doesn't frighten them, most of the time we are a little nervous or excited. The horses see this as the same sort of emotion - your senses are heightened and you are alert. To them you are getting ready for a flight or fight response, and as part of your herd, they consider this to be a cue for THEM to prepare. Try to calm yourself, I know a lot of people who use rescue remedy on themselves rather than on their horses ( or as well as) to bring their own mind to peace, which in turn allows them to be a leader, rather than a panic striken insano bomb.... well that's how your horse will see you!

*New situations will often frighten a horse, so be prepared to work through their anxiety by making these outings a part of their routine. Get some friends together and take the horses to the local show-grounds ( first making sure you are allowed to do this at the chosen time), get a lesson at someone else's property or just take your pony for a float ride that ends in some nice grass. Let them understand that although the PLACE may change the CUES for work will not, and most importantly that your behaviour does not either. It has to be the same at home as it is anywhere, after a while it won't matter if you were doing a grand prix test down the median strip of an 8 lane highway or at home in the arena.

*We get a little touchy if we have to change our schedule, our horses are no different. On a show day, you will do all sorts of odd things to them, so make that part a daily thing. Plait up their manes before you ride, braid their forelock while they eat ( take it back out before you go), braid their tail and put a falsie in and have a lesson or lunge, come stupidly early once a week and feed up at 4am while you fuss around them. These things then will become normal for the horse and when you do go out and about will desensitise them to these annoyances, so that you have minimalised the stress factor!

Think about all these things.... then take a look at how the horse will perceive it all. We just see it as a competition, but to the horse it may mean a lot of different things. Try to be their center, and prepare them rather than just dropping them in the fire, or deciding that a little bit of starvation should quiet them up.

Ask the professionals: The Dentist

For every horse owner there are a list of professionals we have to deal with to keep our horses happy and healthy. Most of the time we get to talk to these guys every few weeks, or months, but the dentist may only come around once a year - so watch carefully, you never know what you might learn, and you have very little oppurtunity to do so!

Our new dentist came out yesterday to do about 5 horses on the property, I was crossing my fingers he'd be obliging and teach me a little as he worked. I was really in luck, and he was happy to not only talk about all sorts of stuff, but also to show me, let me feel and take a few pictures as well. I thought I'd share some of the interesting things we chatted about.

Here's the first guy, and we're looking at his canine tooth.
Notice the redness around the base of the tooth? He's just had a lot of soft plaquey stuff removed from it ( you can still see the green tinge to the base of the tooth), the dentist tells me that some sorts of feeds - in general specific types of grasses - often leed to this build up of ick on the horse's canine teeth as they don't get the general abraision the rest do. The other point of interest in this horse's mouth is the small area of wear to his inner lip, mid-way between the canine and the tip of the dentist's thumb( it's a little tricky to see it in the photo, but pretty easy on the day). This little wear was due to the canine being very sharp at the tip, which would normally not be too much of a problem, except when you have a drop noseband on. The drop noseband will push into this area, causing the lips to bulge into the canine teeth, causing rubbing. This is a very mild case, but if left may have caused a nasty ulcer.
Pulling the lip out like this makes it easy to see if rub is occurring here, and if there is, remove your noseband and get your dentist to come out and have a look!
The next horse up a mare. Notice no canines are present, most mares don't have any, whilst the majority of male horses will have 4. Also notice how the incisor has a "hook" to it's rear. This little hook helps to define age, and will come and go at different stages in the horse's life. This particular horse is 7 1/2yo, and the developement of the hook is typical to that age, and should be gone before the dentist has a return visit in a year's time. It should also reappear around age 12, again being worn away about a year later.

The last of the horse's of interest had what is called a TMJ (Temporal Mandibular Joint) problem, very mildly. This was evident when the dentist lightly rubbed a spot just beneath the horse's ear, to get a slight reaction of pain. He described to me a horse he had recently treated who had not seen a dentist for 5 years or more. This horse's pain had become so bad he was unable to be bridled, and eventually not able to be haltered, this horse had very BAD TMJ. The horse was a horror to treat and took about 20 minutes to get the gag on, but when it was all over, the horse was calm and was once again easy to halter. A week later there was no sign of there ever being a bridle issue, the jaws were able to relax and the pain gone.
TMJ happens when the molars are unable to meet up correctly because of uneven wear. Uneven wear can occur from a tooth being broken or a mis-shapen tooth or gum-line, with regular dental work these can be fixed, within reason, or at least be kept in check. These uneven points of wear will stop the horse from being able to relax its jaws properly, and causes tightness in the facial muscles that perform chewing motions. In people it can cause nasty head aches, and I can't imagine it would be any different for the horses!

Just by talking to the dentist while he did his work, I was able to gather lots of new information from him. Not only about my own horse, but about different things that can occurr to a horse in general, ways to see if it's happening and signs to look out for. These professionals have a wealth of information, they have both theoretical knowledge and plenty of hands on stuff too! Ask them questions, ask them to show you.... let them EDUCATE you so that you will be able to do better for your horses. Treat the cost of the visit as the price you pay for an invaluable lesson, not just the treatment. Look forward to the dentist's annual visit ( or more frequently for those babies and oldies) you never know what you will learn.

Television Trainers

Last night as I sat down to watch Catalyst( ABC 8pm good show), which had a special segment on horse behaviour, I became all excited with the anticipation of a good laugh: they did not let me down!

Scientific studies enthrall me, properly designed and run tests to understand animal behaviour are invaluable tools to help us learn how to train. The background study of Andrew McLean into horse cognition and behaviour is great, don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it thoroughly. It was researched, studied and tested over years of learning and watching and you can really see he loves it - the knowledge and the proof.

What made me giggle the most is this statement:
Dr Andrew McLean:
"You really can't even afford to be one second late. It's got to be that much on time because there really isn't that computing ability, that ability to reflect back into what's happened, "
followed shortly after by Warrick's, Andrew's son, reaction ( at Equitana last year in "The way of the Horse" competition) to his colt's rear up and strike out. Warrick avoided a front hoof, and then let the horse drop to the ground and THEN yanked it one in the head with the halter and lead. On time laddio?? Me thinketh not. You just reefed your colts head for standing on the ground.
Now I am not saying we haven't all done this before, no one is perfect. When you are showcasing your abilities, and are speaking about an ideal, with scientific background, which you base your entire learning curve for a horse on - don't let the television public see you doing exactly what you preach NOT to do. The entire thing looked to be a great excercise in public relations and advertising. Although I am sure there are more than a few people who had a giggle at the poor colt getting his head yanked on at the wrong time.

On a bit of a different note, that colt ( branded over 5) would be what - 3yo ( at the time of Equitana)? Why on earth are you jumping it after let me see 3 hours of "training". Too young to be jumping, and not well muscled enough to be putting that much pressure on it's joints with no muscle tone to back it up for carrying the weight of a rider as well as the downforce coming off a jump. Think people before putting that stuff on TV - there are VERY susceptible minds out there that worship what trainers, especially those on the telly, say and do and follow them blindly.

If you'd like to watch the segment:
Catalyst: Equitana - ABC TV Science

So it's Raining.....

Looking outside all I can see is giant black clouds above and lakes of water below. The horses are mushing about in the mud, and the arena has ducks swimming happily on it. I have a closet full of clothes on the laundry floor awaiting the washing machine but there's no where to dry them so they'll sit there a while. I really need to buy a dryer.

We have big yards for the horses to spend their days in in the wet weather, but we're lucky. A lot of the horses in the area will be confined to boxes and not getting worked. For me this is the start of the bad things to come. When the horses get to go out again, they'll be feeling fresh and excitable. They'll run and buck and play on the wet paddocks, possibly hurting themselves, but in the mean-time causing no end of trouble to handle them. They need to run and get the energy out, SAFELY!

So what do we do for our four-legged buddies when the weather gets like this?
Cut down their grain intake, and increase the bulk. This will reduce the sugar content while increasing roughage, it will keep them sane and occupied for longer periods of time. It will also stop me ( and people like me) from getting squished when we try to change their rugs and clean their boxes.
Take your horse for a walk. Either in hand or in the saddle, a good one hour walk will not only be good excercise for both of you it will also stimulate your horse's brain making him less likely to go nutty when you get back on for the first time! It will give you a great excuse to practice your ground work, and also may allow you to overcome some of those demons in the bushes! At the moment we have coucil clean-up piles on the roadside - what better way to get your horse used to all sorts of objects than to go investigate them. Those horse-eating excercise bikes and bags will stand no chance against your horse's brave leader: YOU!
Groom your horse. With wet-weather rugs on your horse has no ability to scratch itself, your horse will thank you for the itches and he'll look better for it! Grooming is also a great way to bond with your buddy, it's the way a herd acknowledges each other, and friendships are formed. A great groom that does not end with a saddle on his back will give him no end of pleasure both physically and mentally. Follow with some little stretches to help him stay supple and you'll thank yourself next week.

Finally when you get back in the saddle when the wet weather subsides, remember your horse will not be as fit and supple as he was last week. Take it easy with them, bring them back slowly. The ground will be slippery, and the going a bit mushy so put some protection on for your horse - bell boots, brushing boots/bandages, just in case! Don't forget your own boots and helmet, so we can all stay safe and enjoy our horses.

Sometimes you can Believe in Magic

It's not often that I believe in things that science can't prove, but when it comes to horses you can trust their responses. Through them I have learned that there can be a little bit of magic, especially when it comes to healing.
Anyone that knows me knows the saga of my mare. Given to me in an utter mess, her hooves the size of tea-cups and her back bent like a bannana so she had no definition of wither or rump, it has been a very long, hard 2 years on both of us to get her to her current condition. Along the way she has taught me more than any course, person or book ever could, she is the one that has pushed me to learn, and also the one that has made me try to help others where I can. There is one person in particular who I owe a lot to for her recovery ( although there are many many others to!) and that is her muscle therapist. She has seen her through from the very beginning, encouraging me along the way while she helped my mare. More still she has the courage to say "I can't do" rather than just ignoring what can't be done and just keeping on going, even though there would be no results.
I owe her such a debt of gratitude, I only wish I could repay it some day.
Last week that day came.
I received the horror phonecall from a friend that my mare was lame - crippled I think was the word, so I rushed down to see her. When I arrived all I could think was she's torn a ligament or actually fractured her leg. Lame like this wasn't in my mare's vocab, she had huge problems when I got her and never a day lame. I checked her joints and feet and couldn't find the heat or lack of movement. The vet arrived shortly and decided on abscess, well maybe an abscess, maybe a bruise.... maybe we should rule that out so we know it's definately not that.
I believe in vets and science.

Poultice and boot on, we're set to treat this - even though I don't think it's the problem.
I call my muscle therapist to see if she can help the horse's recovery as I can feel the pain is high on her leg and across her hip. If nothing else a good rub-down will help. She arrives to a horse who is walking like a puppet in the hind legs, and looks at the boot and me and says it's not in the foot. We get my mare comfy in her stable eating her hay and see if she'll allow any work to be done. Not on your life is that going to happen. She may not be able to put it down but she can threaten very well with the sore leg. So we let her eat hay and discussed the options.
Suddenly we are accousted by a back end in our faces, my mare has decided that she wants treatment and positions herself by backing up into us ( yes she left food for this!!!!), and ensuring that the therapist is lined up with her sore side. My mare turns around to look at her, as if to say "Please will you do somthing about this, it is annoying me". There's not a lot the therapist can do - there's too much muscle spasming and tightness to work through safely. She lays her hands on the points of pain and starts to talk to me as if we were just chatting about life, as my horse's posture starts to change and become more relaxed. After ten minutes or so, she asks me to walk the horse out so was can see if there's any change.
We couldn't believe it.... there was a change, she moved far more freely!!! But nothing was done? How did it happen? The therapist nearly cried... it was her on of her first attempts at doing Reiki on a horse, and something had happened. More than a something - a positive change.
The next 2 visits gave more and more improvement, the muscles relaxed so quickly she could work in deep in the problem areas. A week after I watched her walking around like a cripple, she is now walking around better than ever before, her stride has lengthened and she swings. What we were expecting to be at least a few months of recovery time and rehab has reduced to a few weeks. You could knock me over with a feather.

Maybe science can't prove the healing energy's effect on pain and injury, but a horse can not believe in it and hence no placebo effect can occurr. Insano-horse-person logic, A horse can't lie, therefore the effect must be real.
I don't care as it helped and maybe sometimes my logical mind can believe in a little bit of magic every once in a while.