Last week 'Lillian' and I had met up for one of our rides out with 'the boys' ('Mr F' and 'Luke'). 'Mr F' had lately been fairly displeased by the sight of the saddle.
The same happened this time, and he actually was very fidgity while I was cleaning his hooves. He normally does not at all care if the other horses are around while I groom him.
He only ever fidgets or is unruley if he is feeling unwell or something bothers him.
I was in a fairly grumpy mood myself and upon seeing that he wasn't going to calm down I was in a good mind to put him back into the stable and give it all a miss. But as it didn't just involve me, I got my bearings together and continued tacking up 'Mr F'.
After much hu-ha and cursing under my breath (I did say I was in a grumpy mood!) we finally got onto the road.
As normal, 'Mr F' was perfectly behaved on the ride. We took a route that we hadn't used for some, with beautiful views. 'Mr F' seemed to begin to enjoy the ride.
If the terrain would be steep uphill, I would dismount and lead, mainly because the saddle keeps slipping backwards but more about that in a minute ...
We were getting near home when suddenly 'Mr F' went lame. I dismounted and walked with him the last few yards back to the farm. 'Mr F' was clearly uncomfortable.
I took off his hoof boots to see if there perhaps had been a stone lodged somewhere but there was nothing. The boots are in fact very 'stone' proof. However, I noticed that the crack on his front hoof had got worse suddenly. I was certain that it didn't look this bad before we left!
Being still inexperienced in these matters, I was asking around for other people's oppinions but they dismissed the crack as the cause of his lameness. He had a hightened pulse above his fetlock, so we were suspitious of a tendon injury, although I still thought it had something to do with that crack.
Luckily 'Mr F's barefoot trimmer lady was due later on the same day so I would ask her also. She wasn't due until some time later and so I put 'Mr F' in the stable to rest with 'Luke' as companion. First I did hose down his foot with cold water, just in case it was some inflamed.
2 hours later, when the barefoot trimmer (shiobhan) arrived, I walked 'Mr F' up and down the road; he still showed clear discomfort in his front foot where the crack was.
We discussed causes for the problem but she couldn't possibly take the position of a Vet. 'Mr F' was showing signs of mild discomfort while she trimmed the hoof on that lame leg.
The barefoot trimmer lady was just about finished when we noticed some fluid under 'Mr F's hoof with the crack. The stable floor was sparkly clean and the floor was dry (I prepared it prior to the trimmer lady's arrival) before we started working so it could have only come from that hoof. She picked up his foot again and did some 'serious' squeezing with the pressure point tool (I don't know the exact terminology!) around the area where the crack was and low and behold: more fluid came out!
It appears that we had gotten ourselves an abscess, this was a first for us. I was pleased it was 'just' an abscess though.
So, it was time for me to learn how to make a poultice. The barefoot trimmre lady kindly talked me through the basic idea of hoof soaking, wrapping etc.
The first couple of days I soaked his foot in some warm water with some epsom salt and cleaned it with hibiscrub. I don't like the though of soaking a hoof continuously so I filled only as much water so as to cover up to the cracked section.
The following days I soaked some cotton wool in epsom salt water. Each morning, when I examined the cotton pad, I did notice some further sticky smelly fluid that had come out. After about 3-4 days it stopped at last.
The first poultice took ages but I fairly soon got the hang of it and made improvements. It has kept his foot dry and clean (no sweating).
'Mr F' is a star: he stands still perfectly, for the entire duration of each treatment. For much of it I have to rest his leg on my thigh as I need both hands to get it done quicker and he is fine with it all.
He even deals with the soaking just fine.
The final outer layer ... empty plastic feed bags and good old duct tape.
Above the hoof crack as it was before the ride ...
... and after the ride ... see the horizontal line? This wasn't there before the ride.
The hoof is such a complicated topic ... 'no hoof no horse' ... and although 'Mr F's feet are in good shape nowadays, this crack takes ages to grow out and I have a suspition that actually it is being caused by a bad posture, i.e. pressure on his toe due to incorrect movement. I am not sure ...
So, at the end of the day I said to 'Lillian' "I am a dismal horsewoman! 'Mr F' made every effort in telling me something is wrong right from the start. What an ignorant horsewoman I am!"
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