This afternoon I rode Sonny all the way up the driveway..180m uphill !

Woo Hoo!!

I’ve been trying to be dedicated about trimming Sonny every week as requested by Cas. All the horses got done again yesterday. Sonny’s back feet needed doing properly as they haven't been done fully since Cas was here except for some heel realignment. The fronts needed the heels taking back a little & the toes reshaping & shortening using measurement method (1/3-2/3).  I didn’t take any photos. But I rasped off almost all the remaining bullnose leaving just a little bit on the RF. I will take photos after next week’s trim when there should be 2 full totally new front hooves to show off!

 

Each afternoon I’ve been doing some 'work play' with Sonny including Marijke de Jong’s ‘Straightness Training’. Sonny prefers to do that in the18m wide round pen rather than along straight fences in the play area. So with the special halter set up with the long reins on it, we go around the outside & the inside of the round pen doing travers, renvers, haunches in & out, shoulders in & out. All this is done from the ground with me using the long reins. Then some liberty through the weave pegs followed by a short ride 1 lap of the round pen with a weave through the pegs all at the walk only. He was a bit sore after previous trims when I asked(or rather I allowed him) to trot 2 laps of round pen on the day following the trim. All this roundpen work is mainly to work his feet. It causes him to use the whole of his hooves, particularly the edges. Apparently if he can do that without getting sore it means the internal structures are repairing properly.

 

He wasn’t sore at all after yesterday’s trim, nor did he limp at all during today’s play session done without boots. So after our walk out along the road & graze back 200m to the gate with no sign of soreness I decided to ride him bareback up the driveway on the grass at a brisk walk. It will be very interesting to see if he is sore during the next few days from today’s effort. Over the next couple of days I won't ask him to do any 'work play', just mess around with the big ball & getting up on the stump.



All in all things are going really well. Still no rain at all. That's 6.5wks without rain. It's a record. All this dry weather is an absolute gift. He's got 5months before the wet season starts properly in February so that should be after another full cycle of hoof growth.


Happy days!!

Getting Closer!

I rode Sonny 1 lap of round pen 2 days ago!


After our regular walkies along the dirt road to strengthen his feet, we made our way to the round pen. I put his boots on front feet & did some liberty 'stick to me' with circling around me & spins as we walked around the pen. I was purposely causing him to us the sides of his front feet.

He seemed to be handling that ok so I asked him to trot a few slow laps changing direction through the center each lap. Total 4 laps. Then I asked him to go to the mounting block & I laid my weight over his back. He looked surprised! :-D No wonder... he hasn't been riden since Feb 2011. Anyway I slid onto his back & after a few seconds for him to adjust to the weight I asked him to walk 1 lap of round pen & back to mounting block where I got off.

I watched him closely for rest of that day & next for signs of soreness. I didn't walk him on the road yesterday incase there was soreness inside. Today due to my plans to trim him again I didn't walk him either. After the trim I moved all horses back to front paddock where the footing is more rough with small stones & pea sized gravel where they tend to rest mostly.

I was filling the trough while I pulled some weeds when they galloped past me & thundered down the side fence to the front where they put on a good rodeo. Including Sonny! I was glad to see that he was feeling good & didn't seem to be as badly affected by this trim as much as previously has happened. I'll keep a good eye on him & check for heat in his feet during next few days because all the things he's done over last few days could cause soreness, more damage or another abscess.

Here are a few photos from today's trim with the others at this link:-

http://s340.photobucket.com/albums/o358/claireT_2008/BBB/August%202012%20Sonnys%20feet%20photos/

I didn't rasp the heels as short as earlier this month because I can still see a slight red glow through the sole when held at the right angle to the sun. This low angled sun at this time of year seems to shine right through the horn. I tis plain to see his soles are still very thin. The ridges of horn that developed as a result of the previous round of walkies on the dirt road & which were rasped off at previous trim have started growing back. I tried not to remove them this time as I think they will help to create sole thickness. However the photos of the trimmed hooves do show where the rasp touched those ridges along each side of both feet.

Updated trim

What a difference a few days makes!

It's only been 5days since I trimmed him & I have done more today on the fronts.
After talking with Cas I have lowerred his heels a little. The frogs are proud of the sole now but will flatten in a day which will make him  a little sore. I need to repeat the process again maybe in another 4-5days.

There is a lot of heel growing now. Well I mean the heel butress leathery stuff is again turning into heel horn which can be rasped down to the right height progressively.

Here are some shots I took today after rasping the heels. The low angle of the sun makes the shots easy to see well.

ProvideIt Supplement

Also more of the ProvideIt supplement has arrived so he will be back on it tomorrow. It will be interesting to be able to compare the quality of the hoof growth during the 3wks without the supplement. All the heel horn & quarters horn is new hoof grown with the ProvideIt supplement. What is still the toe area was grown using Kohnke's Supplement.

When I was taking these few photos the sun was shining in at that low angle from behind him & I could see the horn on the quarters was translucent.

Latest Front feet Trim

Here are the shots of the front feet latest trim done today. I'll do the back feet tomorrow I think/hope!

When I tried to lower the heels to where Cas said they should be, I was unsure how much sole thickness I should rasp off because the frog is already standing proud of the sole & I was concerned about making it too sore. Sonny is usually sore after a trim & I think it is often due to the frog having to squish down once the sole around it is rasped away to get the heels to the right height.

I will ask Cas what I should do. In the meantime I rasped them just to the current sole level but it is clear they should be lower. In actual fact they have moved back again but this time the sole has stayed put. I guess that means it is thickening so I don't want to rasp it off. His feet have started growing again which is a little unusual for him in winter.

What all that means is it is time for more xrays but I need to save for them for another month yet since the vet requires to be paid within 7days of the service!

The shots of the toe of the RF are very interesting as they show the top edge of the old lamella wedge where an old abscess hole has broken away. I had to rasp a lot of that old lamella wedge away today & it was like rasping eraser! I'm sure a more adventurous trimmer/farrier would probably have cut it all away to tidy the toe up better but I'll just let it grow out a bit more yet.

As usual here are 2 shots with the rest at the link following:-  http://s340.photobucket.com/albums/o358/claireT_2008/BBB/August%202012%20Sonnys%20feet%20photos/

No rain for 16 days! Whooppeeeee

What a difference a week makes!

Most of the ground is dry on top at least. Even the grass itself is showing signs of drying off a bit. Of course several frosts in a row will also help to dry the grass too!

For several days each afternoon I have been walking Sonny along the dirt road a short way. I walk him about 100-200m before he tells me his feet are hurting too much to go further. It's quite a hard dirt with some very sharp loose stones on top that he doesn't seem to be able to see & then steps on them. I don't want to cause stone bruises so when he says it's too much I let him walk on the grass again.

I have made a task of it & given it it's own name with a little carrot slice reward every 20-30 steps. We go 'walking on the road' out the front gate. Going left is the shorter 100m to the bitumen then graze back along the side of the road. Going right out the gate is 200m to the bottom of the hill & again we graze back along the road side which has quite good grass. It's a combo of subtropicals with about 50% rhodes & due to the tall overhanging trees, it's shaded most of the day. He really likes having that feast so it's the reason we go 'walking'. I'm hoping to increase the distance over the next week or so once he's got over the next trim. That always seems to give him sore feet for a day or so.

It's 4wks since Cas did his feet & I have done one quick trim since. I'll do another in the next few days as soon as my arm is working again. I have been mowing strips through the long grass to move the electric fence around so they get more of that old long grass to graze through. At this time of year I would usually buy round bales of rhodes but none available this year. Just small heavy squares of lucerne.


Sonny learns to bow down!

Sonny has recently begun to understand what I want when I ask him to bow down on one knee. It has taken his whole life to be comfortable allowing me to take his leg away to the rear & for him to follow the feel. I think the next step of going down on both front knees or even laying down might happen quite quickly. That seems to be the way he works. Anyway I need to take it slowly as he seems to get a bit disoriented while he is kneeling down. I only do it once then walk him around a bit till his mind 'comes back to me'.


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