Rather than throwing a pity party about how the #barnsquad is eagerly prepping for the next show in our winter indoor circuit this weekend.... And that the busses (including my own) need to leave the station at 5:15am (natch, without my own horse aboard...)...
Well. Rather than any of that, let's talk about how I can entertain myself aside from showing riding!
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| introducing the current basket in which i've placed all my eggs: the Easyboot Zip |
Charlie's recovery is going basically as expected, so far. He's as comfortable as he can be with a gigantic cavernous crater in his foot. And it's just going to take the time it takes for everything to regrow back into one piece.
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| shoutout to Stacie for recommending this model, after the pair of Clouds i initially bought didn't fit... |
I'm not actually convinced he's comfortable enough for full turnout yet... But it's time to start planning for that inevitability.
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| can't help but love this reusable / disposable shell tho -- it did its job! |
I originally picked up a pair of Easyboot Clouds off a friend after convincing myself my measurements were probably "close enough" .... And, lol, no. (
Related: anybody need a Size 3 Easyboot Cloud? New in box? Likely to fit a regular-sized TB, maybe!)
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i'm sparing you monday's pics bc... they look a whole lot like tuesday's pics.
above: tuesday animalintex |
This Zip model has much easier sizing, tho. Meaning, instead of 8 fairly narrowly defined sizes as with the Cloud, the Zip just has 4 sizes, each of which have a broader range.
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| tuesday crater |
Maybe if Charlie was more lame or had some sort of structural injury, it would be worth it to fit him properly for the Clouds. But... Eh, he just needs solid protection between his #hoofhole and the #mud. Size 3 in the Zips seem to fit the bill just fine.
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| we're doing one more day (today) of animalintex. i'm going to check in with the vet about dealing with all this residue next |
I'm not a
total idiot tho. Just partial. So his first 24hrs with the Zip are while he's mostly stalled with just an hour or two out in a paddock.
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| fresh antibiotic slurry applied to the crater |
I also put basically a full wrap underneath it too -- a layer of rolled gauze, vet wrap, and then duct tape. My thought being... if the boot wants to spin or rub on his heel bulbs, the duct tape will be a smoother, more friction-free surface? Maybe? I dunno guys LOL.
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| the rest of the slurry is on the animalintex patch, and we're still doing a complete wrap protocol |
Also, lol, bc I'm bored and am taking too many pictures, I'm posting this *before* knowing how this test run goes. So, eh, I guess take your bets (again) on whether you think this wrap / boot combo will be too much, not enough, or just right for eventual turnout!
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| tho i didn't build the duct tape up as high now that we're switching to a boot |
Naturally, I reserve the right to change my approach at any time anyway haha. And will probably shoot off another message to my vet today or tomorrow, just to update her on how things look.
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| this Easyboot model has generous sizing |
Things really don't look much different with the hole from day to day. There's still drainage, and... Idk, it might be my imagination but I think the hole is getting bigger lol.
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| charlie does have giant heel bulbs tho so eh we'll see i guess? |
We are still operating under the assumption that Charlie is growing a new sole under the surface, and that what we see will eventually slough off -- sorta like an old toenail lol.
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| i'm ready to be hopeful |
I still don't have a clue how long that will take, tho. Probably long. I dunno. We aren't exactly at the "peak growth" season for hooves, ya know?
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| oh charlie <3 making sweet faces like he isn't 100% out of patience with this lol |
And I want a little more clarity about what landmarks the vet will want Charlie to hit before he's ready for all-day turnout.
So ya know. More to come, I guess
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Fingers crossed this will hold up for all day turnout! Shiny was only out a few hours in hers, but it was great. So fingers crossed!
ReplyDeleteAlso, unsolicited advice coming at you... My trainer suggested feeding gelatin to Al when we were trying so hard to get that quarter crack to grow out. It's probably an old wives tale... but I did it and he's been growing a lot of hoof all year long since we started it. I use this one:
https://www.bigdweb.com/product/hawthorne+gelatin+3+lb.do?from=Search&cx=0
But you can just get at the grocery store too. I feed a tablespoon twice a day.
I really hope this heals up quicker than expected and you guys can get back to doing fun things. We always say things like "just an abscess" but they can be really time consuming and a total bummer.
i'm honestly really hopeful for the boot, tho simultaneously a little worried it's too tight around his heel bulbs.... he's just got like, proportionally giant, but still TB-shaped, feet. seems like boots meant for big feet are kinda assuming like, draft-y or cob-y rounder hooves, whereas charlie's are definitely long and oval... we'll see, i guess! i jammed a ton of extra cotton in there last night to see if that helps keep things comfortable!
DeleteI have so much empathy for this. One of the schoolies, Dusty, had a super similar problem last year after getting a tiny piece of wood impaled in her frog. The mother of all abscesses was the result, and she didn't come sound until after the sole grew out again. It was weeks and weeks, but even as a 20-year-old pony who'd had a very hard life before I got her and wasn't all that sound *before* this drama, she recovered beautifully. It was a hard road, but she is totally fine on that foot now. It even looks normal underneath!
ReplyDeletethat's great! and yea that's kinda charlie's MO too, that's why i call him the "King of the Dings" --- he always tip toes right up to the edge of catastrophe, and it's always this big long drawn out affair.... but so far (*knocking on wood*) he generally comes out the other end relatively unscathed... he's a lesson in constant patience LOL
DeleteI had a hard time keeping the clouds on and not twisting. I tried so many things and eventually switched to one similar to the Easyboot version you are trying now. I did put a layer of foam on the bottom and it helped with the comfort level along with the wrapping. So the foam was less than the cloud had but more than a regular wrap. I had problems with rubbing higher up on the fetlock so I used bodyglide to help and that did the trick. Mine took the back of his foot off and it had to regrow so it took almost a year before it was stable enough to do an egg bar.
ReplyDeletehmmmmm inneresting about the bodyglide -- i hadn't thought of that LOL! also your comment on the layer of foam is maybe giving me some ideas for how to help counteract the spin. last night i put an extra thick layer of folded cotton bandaging as a 'pillow' over charlie's heel bulbs... but hadn't thought to explore foam options. i like the idea bc it seems likelier to stay more dry compared to cotton... hm...
DeleteMan, I hope I never have to refer to this, but acknowledgd I might need to. You're putting together a great resource here! Ben wore the easyboot trails but not to keep any kind of wrap on, just to keep his feet from falling apart in turnout and once we started hand and tack walking. He did great in those for 10 hours of turnout and never got rubbed by them. But he always had them taken off when he came in from turnout. Also, Florida sand is a different beast and he doesn't have Charlie shaped feet, so who knows what will work best!
ReplyDelete