Behind the Bit

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Three Riley milestones! Posted: 21 Feb 2010 05:07 PM PST Note extra room on outer edge to encourage hoof to expand. Milestone #1: New, normal shoes Friday morning the vet met me at the barn and we put Riley on a lunge line -- sound! Well, let me amend that: The vet considers him sound but told me he was seeing a difference in the breakover between the two feet -- the left is very upright, the right is pretty much without a heel. It's subtle. Then the farrier arrived, and he put on two NORMAL shoes. Riley's right hoof has an Equipak gel infused with copper sulfate, held in by a mesh liner to keep the frog in direct contact with the ground. This will hopefully help expand the heel. See the horizontal line at the toe? That's the end of the hoof defect. Milestone #2: Drug-free Riley This was Riley's first sedation-free shoeing (keep in mind he was on stall rest for most of his shoeing experiences). While he was still opinionated, he responded to correction and stood stock still for minutes at a time, or he quietly chewed the chain shank. Not really that bad, especially considering it took an hour to do two shoes (lots of standing, talking, scrutinizing). I can foresee a day he might stand quietly unattended. Duct tape to protect mesh/equipak Left hoof in process Milestone #3: Riley the working man? Riley's been cleared to go back to work. By work I mean physical rehab, really. He's scrawny. He's gangly. He has no topline. He's on paddock turnout until the spring. It'll be a slow road, but talk of progress is a little miraculous to me. He may be a riding horse after all! After everyone left, I took the bridle into Riley's stall and put it on him. He remembered.

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