Bruce goes to rehab

Friday 6 December 2019

Today I packed Bruce off to Barefoot Rehab. Track livery, no grass (or very limited as the horses on the track have turned it to dirt). Lots of movement, supplements, regular trims by an Equine Podiatrist. This is make or break for Brucey!

What brought this about?

Over the last year he’s had steroid injections to his hocks and coffin joints, stifle, SI and at 4 locations along the thoracic region of the spine; cartrophen; osphos; remedial farriery. We had a really fun summer together, doing lots of hacking, fun rides and adult camp – but he still didn’t feel quite right to me and every stumble or slightly off step was making me question everything.

A couple of months ago, we moved house and I went back to work after maternity leave; I barely had any time for Bruce. Then I broke my hand in a really silly accident at work. As a result of that, I’m not going to be able to ride until probably January/February. I decided, as Bruce already had one shoe off due to an abscess (his feet cracked terribly – including those lovely hinds that hadn’t been shod before!), I would just have them all pulled.

But why track livery?

I decided that if I was really going to give this a go, he needed to be off grass completely. Last time, after 6 months barefoot, my trimmer said his feet looked really good – but he was still footy. The reason? Grass. He was on ex-dairy grazing, rich in rye grass. Not long after that he got a cresty neck and had to be taken off grass altogether before it developed into full blown laminitis. He was then diagnosed with EMS.

I have been allowing him on grass but in a controlled way, since then; but on pulling his shoes, it’s clear that they were just masking the issues the grass was causing. He’s very footy again. The only way is to get him off the grass altogether, to see if this works.

Hoof pics

I took some hoof pics today before he went; I’m going to post them for comparison with pics from Jan 2018 (when I first took his shoes off), June 2018 (just before he had shoes put back on) and today (shoes taken off November 8 2019 – no trim since then).

January 2018

June 2018

December 2019

June 2018

December 2019

January 2018

June 2018

December 2019

Now that he’s so far away, I plan to visit Bruce at least once per month, more often if I can. Not sure how I’m going to cope without my horsey fix; it’s going to feel weird – as it has done the last few weeks since I broke my hand. Once my hand is better and I’m able to ride, I’m definitely going to go and have some lessons, maybe see if anyone I know has anything they need riding, try and get myself riding fit before I potentially get Bruce back!

The plan is that he stays there for a minimum of 6 months – maybe longer, depending on how sound he is and what his feet are doing. I won’t have him back until he’s sound enough to be ridden. It is unlikely he will ever be able to go back on grass again – so the hunt for track livery in Worcestershire continues!

L.

Better days, when we were having fun back in summer 2019

Guess who’s back…

I am a bad blogger. I stopped posting for a few reasons, mainly because I was so depressed with how things were progressing.

Since my last post, a lot has happened:

• I found out I was pregnant
• We moved yards as I needed to go on part livery as a result
• Bruce got diagnosed with mild kissing spines – rehabbed with exercise, groundwork and lunging in Equi Ami. Also had shoes put back on fronts as having sore feet was exacerbating his back issues.
• Rich (ex-dairy) grass at new yard nearly triggered a laminitis episode; Bruce was diagnosed with EMS
• The hottest summer ever happened
• We moved yards again in July to a place with hard standing pens so I could keep him off the grass
• Bruce got diagnosed with hock arthritis in October – treated with steroid injections and cartrophen. He’s also shod behind too now, with lateral extensions and squared off toes.
• I had my baby by caesarean on 1 November – his name is Harrison
• I started bringing Bruce back into work in December
• Bruce went to water treadmill rehab for 2 weeks in January
• I finally got back on him on 30 January
• Saddle fitter came to check and make minor adjustments on 31 January – all is good to go

We are back in business!

The next 6 weeks or so are going to be mostly walking, lots of raised poles in hand (and under saddle when he’s ready), hacking when we can and carrot stretches – yes, they do work! I’ll be posting about our journey (when I can) on here.

I am also undergoing rehab myself – pregnancy has left me weak, unfit and a stone heavier than I was before. My lack of fitness/condition has revealed how seriously crooked I am. I’m doing Pilates weekly; I have daily exercises to complete from my Pilates instructor (she’s also a physiotherapist); plus I walk about an hour per day to try and get some weight off. I need to up the ante as I seem to have plateaued the last couple of weeks. I’ll document how that’s going too.

I’m excited to write my next instalment!

L.

Back on the lunge

Monday 23 April

I gave Bruce (and myself) a day off on Sunday; I’m pretty tired at the moment and very busy with other things going on.

I decided to try him on the lunge this evening after work. It was breezy and I didn’t fancy the idea of being towed around the lanes by a horse on high alert.

Bearing in mind, last time I tried to lunge Bruce, I wasn’t happy with his soundness in trot on a circle and gave up on the idea pretty quickly – I was worried about what he was going to be like. I couldn’t be bothered putting his bridle and gadgets on (gosh, I am getting lazy!) so just stuck his rope halter and lunge line on.

I walked him around the school a couple of times first, using the tactics Dan Wain taught me; not pulling on his head but getting him to move with my body language and the long cane. He was responsive but seemed eager, so I decided to put him on a circle and see how we went. I was slightly concerned about my ability to stop him if he tanked off (as he so often used to on the lunge – motorbiking around, bucking and farting and generally behaving like a hooligan was his usual style).

I needn’t have worried. He was amazingly responsive, trotted when asked, walked when asked, didn’t canter (I didn’t want him to as he hasn’t been lunged or worked properly in so long). He seemed pretty chilled the whole way through!

His head carriage is still pretty high but he had fleeting moments of relaxation and lowering. I think I’ll carry on like this rather than putting him back in his bridle and cotton lunging aid – see how he gets on without.

All in all, very pleased with him!

The negative from tonight was that the Red Horse Sweet Oil I’ve been applying to his butt seems to have caused an allergic reaction. I thought it was just oil collecting in the hair but there were definite raised bumps on his skin tonight and peeling.

I’ve applied some aqueous cream instead, used for human dry skin conditions, until I order some more Camrosa ointment. Poor Bruce, he really is a delicate little flower, bless him!

L.

A lovely walk in the sun

Saturday 21 April

After a very pleasant midweek hack with Elle and Copper, I decided to go solo with Bruce on Saturday morning. The weather was absolutely gorgeous – bright, sunny and warm. We walked along a route we’ve done many times before; at first he was intermittently calling the others, but he soon settled (with the aid of treats…).

We walked down a track which we normally turn back about half way along; but I decided to keep going. It turns into a sort of service road, for – as I found out at the end – a sewage treatment plant! Nice. It didn’t smell or anything though.

At the end there was a footpath/bridleway, but the gate was mostly blocked off by a huge tree trunk and a load of fly tipped rubbish. I knew I could get through the gap but wasn’t sure about Bruce. I decided to try it. I went first – and he followed most obligingly, without hesitation or spooking at the rubbish. We went all the way to the end of the track, under a motorway bridge and alongside the train tracks. I was desperately hoping a train didn’t come at the same time as we were under the bridge, not sure he would have been so keen on that..!

We got as far as we could before the footpath required the crossing of stiles and we had to turn back. I let Bruce have a graze of the long grass at this point, and then we turned for home.

He was hoof perfect on the muddy track; and fine on the smooth tarmac service road. He picked his way over a patch of gravel, but that’s to be expected.

Half way back to the main road, we stopped for a second to let a car out of a gateway on the right; and to my complete shock, a goat stepped out of a gateway just ahead and to our left! Bruce had a good look at it, but wasn’t overly worried and walked past without batting an eyelid.

Who is this super chilled horse, and where has my horse gone?

L.

15 week barefoot update

Tuesday 17 April

It’s been 15 weeks since Bruce had his shoes pulled. We’ve had some ups and downs, but he seems to be making definite progress now. His new trimmers, Three County Feet, have been nothing short of brilliant – their advice and very conservative trimming have enabled Bruce to stay comfortable.

The changes in his feet are becoming more apparent. Photos aren’t that great, but you get the idea.

I haven’t been walking him out on the roads as regularly as I should have been, for various reasons which will become apparent at a later date. I am taking him out tomorrow though, and thereafter at least every other day.

I am moving Bruce to a new yard at the end of the month; I’m putting him on part livery, so he’ll be turned out, mucked out, brought in etc for me during the week. This will give me more time to spend working with him. The new yard is at the end of a very long lane with only a couple of other livery yards on it; so very light traffic, perfect for walking out in hand! For longer walks, there are plenty of bridleways nearby, I am told. The school is huge, and the surface lovely and flat, really well drained and uniform all over. Really looking forward to it.

So – hoof update photos… Near fore first:

What I see is:

• A clear change in shape of hoof – toe has shortened, point of frog is closer to the toe, the hoof is rounder in shape.
• The frog is more developed, as are the heels
• Retracted soles apparent along with some old bruising. There is new sole growing underneath so just got to wait for the old sole to shed.
• Improved digital cushion.
• Improved angle between hoof and leg.
• Hoof wall is very thin in lower quarter to third; stimulation required by walking out on roads to encourage new growth. Once this has grown down it should be perfectly healthy and he can stop load bearing on his soles (as apparent at toe).

 

Off fore:

Very similar results here.

Overall I’m happy  – Bruce is comfortable and that’s what’s most important. His feet may look worse before they look better, but that’s fine by me as long as he’s sound!

L.

Thwarted by the weather… Again

Saturday 17 March

Managed to get out for an early morning walk round the block, with Elle and Copper today, against all the odds – wind, snow, sleet, the weather wasn’t on our side but we put mind over matter and got on with it.

Bruce was on his toes, it felt a bit like flying a kite at times… He was booted up for most of the way round the block, and I took the boots off for the last 5 minutes to let those feet get some stimulation.

I also went to look at a few yards today, but none were suitable in the end. Not sure if what I’m looking for is impossible.

Sunday 18 March

It properly snowed overnight. Again. Bastard weather. The taps and pipes froze again; cue lugging more containers of water. Really not what I needed – and it was only the second day of Bruce’s bootcamp! We had to call it off as it was too snowy and icy.

Monday 19 March

Went up to muck out at 5.30am today in case the horses were staying in. I thought it would be too hard on Bruce’s feet, without boots, in the field.

Wrong! Apparently he went galloping off without a care in the world.

He came in with a chunk of his face missing – must have been playing rough with the boys over the fence. Why doesn’t he move out of the way?! Had to take the noseband off his bridle as it would sit right where the chunk is missing. He was surprisingly not as fidgety in his mouth – I might try without the noseband again.

Took him for a short walk up the road and back, to stimulate those feet. He was absolutely golden, even with it being windy and cold.

Went to lunge him in the school afterwards but he wasn’t sound in trot – I think a combination of the school being slightly frozen still, and him hooning around like an idiot on a frozen field this morning. I hope so anyway; I’ll see how he is tomorrow.

I has a small showdown with him over bathing the wound on his face with hibiscrub. He was doing his best giraffe impression; but I have more patience than he does.

I tried him with the Thunderbrooks healthy muesli tonight – he gobbled it down. Woohoo, I’ve found something he will eat! He didn’t bat an eyelid at the supplements or linseed in it either. Hopefully this means I can risk buying a proper sized bag of it next time, as this was just a sample pack.

Plan for tomorrow is to walk him out for 5 minutes on the road again, then do some in-hand work as per Dan Wain’s clinic. I must get another one of those booked soon.

L.

Good news!

Sunday 11 March – Bruce has the dentist

What better way to start Mother’s Day than getting to the yard for an 8am dentist appointment?

I’d got this dentist, Matthew Bradley, out on a personal recommendation. He was absolutely lovely and put both me and Bruce at ease from the start. I had been told that Bruce last had his teeth done in September, and that he’s good for the dentist.

True on both counts! His teeth were in good condition, with minimal work needing to be done. The parting comment on Bruce’s treatment sheet was that he is one of the easiest horses that Matt does! Good boy, Brucey. That’s one thing that’s going to plan, at least..!

Monday 12 March –  Bruce has massage therapy

The wonderful Sue Connolly came out again on Monday morning. Fair play to her for daring to enter the barn – I was exhibiting symptoms of the Plague, coughing my guts up. I really hope she doesn’t catch my lurgy!

Sue checked Bruce over – I had run my fingers down his spine periodically myself, and had noticed no muscle spasming. I was quite right. His back was almost completely better. He did have some tightness in the muscles running along the side of his ribcage – this could be from walking short, trying to protect his feet.

Sue worked methodically along Bruce’s back; across the SI joint; did some work on one side, and then the other. As she was working, we noticed Bruce kept turning his head and pointing to his side with his muzzle. I thought he wanted a scratch – but Sue said he was asking to be treated there! I have to admit, I was a bit sceptical; until she put her hands on him, and he instantly dropped his head, his eyes half closed and his lower lip started twitching. Amazing.

Sue also treated Bruce’s neck and head, as it was tight from the dentist yesterday – no fault of the dentist, it just tends to happen. She said that was the best thing to do actually – have him treated the day after the dentist, to instantly release the tightness in the muscles.

Sue recommended that I do not rush to get back in the saddle with Bruce. She said his feet need to come right, before anything else will now. I need to focus on in-hand work, focus on getting those feet right. Bruce will guide me, with his feet – whether he can be rehabilitated in an acceptable time frame, or will need to have his front shoes back on. Whichever option we end up going with, his back will not be right until he is moving correctly.

Sue will give me the details of a saddle fitter that can help find the best possible saddle for him, when the time is right. For now, I really need to focus on his feet.

Wednesday 14 March – “And you will know me by the trail of the snotty tissues”

I have had to enslave Mark again the last few days, to help me with stable duties because I’ve been so ill. Today I couldn’t even manage to get to the yard at all. I barely slept last night because I simply cannot breathe. I haven’t had a cold like this in years! Thankfully the lovely Elle helped me out and did Bruce for me. I am so exhausted and feeling very frustrated – two weeks out of kilter due to jury service and snow, then my first “normal” week, where it’s actually light until about 6pm now, and I get ill! Very annoying.

I’ve spent this evening writing this blog and planning out a return to exercise plan for Bruce – I’m hoping that I will feel better enough, by the weekend, to start it.

Hence the photo for this  post – the rainbow I spotted at the weekend, signifying (to me) hope, that with the coming spring Bruce and I will get to do lots more together and I might even get those feet right..!

L.

 

Bruce on the loose

Friday 09 March

Up until now, Bruce has been in a small paddock within the large field shared by the two smaller girls, Mary and Rosie. I don’t like individual turnout really, I prefer a horse to be allowed to be a horse and socialise; but Bruce has shown some aggressive tendencies previously (admittedly mainly towards geldings), and has also been kicked very badly, so it wasn’t something I had wanted to risk.

As time went on, at this yard, it became clear that Bruce was chilling out. I would often arrive at the yard to find him and the two mares on the other side of the fence standing heads together, dozing.

So, we decided – myself, Mary and Rosie’s owners – that we would try them in the field together. The idea was that they would go in together, see how they got on, and then the paddock would be removed and they’d have a fair sized field for the three of them to roam in.

Initial introductions were full of squealing, field acrobatics and about five solid minutes of hooning around like maniacs.

I had to take Bruce’s rug off, he sweated up that much. He wasted no time in going down for a roll!

He then started socialising with the geldings over the fence. I thought one of them was coming over the fence at one point, he had his whole chest over the fence! They seem to have settled down since though.

Bruce did seem to prefer the girls to keep away from the geldings at first; he kept herding them away from the fence line. However, he seems to have got over this and barely bats an eyelid at them now. There are more important things in life than girls, y’know – like eating!

I am so pleased for him, that he’s now able to go out with these girls. My heart was in my mouth of course, I wasn’t sure if it was going to work out or if I’d be ringing the emergency vet! But so far so good. I just want him to be able to be a horse, have normal interactions and enjoy a bit of mutual grooming.

I asked YM if I could take down the fencing to Bruce’s old paddock, but was told this was going to be used for a couple of the mares, in order to rest their field, which admittedly was rather trashed. Fair enough, I thought.

Saturday 10 March

The next morning I got to the yard to find that Bruce’s paddock was now occupied by a completely new horse – a gelding, with the electric fence not even turned on between him and Bruce.

I am annoyed about this for the following reasons:

1. Bruce, Rosie and Mary have now lost grazing – we have more horses on less space. The fields are trashed as it is, putting more horses on less grazing is sheer lunacy. We have nowhere confirmed to move to in the summer – how on earth will our fields recover for next winter?
2. A completely new horse, from god knows where, has come onto the yard and is not quarantined, even using the term loosely – it is fully able to reach my horse easily over the fence.
3. My horse has just settled in to his new field space, with new field mates, new pecking order etc. This new horse has been plonked in next to him without even telling me, or warning me that I should put the electric fence on.

I am not best pleased, I can assure you. I’m currently weighing up my options. It’d be a shame to move as the people on the yard are just so lovely. Good fellow liveries are worth their weight in gold; but the place is falling short of my expectations, and it’s not even the cheapest place around locally. I’ve got some thinking to do.

As is always the case, simultaneously I have an awful lot going on in my personal life at the moment too. Why does everything seem to happen at once?! I could do without the stress of a yard move – will have to see what the next few weeks bring.

L.

Snow days!

Well, just as I was feeling like getting going with the in-hand work…. It decided to snow again. Big time.

At least this meant I could keep Bruce in, with the company of all the other horses. The ground was frozen so solid, even the shod horses were struggling to walk on it.

The pipes and taps froze, we had to lug containers of water down to the yard. It was a bleddy nightmare.

I did, however, get some lovely photos with my boy. 

Here we are having a little play together:

More detailed update coming soon 😉

L.

Monday 05 March

I am very naughty and haven’t been doing my regular updates. Well – not naughty. Thoroughly depressed and fed up with it all, actually.

I’ve been struggling with watching Bruce potter around, sore on his feet, since his last trim. It’s really upsetting me. I read and re-read my Nic Barker books, and came to the conclusion that to be sore after every trim is not what I want for my horse.

His last trim was 15 February. I decided to call for a second opinion on his feet, just to put my mind at rest. I went with some trimmers who a friend of mine uses – they’re not local and wouldn’t be able to visit me all that regularly, but they happened to be in the area on Sunday 25 March. I was so desperate for him to be seen by them, I raced back from visiting friends in Cardiff especially.

The first thing we talked about was when Bruce had his shoes pulled, and when he had been trimmed. He had his shoes pulled on 02 January; the farrier took a little bit off, “just to tidy them up”. On 23 January, he had his first visit from the EP; she took a little bit off, a conservative trim. And then again on 15 February – taking more off.

So in the space of about 6 weeks, he effectively had three trims! My second-opinion barefoot trimmers told me that when they take shoes off a horse, they don’t trim at all for at least 4 weeks. They let the hoof settle, let any long hoof wall chip off (as it would do naturally, a bit at a time) and then look at trimming the hoof once it has settled down.

I’m certain that EP had Bruce’s best interests at heart, but that trimming style clearly doesn’t suit him. Having read, and re-read Nic Barker’s books again and again, I’m considering allowing him to self trim – though I would of course continue to seek advice, and no doubt the odd rasp here and there, from a trimmer who is also a qualified farrier, every 6 weeks or so as usual.

His soles are bruised, and they are really bouncy – not helped by being in a wet and muddy field every day. I’ve been advised to keep him in as much as possible, to give his feet chance to dry out, until the fields drain off a bit – easier said than done, on low lying land right next to a brook! I’m also to start applying Stockholm Tar to his frog and bulbs of his heels, and a little to the soles as well, plus Kevin Bacons on the hoof walls.

The seedy toe goes up further than anticipated and the crack is actually getting a bit bigger; but there’s nothing the trimmers can do about it until his feet have grown down a bit.

Gentle exercise on hard smooth surfaces will help, so it’s back to pounding the tarmac as soon as all of the snow has melted… Yes, fecking snow. The positive side of it was that all the horses were kept in, as the ground was so rutted and rock solid under the snow. So Bruce has had plenty of chance for his feet to dry out and his soles are definitely less bouncy.

I’m going to turn him out alternate days, for the time being. I may rethink this and turn out for a shorter amount of time, on a daily basis – I’ll see how we go, as this will mean coming up to the yard more often and will be hard to fit around work.

I’m having trouble getting his feed down him at the moment, I think he’s turning his nose up at the health food and is craving junk! Just like me… So I’m going to have a rethink of what I’m feeding him. Nothing sudden, just as and when things start running out, I will replace with something different gradually. I may start using Thunderbrooks products as I’ve heard a lot of good things about them. I borrowed some Thunderbrooks healthy herbal chaff a few days ago, from Elle (with her permission!), to try and coax Bruce to eat his feed one day, and he gobbled it down – so hopefully that means he likes it and will eat it.

Nothing is ever simple with horses, is it?

For now, I need to start actually doing the in hand work that Dan Wain taught me, and book another session with him. Now that the days are getting longer, there’s no excuse really. So – tomorrow, the regime starts. I need to start getting him back into work and fit again in hand before putting a saddle back on him!

L.