In which I actually get to RIDE my horse

It's amazing, in a rehab that is FOREVER long, that the poor Pony I rescued to train to ride, is really like my big sweet puppy that I walk.

Well, with my trimmer's blessing, I get to start working with him again
YAY!

Just walking, unless Laz 'wants' to trot but I won't really push for that yet. I'd like to see it via ground work for a while first.

So, just in time for the Olympic fever, I'd like to introduce my Ian Miller Crosby!
He's been sitting patiently and waiting since we last really rode, back in 2009.

I wasn't even sure if it would still fit!!!

I'm happy to say, it seems like it does. 

The girth?! 

Oooof

It barely made it!

So out we went to ride on soft terrain (for now until soles hopefully improve)

Low head, loose happy ears

Whew, he didn't seem to show ANY discomfort (at least at our walking pace) to his old AP saddle

HOOOORAH!

Discomfort was for me, the idiot who rode with yoga capris and now has two pinching bruises on both my calves. DUH and ouch

Here I am literally holding my leg off him.  Nice. 

 My Husband joined us and went for a run while we hacked for 40 minutes.

You can make sure when he returned I threw him my phone and was all "TAKE PICTURES!!!!!"

LOOK AT THIS SEXXXY NECK!

 Despite his big ol' fiber belly, I think Laz looks damn good for a rehab pony who burns 9 calories a day

 Happy calm babeee

Sweet Mas just watched us ride while chilling in the shade

He doesn't even know but he brings a lot of comfort to Laz

 Bare hoovies!

 Back to the horses

I think someone was quite pleased with himself, he did manage to work up a bit of a sweat (teeny) 

 He is so handsome all dressed up!

All done, groomed and some liniment gel on his legs (ps did I mention he had no tears but some old scarring that showed up on Ultrasound, probably from racing years, so this is to maintain comfort after rides)

"CooOKiez?!"

Felt super great to be back on him after a month off

I had just precautionary waited until I had my new trimmer's approval

Anyone have good ideas to make walking a little more interesting???

Ground poles will be coming into play...

Xrays Update

From the inside-out

What a laminitic (post) hoof looks like almost 3 years later

Yup...almost 3 freaking years later.

Oct 2009 is when he first got ill, so this Oct will be 3 yrs

Medial view of RH

Big chip in his hoof wall, which is dead hoof wall

Under run, crushed heels

Wavy tubules

Odd toe

**The purple marks you see is leftover from thrush treatment I jam into his exposed white line

It's interesting to see how his lateral side visibly looks different than his medial

From the back

Low crushed under run heel

And now, the INSIDE view;

Updated digital xrays

Lots of toe to be removed which is interesting because his hoof LOOKS soooo small from the outside. How much can one take away before it compromising the horse's weight on a small hoof?

His coffin bone still has that 'elf' tip which is osteoporosis 

And that sole-THIN! Could be because of the thick hoof wall issues, thrush, bacteria, etc in that hoof

You can see view from the top of coffin bone, how it's tipped medially as well (in picture towards the right side) See?

Shot from the front; you can see he is still rotated medially (inward)

and sole-is oh my, still thin thin thin thin thin thin

sigh

If you are interested in comparison shots; click HERE for Xrays from 2010/2011

It is somewhat frustrating to not be further along with his hoof progress despite our, and other's best efforts. 

BUT, I have to remain confident in the people I chose to hire, so again, we now have a new plan.

I'm SO hoping this works

Updated Plan is;

Get Laz now on Ixosuprine   

I tried the all natural Jiaogulan since November, with no change so it's out.

After trimming all hooves and paring back the hoof wall to connective tissue, we soaked his hoof for 40 minutes in clean trax, dried off, and applied No Thrush (the purple markings) before getting ready to cast his hoof.

Yup, cast his hoof!

Below, applying the bonding glue to hoof wall, to adhere cast to it

Glue gunk

 Keeping Laz busy with some hay while M applied the casting wrap securely.

At this point, we were already at over 2 hours, so Laz was getting antsy

All for you my sweet boy!

 Laz trying to lick/bite his soaking boot off! 

We soaked his club in clean trax after the RH

Say Hello to Equicast

Finished and casted. It's actually more black than purple

Fingers crossed it stays on for minimal 2 weeks, hopefully more like 6!!!

It's intended to help his compromised hoof wall structure and encourage support/growth and comfort.

Laz standing on it, on a pad to allow the cast to harden/form around his hoof shape and sole.

He seemed VERY comfortable in it and when walking out, lifted his toe instead of dragging it.

A good sign, that hopefully he'll walk better, which will in turn build up the back of his hoof/heel/digital cushion/lateral cartilage/stimulate better hoof growth and more soundness and a better sole=better hoof. 

Is that a lot to ask for? lol

Once we were done, Laz was feeling quite good

He enjoyed a fat boy PLOP and rolled

Happy puppy horse

 Mid puppy Shake

Tomorrow I'll go back to make sure he's still happy/comfy.

I also got the OK to "get on and RIDE him"

(We are talking soft grounds at the walk unless he wants to trot and to stay off the gravel roads for now)

It's OK, I'll take what I can get as long as he's comfortable

We are also backing out our trims to allow more growth in between.

Something that's different for me. Instead of every 4 weeks, we are going 6ish.

This will be interesting to see how/if it works, but I'm hopeful it will and trust my new trimmer's knowledge and background.

Stay tuned!

Hay Heros

With the weather NOT being 100 degrees, Laz and I enjoyed a nice hand walk.
I've not ridden him in weeks, and may soon. I try to balance my ride times with how he's feeling AND the weather. (HOT)

We road walked and when he 'asks' to walk on the grass or weeds, I allow it. 

I trust he knows his foot gauge of comfort.

We snuck onto neighbors GORGEOUS trail.

They are neighbors but are so far away, that I can't casually walk by their house (it's on the other side of trail system) to ask permission. So, we poke in there from time to time-not during hunting season of course

We stumbled across this poor Mr. Fox

What would kill a fox? Another fox?
Sad. Laz was quite the McSniffer with it.

We've had our share of dead small animals this week-no mas!

Walking out, so lovely! It's like a secret garden

And spooky being we are totally trespassing!

 We sealed up some hay!!

There is a shortage going around and prices are going UP due to dry weather.

We got 150 GORGEOUS soft, green 1st cutting grass hay bales at a good price

The bales are HUGE and heavy! 

Booyah

Fatties wanting the hay NOW

 Gotta love a delivery like this. Our new hay guy is AWESOME

 Speaking of awesome? 

My Husband and one of his former Basketball players, and his Basketball team manager came to help. They've been wanting to meet Laz too.

 They thought Laz was a stallion, lol

 They loved walking around with the horses and feeding them the fallen hay pieces

 They asked so many cute questions like: 

"Is that his adam's apple? How much does he weigh? Where does he sleep? Why is his hair like that? (referring to his bridle path)

 What is that big bubble part of his head? (his jaw) 

Who is taller, Laz or Justin (Justin)?

Is Laz a Mustang? What animal can kill a horse-a Tiger (uh ya)? Do they like living in a pack? Which one is the leader?"

LOL!!!! So cute and hilarious

 Laz was happy to be their first horse encounter

If we weren't so tired and hot, I would have had the boys groom Laz so they can be more hand's on
Next time

We also had our Ultrasounds and Rads done today

More on that to come-much more....once I get images to share