About this Blog

Meet my very 1st horse, Lazarus.
I couldn't wait for Santa anymore or ask one more time for a pony for my bday (after age 30 it got embarrassing). I took matters in my own hands and I finally decided to pick a pony that needed a new home. Laz found me as I contemplated with this idea. He was sweet yet very sassy, fresh off the track, Thoroughbred (OTTB).
Join us for our re-training, rehabbing from laminitis and testing all parts of mixed up horsemanship and partnership, and luck...

Monday, September 22, 2014

Weekend play time

This is what 8 am looks like. 
Two puppies breathing on us to remind us "FEED US!!!!" in a sweet manner
We fed the pups and decided to enjoy the nice Fall day and get outside
We headed downtown Detroit (we live about 20 minutes north of downtown) to this great coffee shop
for a gooey bar, almond croissant, a lavender latte and a regular coffee
 Billy boy has himself a sweeeet tooth!
 The ambiance is fantastic at that coffee shop. Downtown Detroit has a very cool revival and we try to support it as much as we can. Coming from living in Chicago (Suburbs), Detroit was built backwards in my opinion with lack of public transit, and not embracing a water view with international access/view BUT there are fantastic things happening to this humble city, and we choose to support it.
After our caffeine surge, we headed to one of the US's largest farmers market, Eastern Market
There are several large sheds and hundreds of vendors with local produce, cheeses, meats, etc
It's fantastic
 After our Detroit fun day, it was time to drive north an hour to see the pony
Double snuggle with Laz & Pito
They were both convinced I had treats in my belly...uh no
It was SO nice and I'm super sad about not trail riding (I've just decided to pasture hacks for during pregnancy) that I wanted to still enjoy the weather, my horse and the trail.
So....we all hoofed it.
I put Laz's padded slipper boot on his RH just to be extra careful and we were off

 Cutting through the sweet neighbor's pasture to our trail system of heaven
 Laz was funny. He was snorty and prancing for a bit, clearly excited to be out.
He hasn't been on the trail since we rode it alone in April (le sigh)
 It was a good decision to hand walk him, he was definitely not 100% confident and chill and I can't blame him. Lack of constant exposure leads to that but he was great via in halter. He is a pony that does best with repetition so I just set us up for success
 SNORT!
 About one minute after this photo we came  head to head with a cyclist on the narrow path and Laz jumped backwards about 15 feet. Poor guy was just so startled! He almost sat on Billy who was walking behind
The cyclist was super cool and stopped and allowed us to pass by slowly. I'm not sure I would have sat that spook or not if I were in saddle? Maybe...big maybe. Or maybe I would have eaten dirt over his left shoulder. 
 It was a super fun walk, we covered 4 miles and enjoyed the gorgeous trails. I hope to do it again soon
  After we returned home, we enjoyed rustic homemade sourdough toast with fresh MI mozzarella and heirloom grape and currant tomatoes
Pretty much a perfect Saturday!

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Same day Hoof/Trimming comparisons on 9-16-14

All photos are of RH (right hind)
Front shot; I set my camera on the ground
 Sole shot
Lateral side shot below
Medial side shot below

***
After my rasping/knife work below (no nippers yet-I don't own any and they scare me but I'll need to get over that in my future)
Lateral below
 Medial
Front shot..still seems to load higher on lateral side so actually after photo I rasped that side down a bit more
 
Sole shot. Frog apex was stretched down at toe so far! You can compare to pre trim photo

 Medial heel is really underrun and although it looks longer (it may be) I think it needs to back up/stand up on it's own. Will it? The bar is all jammy jammed in there too
 I pared bar alongside lateral side of frog collatral groove and bar on medial side (left side of photo) and you can see bruising underneath. LOTS of licking/chewing after I removed it. It's quite smashed down in there, I had a really hard time picking my knife 'under' the bar as it was almost smeared into his sole.

I treated all sole/open white line with Thrush Off and plan to soak soon in white lightening as well.
He walked/trotted really nicely after this trim so I'm hopeful I'll get that hoof back a bit more normal before winter sets in and his growth halts.

Thoughts?


September-Hoof update

An update, we casted Laz's RH hoof weeks ago and I'm not happy at all with how it grew out.
I feel the whole hoof capsule grew out forward and incorrect. Especially in heel/toe area.
 I also felt from the beginning that the cast was too tight/close to his medial heel bulb
Here is his hoof after cast was removed (I tried removing it on my own and could NOT do it)
Terrible angles...poor Laz.
 The heel bulb, ugh. Look at those heels too--so high and under run
 A day later, after hoof cast removal, his medial wall started to crack at quarters.
I can see the lateral side hoof wall is higher too...look at hairline
It's been months/years since I felt so let down
We usually have great results from the casting. Not this time.
 I decided to let his hoof be for a few days before I did any alterations.
I'll have update photos soon and since I rasped those heels/toe back he started walking SO much better. I did a little at a time, every other day to give him time to settle into it.

Here is his hoof back in 2011
 Better angle to me although quite diseased or full of laminar wedge..
This hoof...boy this hoof...!!!
I hope to get some better results soon by using my eye and not casting for a while....
I'm just really miffed to have gone backwards with his growth/angle/shape.
I'm not sure why? 
By no means is this a slam on my farrier. I know he truly TRULY cares and tries very hard. This is a very tricky hoof. My feeling is to take that toe back but that could lead to more soreness...slow attempts are my best bet. We talk a lot during his trims about angles and what to try, not try, etc.
I just wish I had a clear vision of how to best help his hoof. It's not in soakings (I've done how many hundreds of soaks/thrush treatments, etc--tried it ALL)

For now...I'm taking those heels back/toe back and he's liking it and walking/weighting it nicely.

***
Apple picking time
MI apples are the best. They crack when you bite into them. DEE freakin lic

My instagram pony pic..Sunday snuggles with this most handsome stink face!

 Billy rubbing down Laz who was telling him "Iz vury itcheeee"
 Doing a little hoof work
Why, why haven't I bought a hoof jack yet? I don't know. Stupido.
 Riding home (I'm the passenger for those that are judging) and Mason's velvety ears are happily flapping in the breeze.