24 hours later

Rugby got through the night okay and his condition stayed the same from when I last checked on him yesterday. Vet is happy he's comfortable but everyone is baffled by what keeps making him so uncomfortable. He's staying in the medical barn and they are monitoring him and everything this horse ingests. We should have the results of his blood and stool samples by the end of today. When he's showing symptoms, it will make you think of colic but he's still passing manure and wanting to eat. The vet felt no impaction and there's no reflux into his stomach. I'm going to visit him after work and the vet said I can take him out to hand walk and graze him a little.

My poor horse. I think he's tired of being sick, too. He got shoes on Saturday and was a doll for the farrier. I was looking forward to a return to light work under saddle and now this. Many thanks for your "get-better" thoughts. Keep them coming, this Big Guy needs to get past this.

So Far, Shoes Good

This Saturday makes it two weeks that Rugby has been wearing his egg bar shoes. And he's sound. I have been stopping by the barn almost every day since then and have been regularly lunging him for 20-30 minutes mainly at the walk but with a few times around at the trot to his left and only once or twice around at the trot to the right (his sore side). And he's sound. If there's any head nod at all to the right, it's almost as if I'm so paranoid that I'm making myself see things.

I even lunged him in the polo arena in the sand to see how it would affect him. I was also curious to see how he'd handle being out in that big arena after not being worked in there for about 4 months. He was a star! Rock steady, calm and completely in tune with my groundwork! A very pleasant surprise! One of the boarders commented on how well-behaved Rugby was and I told her it feels as if he's grown up a lot this past winter!

He's still on the bute but at a reduced dosage and this Saturday we will be weaning him off even that. I am considering adding an anti-inflammatory supplement to his feed to see if that can further help him. I've been reading about Devil's Claw and many people like the results.

Also, the vet agreed if he's consistent by Saturday that I can get on him and ride at the walk for a bit. I am super pleased with that. Each step has been adding something else and seeing if the horse stays sound or not. So far, so good!

Rugby's New Kicks

As of this past Saturday, Rugby now has a nifty pair of egg bar shoes on his front hoofers. He's a first in that department for me. I've never owned a horse that wore bar shoes of any kind. It was nice to work with my old farrier again. I'm reminded of just how good he is at his craft. I was also rather impressed when he took a look at Rugby's unshod feet and shook his head and said, "wow, his hooves are really nice. It's almost a shame to put shoes on him".

He took his time, Rugby was pretty good but very aware of what was going on. He wasn't overly nervous but he did get a bit fidgety especially when he smelled and heard the sizzle from the hot shoeing. My farrier was patient and kind and simply chalked it up to Rugby having "forgotten" what it was like to have shoes nailed on. The best part was when the shoes were on and the farrier brought out the rasping stand. As soon as Rugby put his hoof on it and heard the familiar rasping sound, his entire body relaxed and he submitted. All the nerves were gone! It was as if he just said, "ah, something familiar! whew!".

When my farrier was done he asked me to get my lunging gear and let's see what if any difference we made. At first it all looked the same. But the longer Rugby walked on the shoes, I started to see a difference in his stride. He was laking longer steps with both front feet, and landing the same. Gone was the shorter step on the side opposite his soreness. Then I asked him for a little trot. Pretty good to the left, still slightly "off" to the right. My farrier said only time will tell. He asked that I keep him updated with the vet's reports and to not let the shoes go past 5 weeks.

When I went to the barn on Sunday, I took Rugby out for a little lunging again, no more than 20 minutes and mostly at the walk. And was rewarded with a 100% sound horse to the left at both the walk and the trot and going to the right he was 100% sound at the walk and about 90% sound at the trot There was a marked and very visible improvement on day #2 wearing the bar shoes. My fingers are so crossed. If he can stay sound and can get back to very light work it will be enough for me for now. At least I can train and work on his steering and forwardness if I can at least do a little at the walk and trot under saddle.

Shooz for Rugby

Rugby will be wearing front shoes as of tomorrow. Based on his new X-rays and further discussion with my vet, we agree that front shoes are needed to give him support. The good news from the X-rays is that there is no change or problem involving navicular. But there is something there, however small, that my vet feels is an old injury to the coffin bone, possibly a healed fracture from Rugby's youth that is flaring up and he needs the stability of the shoes to help him. It seems egg bars are the prescription and my vet is speaking with my farrier to let him know exactly what he wants my horse to have done.

I remember his former owner telling me he wore shoes up front. Of course, I never thought to ask what kind since Rugby was barefoot and sound when I bought him. I figured it was just the usual considering he didn't give any indication of needing more at that time.

He's now walking barefoot better than he was but he's still not quite right. He's also on the bute and isoxiprene and I really want him to start weaning off that stuff. I contacted the farrier who used to shoe Monty and he's happy to come and work on Rugby for me. Tomorrow morning I'll be there to help my old farrier and Rugby get acquainted. I will miss working with my barefoot trimmer. I really like how he works around my horse and I feel he's been such an important part in my horses' impeccable manners when having his hooves tended to. He's not thrilled I've opted for the shoes. I understand that and respect his opinion. I've given it thought both ways and I just feel it's an option I have to try at this time.

In the meantime, I have been doing very light ground work exercises involving leading only. No lunging, since turning to the right aggravates his unsoundness. Rugby is the kind of horse who just craves interaction and mental stimulation. I gave him simple exercises like stepping over a pole forwards and backwards, lateral flexing, backing, turning, stepping up on a low platform and off and he was a star. He was so good that one of the other boarders was leading her aged, seasoned show horse around and my super green, unsound and unworked 6 year old had more self control! I even brought him to the mounting block and leaned on his back and he just relaxed and enjoyed the attention.

More and more, as my relationship with Rugby grows, he's becoming a star. He's already known for his perfect ground manners. Over the past weekend I brought out the clippers and he stood for having his face, ears and legs trimmed better than some of the best show horses I've met!

And I had an opportunity to ride this past weekend! One of the instructors who boards her lesson horses at the barn where I keep Rugby has often offered me a chance to ride some of her horses. I took her up on it and had a short but very sweet walk, trot session on her little thoroughbred. I'm still buzzed from getting a few minutes in the saddle!

Found a little motivation today!

Rugby's hoof trimmer was scheduled to come by and work on him today. Sure enough, I got the call and was at the barn to meet the trimmer and his wife at the usual time. Rugby was a gentleman to work on and I think this was his fastest hoof trim yet. All four hooves are great. Healthy, no thrush, no cracks and good strong hoof wall. Love!

It was sunny and a bit warmer today so after the hoof work was done, I brushed Rugby off and saddled him, figuring I'd do a little groundwork and lunging for respect. The footing was thawed enough on the surface to be comfortable to walk trot and canter on, as well as toss a buck here and there. But overall Rugby was a good boy. He enjoyed being asked to do something and was so good I decided not to stop with the lunging. I removed the string from my training whip, switched it with his lunge line and attached to his rope halter. I mounted up and did lateral flexing exercises from the saddle. Then dismounted, walked him around, remounted again and repeated the flexing exercises from the saddle.

I was so happy with him. This was the first time I tried him bitless from the saddle and he was a champ. Granted, it wasn't much, it was barely what you'd call riding but a year ago if he'd been sitting around for a month in the middle of winter and you asked me to try that I would have thought you were joking! I love my big fuzzy Panda Pony. I'm wishing for spring so we can really get our game on.

I still don't think it's his Hooves

So the trimmer came to work on Rugby's hooves yesterday. He and his wife listened as I explained everything about Rugby's slight unsoundness. The trimmer (who I'll call A.M.) went with me as I walked to the paddock to bring Rugby in for his trim. He followed us up the gravel driveway and watched Rugby walk. There was no indication that the rocks were bothering my horse. He was not bobbing his head at all at the walk and striding right up into his front hoof mark as he walked. A.M. said if there was any foot soreness or tenderness, the gravel should have brought it out, even just at the walk.

We discussed possibilites of a stone bruise. I told him that the best I could trace it back to was that lunging session 2 weeks ago where the horse got rambunctious and I thought he may have strained something further up the leg. I also mentioned how I noticed the soreness seemed worse when working in the deeper, sand arena than when on the harder blue stone footing. A.M. said he felt quite sure that I was on to something as a horse who is footsore should be more sore on hard ground and yet he seemed better there. A muscle soreness would definitely be more aggravated when pulling the leg through deeper sand footing. As A.M. cleaned Rugby's hooves in preparation for trimming, he remarked on the huge amount of growth that had occurred since he was trimmed 5 weeks ago and he also would carefully check the balance of the hooves. And then he set to work.

My horse grows the bars of his hooves and the wall like crazy. The bars were forming deep ridges by the time he was to be trimmed. A.M. said there was obviously good circulation to the hooves here. There were no signs of bruising as he trimmed the foot and the amount of growth was also an excellent sign. My horse has no hoof cracks and the pronounced flaring he had when A.M. first started trimming him have been greatly reduced and balanced. He did note that before trimming, Rugby's right front toe was more worn down that his left. That told that there was a definite change in his gait and was consistent with my noticing he's more sound to the left than to the right. There was no reaction, tenderness or heat in either front hoof while being worked on. Also a good sign.

So in conclusion, we both felt strongly the problem was not coming from his hooves. A.M. explained that there are so many times when someone sees a horse is barefoot and there is something wrong with the horses' gait, the knee-jerk response is to put shoes on the horse. And that may mask the symptoms for a while but it does not solve the problem. We both decided that if we were to see if the issues were coming from the hooves, boots would be the next step. We measured him for boots and while there are very few options available for big, warmblood feet, Easyboot makes a size 5 that should fit him nicely.

I took the Big Guy out to lunge and ride in the blue stone arena after A.M. left. I was curious to see if there was any difference - good or bad - after the trimming. My conclusion was this:

- Rugby walked sound on both sides.
- He lunged sound to the left at the trot
- he lunged at the trot to the right with very slight, only occasional head nodding
- He rode sound in both directions at the walk.
- He trotted sound under saddle on the long straight sides of the arena in both directions.
- He trotted sound under saddle to the left and almost sound to the right on the turns into the short sides of the arena.
- there did not seem to be any difference in wear to the toes of either hoof after work.

In all, the condition has been slowly progressing to better. It certainly has not gotten worse, even after the trimming. I think the Big Guy strained something and has needed the time to just heal through it. He's not walking out of the stall or from standing for awhile as sore as he was a week ago. I'm going to keep him on the rest/light work/watchful eye regimen for another week and see where we are at by next weekend. I'm curious to see how he is when I go to check on him this evening after work and dinner.

The New Farrier ROCKS!

Just to close the farrier story, I think the new shoer is wonderful! Monty just had his second shoeing with this farrier. I heard no complaints about my horse's behavior. It has been cold and we have not been doing much riding, so I was pleasently surprised to find that the man simply reset my horses' shoes since they hardly showed any signs of wear. Happy me, happy horse!

Farriers, the next chapter...

Okay, here's the update on the "Farrier Chronicles". Seems the guy I have been using for about 4 years now, the one who I have a devil of a time getting to schedule me in to shoe my horse has spoiled my riding time for the last time. After my horse was stuck in his old shoes for 12 weeks, with his hooves looking like he was wearing duck feet I asked another boarder who she has for a farrier. I then called him and he came to shoe my horse on the same day he was working on her horse. His only concern - that my horse be well mannered while being shod as he will not take on any problem horses. My horse kept his end of the deal and was a gentleman. I was very pleased with this shoer's work and he will gladly take care of my horse.

The best part of the story is that during the nearly 2 weeks of time that I kept calling the previous farrier, asking when he planned on taking care of my horse and then why he hadn't shown up when he said he would, he always picked up the phone and then proceeded to give me excuses. Have to give it to him - he could have banished me to voicemail purgatory. When I finally was finished with chasing him, and I knew the other farrier was coming to shoe my horse, I left a message for the guy I was not going to use anymore, telling him that this is just not working out for me and while I appreciate his good business in the past, I cannot lose anymore riding time due to his scheduling issues. Then when I stop by the barn the next day, it seems Mr. I-can't-find-time-to-shoe-the-horse showed up and did his other customer's horses in our barn, on the coldest day of this winter so far (10 desgrees out, with windchills of 5 below 0). And the best part about THAT is - last year as I was going through this with him and my horse going 11 weeks without shoes, he had the excuse that he, "never does shoeing work when the temperature is below 20 degrees outside, that it is not comfortable for him or the horses". What a piece of work...

Farriers...

My horse finally got shoes. After 9 weeks, many phone calls and almost switching blacksmiths. And I like this guy... I don't understand farriers.

I will not ride my horse if his hooves are very overdue for a shoeing. Even if the shoes are still tight to the hoof, if the angle of the hoof is too steep, it puts too much stress on the tendons, ligaments and joints to do more under tack than just walk on level ground. I want to enter a Hunter Pace on the 28th of this October and need to gallop and jump him get him wind-fit. So I started calling at just over 7 weeks. I got no answer or an excuse, etc. Finally I had called a friend and asked for her farrier's phone number and the next day - horse had shoes.

I have always been a good customer, never stood any shoer up for payment. (okay, I may have been late a few times but never by more than 1 shoeing) Over the years, I have had to change farriers because;

1) one guy was a lousy shoer and my horse was cut too short one too many times

2) one guy was awesome but he got so busy I could just never get him on time

3) one guy was great but had a huge falling out with the owner of the place where my horse was kept at and was told to never set foot on her property again

4) one guy was a really great farrier who I used for years but when I changed boarding barns, suddenly made up all kinds of excuses that my horse was acting up when he went to shoe him. This was instead of just being straight with me and telling me he had no other customers in the area I had moved to and it just wasn't worth it to come out to where I was to do my one horse.

5) one poor soul was a good farrier who was reliable, then all of a sudden I needed him because my horse threw a shoe so I called and called. He either would answer and give an excuse why he couldn't get there right away or just let voice mail take the call. Finally, I just wasn't able to contact him and had to find someone else (who is the guy I use now) and a few months later I find out from the horsey-grapevine that the guy was suffering from depression and had taken his own life (now I know why I couldn't get hold of him).

((sigh)) Farriers...