Annual foot woes
It's been a long time with no posts. Jackson has had one thing after another since the end of December - it seemed to be recurring foot abscesses, but last weekend things finally came to head when he was very lame on his right front and left hind foot. We suspected laminitis, found him a stable and called the emergency vet. It was his third vet visit in about three weeks, he had had blood checks, respiration checks and liver function tests, all of which were clear.
It seems he has very soft soles and a nasty fungal infection in all his frogs. The endless rain and its effect on the field was more than he could deal with. I kept him in for a week, with an hour turnout morning and evening while I mucked out, and yesterday and today he has been back to his mates in the field during the day and in at night. I will keep doing this as long as I can.
I worried a lot about taking him away from the field. He hasn't been alone apart from hacks for over a year, and he hasn't been stabled in that time either. Both together seemed very unfair - but he hobbled along the lane to a nearby farm in his boots, went straight into the stable and settled quickly. The deciding factor was the mountain of haylage waiting for him - he had been miserable for a while and had dropped a lot of weight, a combination of discomfort and not wanting to move around as much as normal.
A week later, the spring is back in his step - better than it has been for a long time. I think the fungal infection has been making walking sore for quite a while, I have noticed his toe first landings and wondered why, even in boots, he needed to walk like that.
Fortunately, the weather seems to have improved a lot as well, and the field is almost ideal - soft, but not marshy. If it were a racecourse, it would be "yielding", but not soft.
I have been playing with him while he's been out in the little paddock beside his stable - he kept coming over to the gate and nickering, so I guessed he felt a bit starved of social interaction. We went over all the things we started last summer, and he remembered perfectly (although some of the movements were obviously still uncomfortable - his turn on the forehand on one foot is a lot less tight than on the other). However, he remembers head down (without eating) on cue - even on grass - and backing up, turns about the forehand and the haunches, and follow-my-leader.
We also worked a bit on retrieving, which he didn't quite understand last year. This year, he will consistently pick up and hand me his toy, and we can start to introduce distance soon.
I made a little video - not perfect, but this was a horse who had just walked out of his stable after being in, alone, for 24 hours. I left him for 10 minutes and then set up the camera.
The benefit of the training and the work we've done is that even in these less than perfect times, Jackson has been sweet to handle. I thought I might have trouble bringing him back in from the field, first time he was turned out with his herd again, but he was perfect. He was also calm and responsive even when stuck in a stable 24/7. The effort put in to give him good associations with being handled, and training good responses has really paid off.
Here's the little video clip. I hope some riding clips soon - we've got a new saddle and I can't wait to try it out.
It seems he has very soft soles and a nasty fungal infection in all his frogs. The endless rain and its effect on the field was more than he could deal with. I kept him in for a week, with an hour turnout morning and evening while I mucked out, and yesterday and today he has been back to his mates in the field during the day and in at night. I will keep doing this as long as I can.
I worried a lot about taking him away from the field. He hasn't been alone apart from hacks for over a year, and he hasn't been stabled in that time either. Both together seemed very unfair - but he hobbled along the lane to a nearby farm in his boots, went straight into the stable and settled quickly. The deciding factor was the mountain of haylage waiting for him - he had been miserable for a while and had dropped a lot of weight, a combination of discomfort and not wanting to move around as much as normal.
A week later, the spring is back in his step - better than it has been for a long time. I think the fungal infection has been making walking sore for quite a while, I have noticed his toe first landings and wondered why, even in boots, he needed to walk like that.
Fortunately, the weather seems to have improved a lot as well, and the field is almost ideal - soft, but not marshy. If it were a racecourse, it would be "yielding", but not soft.
I have been playing with him while he's been out in the little paddock beside his stable - he kept coming over to the gate and nickering, so I guessed he felt a bit starved of social interaction. We went over all the things we started last summer, and he remembered perfectly (although some of the movements were obviously still uncomfortable - his turn on the forehand on one foot is a lot less tight than on the other). However, he remembers head down (without eating) on cue - even on grass - and backing up, turns about the forehand and the haunches, and follow-my-leader.
We also worked a bit on retrieving, which he didn't quite understand last year. This year, he will consistently pick up and hand me his toy, and we can start to introduce distance soon.
I made a little video - not perfect, but this was a horse who had just walked out of his stable after being in, alone, for 24 hours. I left him for 10 minutes and then set up the camera.
The benefit of the training and the work we've done is that even in these less than perfect times, Jackson has been sweet to handle. I thought I might have trouble bringing him back in from the field, first time he was turned out with his herd again, but he was perfect. He was also calm and responsive even when stuck in a stable 24/7. The effort put in to give him good associations with being handled, and training good responses has really paid off.
Here's the little video clip. I hope some riding clips soon - we've got a new saddle and I can't wait to try it out.