Tuesday, June 29, 2010

More BANG for your buck!

Jackson has blown three abcessess in the past month or so, all three in his sensitive white rear hooves. He never exhibits any pain, heat, lameness--- nothing to let me know they are lurking. He had one in 2007 about 3 months after I got him, again, same thing. They blow out right at the coronary band (the weakest spot) and then I have a hole. Or three. After talking to the farrier and the vet I am still not sure what to think as far as a supplement goes. They both pssshhahed my idea  pretty quickly. The farrier said to do it if I don't have anything else to spend my money on. Then the farrier went on to tell me how people would pay thousands to have Jackson's feet on their horses. Great.  The vet suggested shoeing his back hooves. Um. HELLO? No. Prefer NOT TO! REAR? For real?  I'll figure out how to keep rear hoof boots on first. That ougt to be more fun than I'm allowed to have! I suppose this is to be expected after the extremely wet weather we had that went ON and ON, a ride on the rock that we normally eat as a snack could have let in organisms through a crack causing infection. Said infection blew out the area of least resistance, the coronary band. The one thing the vet did recommend was soaking J's feet in an Epsom Salt and Iodine bath in warm water. (Note: IF you wear silver rings, TAKE THEM OFF BEFORE YOU TRY THIS. If  you have tan riding pants DON'T WEAR THEM the day you go to soak his little tootsies. The pants ended up being fine, silver favorite Celtic Knot, NO, not so much.) :( After the 10 min. (15 if you can) soak with above ingredients, the holes should be packed with Ichthamol which is a drawing salve. Too me it looks like something used for roadwork, and it doesn't smell much better! He suggested a three day course of this, and tomorrow will be our last. I am torn between using Grand Hoof, SmartHoof from SmartPak, or the Springtime Products which I used on my Dakota who recently passed. I am in the middle of a three day taste test with SmartPak. These are the ones in my price range at the current time. I also want rear boots, and I am defintiely not sure which ones I want yet. UGH. They seem like a pain. I amy be getting to the point of just shoeing. Not yet, but getting there. UGH. If someone actually had advice that I felt was "the advice", it would be so much easier!!!



Here is Jackson with his mane pulled and his tail banged. Even though I pulled it, I need to play with it some more tomorrow. It looks wonky. In fact, it looks like I went at it with a pair of straight scissors, which I didn't! But I bet it is WAY cooler. This is the shortest I've ever had his mane, and the shortest I have ever banged his tail! He loved the attention (and the carrots, apples, and "horse" apple oat cookies I would periodically give him.) The two flakes of hay were a win too.



                                                        BANGED TAIL!
                                                            



Oh, Jackson. Thanks for being my horse. Having you poop in the bucket as we soaked today made me feel
really special! Back for another day tomorrow--Iodine, Epsom salt and Icky Black Tar stuff. Anyone need some? This jar will expire and die before we could use it all! :)

And maybe a bath? :) And some Laser Sheen? Some cookies and hay? More pictures? And no rain please!!!!

11 comments:

  1. Yeah, tell me how that soaking part goes. And I'm with you on the road tar. I went thru this when Jaz had one. It wasn't fun. Tough on the back, too.

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  2. Gilly has never had any abscesses, thank goodness! He has, so far, really good strong feet that never seem to chip or crack! I am lucky, I know.
    Wish Gilly's tail would grow so long, what a beautiful tail Jackson has. Gilly's is constantly nibbled on by Pokey who thinks he is the groomer. Silly donkey!!!
    Gilly had his mane pulled once and he had a fit so I have never done it again, or let anyone else. I know people say that it doesn't hurt the horse but Gilly's reaction said otherwise so we don't do it. Again Pokey has done some work on it, LOL
    Maybe Pokey just wants Gilly's mane to look like his, short and sticking up! :-)
    Ichthamol does look like road tar and smells like it too but boy is it good for drawing icky stuff out. We use it on us too!
    I think I'm going on a short ride today....see you later!
    hugs.....
    Jane

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  3. Leah--Jackson is great with soaking, but I agree about the back!

    Jane--I use a Grooma Mane Master. It doesn't pull the hair by the roots. I have a blog post on it somewhere. Um. Yes. When you pull by the roots, it DOES hurt them. Brag about your horses feet. I dare you! :) Jackson's were AMAZING until this. And I bragged on them all the time.... LOL. Hope you had fun on your ride!

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  4. OMG. Linda has a donkey. He better not touch Jackson's tail. I love that tail! So far he hasn't, but he is mouthy. Linda's new horse Traveler probably would eat manes and tails too. I looked over one day and he was trying to take a bite out of my Aussie saddle! Fur was flying, I tell ya!

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  5. Hey, when you bang his tail, do you shave the dock? I just did Olly's tail, but I didn't do the dock. I am not sure of the standards.

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  6. HATE ichthamol- natsy stuff but it did work really help my guy. I'd look at Augment Hoof to. They are cheaper that at least some of the ones you are looking at and have all organic, chelated vitamins and minerals. My farrier almost had a heart attack at how nice my horse's hooves looked after using it-I had tried Farrier's Formula and Grand Hoof before finding it. - Heather

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  7. Platinum plus really seems to be helping Lily and Cibolo's hooves.

    As for boots, the Cavallos are what I'd do. Very easy to put on and off. don't come off in all this limestone. Cibolo kept his on even though he was deep in mud.

    I think your did a great job on the mane!

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  8. Pru--I didn't touch the dock this time, but I have shaved wispy ickys on the sides before. I am very subtle with that tho', if I was currently showing they would never know I had touched it! He is wormed (with worm counts all fine, but I think he likes to rub his butt on trees?!). The only reason I didn't go at 'em this time was: a)the wispys seem? to be growing! b)I was hot! c)not gonnna make it to a show this season D) I have no pride I guess.... LOL. The only reason it looks good, and you cant see the frazzle butt, is cause I Mane n' Tailed or used some conditioner to look pretty! :) I will probably give in and trim the sides of the dock lightly now that you HAD to bring it up! :)JK. I was gonna do it, but I was SO hot and the Mane n' Tale worked so well! Sorry, I don't know about standards, I set my own! We never touched that stuff when I worked in the jumping barn, (anal owner) and if it was mentioned I forget. I was 16 and clueless.... Also, maybe I'm not getting what you mean by SHAVING THE DOCK? Sounds like it could go really awry if you don't go lightly on the sides, which I hope is where you mean?!.... INFORM ME! :) Have a nice trip to-- was it IN? Pretty in the summer.

    Heather--Thanks for the advice! Always appreciated and looked into if not utililized! After much research it is NOW Bio Flax 20 for THE WIN! Incredible reviews and a 5lb. bucket will last for 80 days with free s&h from the manufacturer. www.horsetech.com Every order comes with a box of Amos' Chocolate Chip Cookies! Yeah. Me and the horse are both food driven, I admit it.... The goal is to get him on Bio Flax Ultra which is BADASS. Not badly priced for all it is, just not affordable currently. It has lots of extras and 30mg Biotin, instead of 20mg like the Bio Flax 20. Also has lots of other things for things besides hooves.... All that stuff aside, when I checked out Augment a few folks had commented that their horses wouldn't eat it. Jacks can be weird! I know Jackson will eat this,(I hope)as he has no problems with the Flax Seed powder he is getting now.Hope you read and post often. Next time don't be anonymous! Leave me advice anytime too!I was so happy yesterday someone cared enough to comment and make a suggestion! A woman of intrigue! LMAO...

    Winter--That is in my top three, but something better was found (I hope!). (See comment above). Free s&h, great reviews, AND cookies every order? SOLD! SmartPak is sending me a sample of it. SHHHH! Don't tell em! I do so much business with them, I don't feel bad! Gawd, I am a researching geek!
    The Cavallo's or the new Easy Boot's were my pick for the fronts. But now. My vet LOVES the Cavallo's and lost only one in mud in five years. Not sure about the rears tho'. Notoriously harder to fit, and it is one thing to look down and check the status of front boots, quite another to check the rear. UGH. Do you know if they make them for the rears? I'm sure they do. I want a warranty, dangit! GONE after your 3 hour trail ride? We'll replace them, that's how good our boots are! RIIIIGGGHHHT.
    Thanks for the comment on J's mane. He looks SO different! Almost grown up or something. I love the LOOK, but for some reason I think I like his long "I'm FREE" look better. Just a summer cut, hair grows, LOL! As I said, not going to make it to a show this year (probably) with all that is going on!
    Hope you and the gang are doing well!
    Ride? When we gonna ride? :)

    ~Mindy

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  9. Cibolo only has them for the rear, he's shod in the front. :)

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  10. OH! And both Lorri and Linda came to the concensus that J's mane looks like ASS! I love them. And they're right. I sorta/kinda took a short cut.... ahem. I'm going to go fix it today or tomorrow, MY HORSE LOOKS LIKE A DANG GEEK!!!!

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  11. I need your pink Cavallo's for his rears!!!! At least you can see em! I think I'm going to do the Easyboot Gloves for all 4. Same pricing, but you can rent a kit for 8 bucks and have total precise fitting! They also are super fast to put on and I like the fact that they have the upper band, if one falls off YOU ARE GONNA KNOW IT! I still agree that the Cavallos look nice and sound reliable! I wish they came in baby blue!! I don't mind the pink, Jacks is man enough (or not:) not to care, but Linda won't even hear of me having a pink saddle pad! The teasing would be horrid. So I get back in little ways. Pink brushes, pink Swat for ALL four horses *HA HA* that one kills her, but she uses it.... it's kinda fun. Subtle pink psychological warfare. I bet if someone gave her a pair of the pink Cavallo's she'd have em on her horse within the hour! (She wants Cavallo's...) :)

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Please leave your comments here! I am always happy to hear from all of you in the form of advice, encouragement or questions!
~Slainte' Mhath!