Horse Health Updates

It’s been about a month since I posted about my horse, Bear, and the issue with his post-abscess hoof blow out.

After weeks of keeping his hoof either booted or wrapped, Bear recently started to look comfortable walking without them. That changed yesterday now that the ground hardened again after days without rain. But I am really pleased with how the damaged hoof is growing out so far. Hopefully he will be completely boot/wrap free again soon.

Bear’s hooves grow wicked fast. While that can cause problems between trim cycles, it is helping with this particular situation where he really needs to grow more hoof wall in a hurry.

In the photo on the left, here is his hoof now, just after being trimmed again by his farrier this week. The hoof wall is still kind of short and uneven near the bottom, but looking a LOT better than before.

Bear spent some time in his SoftRide boots and Woof Wear Medical Hoof Boot, but I actually ended up mostly wrapping his hoof with layers of Equifit-Pack-N-Stick Hoof Tape and vet wrap. Bear has worn his SoftRides for previous lameness, but this was my first time trying the Woof Wear Medical Hoof Boot. It stayed on really well and provided solid sole protection, but I decided it wasn’t the best boot for Summer weather.

The Woof Wear Medical Hoof Boot material holds in heat and retains moisture. I started to get concerned about Bear’s hoof and pastern feeling noticeably hot (his pastern was constantly sweaty). I also didn’t like how the hoof would stay moist for more than 24 hours after my giving Bear a bath on a hot day. I’ll definitely be keeping the boot for future use, but I’m thinking it will be more appropriate for use when the temperatures cool.

I also reported on Shiloh’s allergy symptoms. Thankfully, they seem much less noticeable now. Which is a good thing, because on the very hottest days, I like to remove his fly mask. He is still taking his generic Zyrtec, flax seeds and having his face cleaned as needed, including whisking away frequent eye discharge. But it’s wonderful to see him not rubbing red and swollen eyes.

Meanwhile, Piper this year joined the grazing muzzle brigade when I put the horses out on pasture. None of my horses are slouches in the appetite area, but Piper is on another level. He seems to eat twice as fast as Bear and Shiloh. Because Piper is the herd leader, he also gets the first choice of the tastiest patches of grass or hay flakes.

He’s not cresty-necked yet, but I’ve had enough problems with weight gain to realize that I need to act sooner rather than later to try to help this cookie monster lose weight (or at least not gain further).

Now if we can just get through these bursts of 100+ degree weather indexes, we’ll be doing well. The heat puts a resounding kibosh on my riding plans. It makes doing even basic horse chores very taxing. Considering how widespread these heat waves have been around the world, I am sure many of you can relate.

The only reasonably comfortable time of day is when I can still see some pink in the sky at sunrise. Stay cool out there folks!