Apache Update

 

After a week of soaking, scrubbing, picking, poking, prodding, applicating, inserting, packing and wrapping I am done treating my Apache mare for thrush. I just don’t think thrush is her problem. We are just too darn dry here and Apache never has an opportunity to stand around in any moist environments. Yes, she has cracks in her heels and frog, but there’s nothing in there, but dry skin.

I’ve consulted with several experienced local horse people, including Colleen, the manager of Walkin in Circles Horse Rescue, two equine vet techs (one of which was over here the other day exploring Apache’s foot cracks and found no indication of thrush), my farrier, and two separate equine vets and an equine chiro practitioner.  And they all agree that Apache’s feet don’t appear to be infected with thrush at all. And most importantly her lameness issues seem to be in her upper leg and not in her foot.

I also went back into my blog archives and found it interesting that even Baby Doll's feet looked much like Apache’s do now.

And then I went back to the blog archive post just before I bought Apache in March and looked at her feet. They don’t look much different than now either, except a less dry, but that was due to the fact that we brought her up here from the Rio Grande River Valley, where Apache was kept on a flat grassy pasture, unlike the steep, rocky, parched land she is on now.

My neighbor friend, Val of Fantastyk Voyage Blog has been kind enough to be my assistant and hold Apache while I’ve been doing the thrush treatments this past week. (and photographer, too) Val doesn’t think Apache has any issues with thrush either. We’ve both been surprised at what a good patient Apache has been this past week.

With all of my digging, poking, prodding, squirting, scrubbing, soaking, packing, and ripping of tape, Apache hasn’t shown any discomfort or sensitivity in her feet. And even after the last strip of duct tape has been strapped to her foot, and her halter removed, Apache still chose to hang out with Val and I as we chatted while I put all the supplies away.

Now even though we’re done with the thrush treatments, we’re not done with trying to get to the bottom of Apache’s lameness issues and help her stay healthy.

I love my current farrier, so I’m going to see if he’ll change some of the ways that he trims Apache and not be as conservative. I’ve only owned Apache for just under 8 months and she’s had 5-6 trims in that time. I want to have her trimmed from now on every 4-5 weeks, even though that will probably mean all the farrier will be doing is coming out and just doing slight balancing and rasping. With our arid environment, especially in winter, hooves grow very slowly. I plan to discuss with my farrier if he’s capable of doing Natural Balance Barefoot trims, because I’m not sure if her sole and frog are making proper contact with the ground the way they are trimmed now. I’d also like a mustang roll, although I know that won’t completely prevent Apache from getting knicks in her feet because of how steep and rocky our property is. And I know it will take time to get Apache’s feet as healthy as I’d like them to be. Her previous owner, who only owned Apache for a year, told me that when she found Apache her hooves were seriously neglected and it took her a long time to get them improved. And it’s obvious Apache still has a long time to go still.

We’re also changing Apache’s diet, much to my mare’s unhappiness. I’ve cut out most of her apple and carrot treats and also her grain, because she has definitely gotten chunky being a pasture puff for the past four months. I’ve never given Apache more than 1 measuring cup of grain, even though the grain is specially formulated and has absolutely no sugar or molasses (only Alfalfa Pellet, Corn,Crushed Milo, Rolled Oats, Rolled Barley, Rolled Flaxseed, Wheat Bran, and Beet Pulp Shreds, and is just 13% protein, 15% fiber , and only 5% fat ) (I have more info on this custom made, specially formulated grain in This Post.

But I’m not changing Apache’s diet because of the comment left by a particular blogger, which I must admit surprised me. This person, as far as I know, has never once visited my blog before. She doesn’t know me or my horse and she hasn’t even seen earlier photos of my mare, like this one from The very first post I ever did on Apache. There are lots of photos of her in that post, and besides being a little chunkier now, she looks much the same. If this blogger had been reading my blog over the past year, she’d know that was one of my concerns early on and I had my mare tested for Insulin Resistance, and not only is Apache NOT IR, but she is also NOT pre-Cushings. And of course, I also discussed with both of my vets the possibility of remaining toxins from the sage poisoning, but both vets reassured me that because sage is not considered to be highly toxic (many horses eat it as a daily forage food) and sage isn’t held long term within the body, and because the exposure was so brief, this isn’t something I should worry about.

As for her personality change when she kicked me, that could have been caused by the sage poisoning………or not. Remember that I was chasing her with an item she wanted nothing to do with, and I was too close, and she did warn me before she kicked me. Any horse can get annoyed and kick. And Apache, although sweet, does have her moody moments, too. Don’t you all remember the time She Bit Me when I took her for a walk, before I had even bought her? Apache can be a little outspoken at times when she’s got something to say and thinks you’re not listening.

Which leads me to her recent dietary changes. She is one grouchy girl right now. I used to always bring her a carrot or an apple when I’d head up to the paddock and Apache would be so happy to see me, nickering, snuffling, ears pricked forward, but patient and relaxed. Now that I have no carrots or apples, she greets me impatiently, pacing, nickering, snorting, prancing, with her ears laid back. And she acts that way, while giving me the stink eye, the entire walk up to the barn! She is not a happy girl.

Yesterday, she was so impatient in her stall as I walked into the barn, pawing at the ground and the fence, that I ignored her and fed the llamas and goats first. She loudly and deeply nickered her displeasure at me, but finally decided to stand still and wait. And this morning, between the windy cold weather and her moodiness, she was hyper, shaking and bobbing her head, trying to run circles around me while making low nickering noises. I’d wave her away and she’d make a pouty face and lean her neck and head back towards me as if asking, “What’s changed? Why are you unhappy with me?”

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*Warning: Griping Below*

Anyway, in response to the hoof comments, it bugs me that strangers who have never visited your blog before, can feel so superior to just pop on and leave a judgmental, know-it-all, advice-riddled comment when they know nothing at all about you, your horse care management, or for that matter, your horse.

And sometimes other bloggers think they are being helpful by giving you their opinion on your choice of footwear, while you photographed your horse’s hooves. Oy!

But I think it’s sad and even disturbing that I posted about my horse’s hooves and received more than 30 comments, while the post about my daughter the very next day, and how she conquered her fears, which also related to my own fears and confidence issues with horses, only received 7 comments!

It seems that posting about problems or issues gets more people stopping by to add their two cents, while posts that are positive or happy, get passed on by and ignored. Sheesh…….maybe I should get injured more often and have multitudes of problems so lots of bloggers will leave me comments………or maybe I should just take my blog private….or stop blogging all together.

 

(edited by LOR 10/25/10)(Thank you for all the comments. I appreciate them, but have chosen not to post them, to protect everyone's privacy)