At this point Jac has been in training with me for about two months. During this time I have been gradually building up the amount of work he does. When Jac went lame he was on a plateau; I had been maintaining a level amount of work. I was actually counting the number of times I went around the arena.
To put the amount of work Jac was doing into perspective, lets compare it to my sons who run cross county.
Stacy shows footage of Jac lame
When the kids practice for a 3 mile race, their ‘long day’ practices have them running five to six miles. I rode Jac a total of 3 miles the day he got sore.
Deciding what to do when a horse gets sore depends on what might have happened and how comfortable you are with making the decision. I knew Jac had been very sound and I could eliminate the possibility that he had been kicked by another horse, cast in the stall, etc.
Jac had no heat or swelling. My guess was that he had either stepped on something and bruised his foot or somehow stepped wrong.
The farrier came out and did find a spot on his heel that was very sensitive. You can see in the video that Jac would jerk his hoof away. Maybe this was the problem?
For now Jac is getting time off and rest, either in a stall or a small turn out pen.
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[…] some it may sound cheesy but often it comes down to trusting your gut. Back in Episode 19 and Episode 22 & 23 when Jac had issues I wasn’t afraid to have him looked at and give him time off. […]
My mare had something EXACTLY like this a few months back. She was about 10 months pregnant when she first went lame, and she was VERY lame at even the walk. She would even “point” with that foot (front foot). I thought for sure it was an abcess, but after being examined by the vet, he determined it was a very bad stone bruise-amplified because of all the baby weight she was carrying. My mare continued to be lame until her filly was three months old. She gradually got better, and to help her heal a little faster, I decided to put shoes on her fronts. She was 100% sound the day we put on the shoes and has been ever since. She has since had the shoes removed, and hasn’t taken a lame step. I normally go barefoot, but in this case, the shoes acted as a “bandage” and helped her heal.
She looked JUST like Jac!
Noticed in post above… are you in Lexington KY now? Don’t have access to your regular vet? If so, look up Dr. John Cummins at the Red Mile. He’s one of the best Standardbred racehorse vets in the business. I used him one year when I was there. There’s also the Rood and Riddle Clinic. Racehorse vets are the only ones I would use for lameness issues… well any issues actually. I would love to make a diagnosis but without being able to be hands on and only relying on video I won’t presume. Would have liked to see him trot in other direction, though…
Looking at him move it looks like it might be on the right front. The clip of the farrier looks like the left front. I do remember the chiropractor adjusting his right shoulder. I wonder if that’s somehow related? I’ll be curious to see what the result was in the next episode.
If you want to see how the Reiki works on that type of pain, I can show you (if you are near) 🙂
I currently have a OTTB mare who is now showing lameness to the left only, fine on the straight and to the right, it seems to come and go, I keep her barefoot, she does have the typical, underrun heel flat foot of the TB, she is trimmed every 5 weeks, I’ve decided to give her a month out on a herbal tendon and bone mixture, available only in Australia though, and I’ve booked a lameness assessment with my vet at the end of Feb, fingers crossed for both her and Jac! I love your video diaries!
Is he out in a pasture of any kind? The reason I ask is one of my horses had a weird thing in the same area we think was caused by a thorn or something similar. Where he pressed with his thumb busted open kinda like an abscess and was very sore! Also you can kinda even see in the video right next to where he is pressing his thumb is kinda “puffy”. Hope he gets better soon!
My horse has a lot of hoof sores, could that be it with Jac. They go very lame and hardly recover, only after the pressure has been taken off it.
Yes , homeopathic s work great in recovery , in my book Natural Equine Remedies it shows you the acupressure points for the heel pain.
Stacy, there is an excellent equine podiatrist near Lexington, Rick Reddin. He treated WJ the last couple of years of his life. Dawn
Stacy, you are a great horsewoman. I love your blog. Please consider keeping your horses barefoot in a natural environment (Paddock Paradise). I barefoot trim my own horses. I personally transitioned my OTTB with paper thin soles to rock hard healthy barefoot feet. Check out Eddie Drabek (who barefoot trims rodeo and show horses), Linda Cowles, Pete Ramey, Jesse Jackson. My QH gelding was lame when he was young, and now he’s sound from barefoot trimming. Also feed is super important, low carb hay. Maureen McCormick has a blog and wrote the best book on barefoot trimming. Stall rest on soft footing is the worst thing for a horse. Hope you don’t block me for this! Peace and love!