Per the vet's recommendation, I had to arrange to have Max's front hooves trimmed and his shoes reset so was to lessen the breakover on the toes (thus, making it easier for him to lift up his feet and reducing muscle strain) and provide greater support to the heels. Naturally this was easier said than done since since my shoer nver returns calls (he does good work but communication is not a strong point).
After three nights of leaving numberous phone messages, I gave up in frustration and called another shoer, Jose, who one of my stablemates highly recommended. What a difference, he called back promptly and we set an appointment for early Saturday morning at 9:30 am.
Saturday morning rolled around and Jose showed up at 9:30 am on the dot. After some discussion and showing him a drawing the vet had made of what she wanted to the hooves to look like, the shoer got to work. It was amazing to watch him work and he trimmed back the hooves and custom fit the shoes, heating them up in a portable oven and hammering them to fit on an anvil. This was the first time I'd ever seen a shoer hot shoe a horse and it was interesting, even with the smoke coming off of the hooves (Max didn't flinch a bit and even fell asleep).
After everything was done, he then showed me a small dark spot on the the front right hoove located towards the heel on the frog- basically Max had stone bruise and that was the source of his problems, besides the usual artritis-related issues. This certainly explained Max comining up lame a second time when I was warming him up- the driven dressage area at the stables had gotten a bit rough, with small rocks and the like, due to the rains. Jose also worked on the hin hooves and discovered that Max is also putting excessive weight towards the outside part of the left rear hoof so he reset the toe to counter this.
So while I still have to give Max some more time off, it looks like his foot problem is manageable and nothing major- that was certainly a relief for me because I'd been fearing the worst. My plan now is to rest him until Saturday and then begin to work him on soft footing and then have a lesson on Sunday. I figure if anything bad is going to happen, it will happen then.
As for shoers, Jose just got himself a new client. It was a real education and I'm amazed that he only asked $100 for replacing all for shoes and all the extra hoof trimming. Truely amazing and I was ready to pay a lot more.
Well, it could have been worse....a lot worse.
After three nights of leaving numberous phone messages, I gave up in frustration and called another shoer, Jose, who one of my stablemates highly recommended. What a difference, he called back promptly and we set an appointment for early Saturday morning at 9:30 am.
Saturday morning rolled around and Jose showed up at 9:30 am on the dot. After some discussion and showing him a drawing the vet had made of what she wanted to the hooves to look like, the shoer got to work. It was amazing to watch him work and he trimmed back the hooves and custom fit the shoes, heating them up in a portable oven and hammering them to fit on an anvil. This was the first time I'd ever seen a shoer hot shoe a horse and it was interesting, even with the smoke coming off of the hooves (Max didn't flinch a bit and even fell asleep).
After everything was done, he then showed me a small dark spot on the the front right hoove located towards the heel on the frog- basically Max had stone bruise and that was the source of his problems, besides the usual artritis-related issues. This certainly explained Max comining up lame a second time when I was warming him up- the driven dressage area at the stables had gotten a bit rough, with small rocks and the like, due to the rains. Jose also worked on the hin hooves and discovered that Max is also putting excessive weight towards the outside part of the left rear hoof so he reset the toe to counter this.
So while I still have to give Max some more time off, it looks like his foot problem is manageable and nothing major- that was certainly a relief for me because I'd been fearing the worst. My plan now is to rest him until Saturday and then begin to work him on soft footing and then have a lesson on Sunday. I figure if anything bad is going to happen, it will happen then.
As for shoers, Jose just got himself a new client. It was a real education and I'm amazed that he only asked $100 for replacing all for shoes and all the extra hoof trimming. Truely amazing and I was ready to pay a lot more.
Well, it could have been worse....a lot worse.
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