Friday, October 17

Pin Cushion in Equine Form

Hi Guys,





Things here have been a little on the busy side. I have a twelve year old mustang gelding, who has foundered on and off for about 3 years now. The last few times the farrier (that's the name given to people who trim horses hooves and place shoes on them) has come and put shoes on my big guy "Scout" his feet have been so sensative, that he tried to pull away and rare up. He seemed to be fine once his shoes were on, no signs of stiffness, or irritation, however, the farrier had placed borium nails in Scouts shoes causing Scout to rock back on his heels in these shoes. So, the next visit from the farrier, I mentioned this to the farrier, and told him; I didn't like the idea of the rocking, knowing Scout already had leg issues, I was concerned now about strain on his tendons. The farrier stated that there are pros and cons to the borium nails and this was one of the bad things about them. At my request he removed these nails from the shoes. Six weeks later, on his regularly scheduled visit, our farrier took off the old shoes and put on new with regular nails, however, Scout still seemed to want to go in the air when the nails were being pounded to the bottoms of his feet. All was well, until a week prior to the horses six week shoeing schedule. Scout became so lame, I had to call the vet out for x-rays of his cannon bone to figure out if it had rotated(part of foundering) or what was causing Scout these problems.



Now, I'm not a vet, nor am I a farrier, but, I have owned this horse all his life, I know him inside and out, so pretty much knew, the problems we were seeing was brought on by the borium nails in his shoes. As the vet tested Scouts hooves, one by one, with the squeezer do dads, she stated no tenderness in his feet. She then started to run her hnd down the back of Scouts shins to find he flinched when she did this. She then asked if she could perform acupuncture on him to see if this would alleviate the pain and put Scout more at ease.










Here are a few pictures of Scout (he is so carefree) with all those pins poked in him.














He had to stand for 30 minutes for this procedure. Scout, is a little on the fat side, so I asked the vet, if once she started to remove the pins from Scouts body if we would be able to hear or see the deflation. Poor Scout! He is on meds to help with the pain in his legs, we hope and pray, that he recovers completely from all the trouble brought on by borium nails.






Remember, the dog that was afraid of people? Well, not anymore!

Here she is in our livingroom playing ball, she has the name of Marley after the book "Marley and Me". We could not have chosen a better name, as she fits it to the "T". She loves to chaise (for fun) the chickens, and the cats. She often carries our shoes or at least one of them with her when she lays on the livingroom carpet. She has learned to climb baby gates to get out of her "bedroom", we now have to stack them in the door to keep her in the laundry~room. Marley, has been vet checked, had all her shots, and is now licensed. She has had a heart worm test (pray that she is free of heartworms) don't have the results yet. Guess, you could say, Marley, has chosen a home for herself, with owners that are trying to be very patient with all that energy, and all the stuff she gets into (such as the flower beds, digging, chewing, house breaking issues, taking over the furniture) the list is endless, but, she is so happy here with us.


There are days when, I wonder if this isn't the "funny farm" rather than a hobby farm...

7 comments:

Picket said...

Hey girl...so sorry to hear about your Scout...I do hope he gets better..it is awful to have a pet that has pain and can't tell you what it is...Marley looks very happy with her new family! lol I have had the burden/pleasure to take on many a stray pet thru the years...they turned out to be the best pets....ohhh I sometimes long for some land again in the country...funny thing is my baby boy just called and a friend of his raises goats and has 3 new babies...he called and ask did I want one!!!!!! lol lol Boy wouldn't that be a hot topic at the next Home Owners meeting!! lol lol have a great weekend sweetie!

Paula said...

Awwww, poor Scout... I hope he feels better soon..
Marley is a wonderful name for your new family member!! She looks so happy... it makes me want to cry knowing how she used to act and what you went through to earn her trust!!

Mel said...

Hello Picket and Paula,
Thanks for coming over! It's a pleasure to stop in and read the comments you leave here on the farm. I have some devastating news on Scout, that I will be posting on my blog. My heart is broken, this is one of those times, when you have to wonder why, why do these things happen the way they do?

Pearl said...

Hi Mel... Sure am sorry to hear about Scout... I'll send up a lil prayer... I know how hard it is when a beloved animal isn't well... it can be so heartbreaking... It was nice seeing new photos of Marley, and to learn that she is doing better... You sure do have a heart of gold, Mel... God bless...

~hugs 'n prayers~

Pearl

Vickie said...

Hey, Is Scout feeling better? Marley is a cutie and looks as happy as can be. Stop on by I finally updated my blog. Love Ya Cuz :)

Vickie said...

Hey Cuz,

Give me a call sometime this week when you are not busy and have computer time. Mornings would be best if you have a few minutes. I'll help you with the template. Love Ya Cuz :)

Vickie said...

I've booed you come take a look.

Love Ya Cuz