October Update - Progress!

There have been so many changes in our lives since the last time I posted. I'll just give a brief overview month by month, but all is well in Mocha's world :)

June, July and August 2011

Mocha pulled a shoe in the field after her pour pads had been put in. This seemed like the perfect time to move her to a barn closer to my house, exactly 2 minutes and 30 seconds to be exact. This would allow me to give her small amounts of exercise daily. Since I was told that I was no longer going to be able to do much with Mocha but trail ride, I didn't mind that the barn we were moving to a solely western barn with little arena space. Point of information, I would recommend at least sicking to barns that are within your practiced discipline. I think everyone is much happier that way.

We moved Mocha to the new barn at the end of June. They had a wonderful farrier there who did a beautiful job on her feet. I let him know about the prior vets diagnosis of pedal osteitis, a bone spur and prior recommended shoeing. As most old horseman do, he just said that "she needs shorter toes and to have her heels built up." He also said it would not hurt to get a second set of radiographs taken to determine the exact location of the bone spur. We had those rads taken and to my surprise, no indication whatsoever of pedal oseitis and no sign of this bone spur at all. Quoting the vet", there should not be anything this horse can't do." Of course, that is when her feet are properly balanced. The farrier did her feet a few times in June, July and August and let me know I was to ride her, no restrictions. The only problem was, I really was not prepared for that news! I anticipated being restricted to gentle trail rides, at best. I am a pretty inexperienced rider and to really move forward, I needed to work with a trainer who could help both me and Mocha learn more about hunters/jumpers. I really do not have any interest in western riding. As a result, Mocha got a mental and physical break during June, July and August.

We did short work sessions:

(She seems to like her Dr. Cook's Bitless Bridle)

Lots of grooming and playing games:

(Joe and Mocha)

and went on trail rides with a wonderful boarder at the barn and her gelding:

But, Mocha was getting bored and the time had come to give her a real job to do. To do that, I had to move her to a barn where we could learn that job correctly and safely, which led me to move her again at the beginning of September.

September 2011

Mocha moved to her, hopefully, long term home at the beginning of September. The new trainer, barn, farrier, boarders....everything, are great! We have been slowly trying to build up Mocha's fitness and work through any resistance/behavioral issues/bad habits. I feel like I'm learning a lot and Mocha seems very content now that she is getting worked consistently, although not as often as I would like.

(Mocha's new paddock)

We take lessons and Mocha really seems to be picking everything up quickly (me, not so quickly). But I'll get there! Here is Mocha taking a rest after our most recent lesson:

(Out of shape and resting after a short lesson!)

We also take walks and go on trail rides to make sure she does not get bored.

(She loves to check out the sheep in a neighboring field)

(Sweet girl...most of the time!)

It turns out that the Mocha's mother used to live and was trained at this barn. I saw a picture of her mom and one of the trainers show jumping years ago. It is neat to think that maybe Mocha belongs here, too, and has some of her mother's potential. All in all, everything is going well for now and hopefully all of my future posts will be on our progress!

Alternate Opinions 1 & 2

I've sought out other opinions regarding the possible problems that Mocha may have. I've encountered so many helpful individuals that I cannot thank enough. I did not pay for most of the services that I am going to discuss in this post, so I will not include any names. I really want to express how grateful that I am though! These individuals have not actually seen Mocha, but they reviewed pictures and the radiographs of her front hooves. I am aware that there is nothing like seeing the horse move and holding the hooves in your hand. I am also wary because the quality of the radiographs is not as good as when my vet was looking at them on her computer screen after development.

Alternate Opinion 1:

The radiographs show slight rotation of both front coffin bones, more on the left, and the photos distinctly show divergent growth rings and divergent toe angles on both front feet, visible about 1/3 of the way down from the coronet bands. Sole thickness is adequate (in fact, ample), and white line disease is present in the left front. All this leads me to conclude that your horse appears to be suffering from chronic laminitis, a very common and easily treated condition. The comment you made about "Mocha" remaining sore for a few weeks after being shod with pour in pads makes sense to me now, as a strictly thin-soled horse should typically have immediate relief. As equine veterinarians we tend to separate white line disease (WLD) from laminitis and treat them as distinct entities. Jaime Jackson feels that WLD is a manifestation of laminitis, and after practicing natural hoof care for 7 years I am in full agreement. I feel that in all cases of WLD there is a laminitis component and by treating the laminitis, the WLD grows out and doesn't return.

Mocha is in good body condition- not too heavy, nor too thin. As for pedal osteitis, that seems to be a catch phrase for a condition we diagnose when nothing else seems to fit. Many veterinarians do not believe it is actually a disease... much controversy, I'm afraid. My experience with bone loss affecting the coffin bones (deterioration) is limited to cases of chronic laminitis, particularly long standing cases, and deep seated long term bone infection (osteomyelitis- does not apply to "Mocha"). I did'nt appreciate a significant amount of bone loss in the x-rays you sent, nor would I be concerned about it. In fact, I did'nt see anything to suggest we're dealing with an incurable condition. My guess is that natural hoof care and a properly fitted pair of hoof boots on the front feet would render her rideable in a short period of time. Again, I shy away from long distance diagnoses, but this seems to be pretty straight forward.

Alternate Opinion 2:

I received a hoof consult and here are the results:

To be honest, the coffin bone doesn't look too bad to me, but I can't give a diagnosis as I am not a vet! Pedal osteitis is given as a common diagnosis but I am not convinced in many cases. Even so, if you remove the cause of the inflammation then you can usually restore health. You are right that it is not likely that she will improve if she stays in shoes. If you can find a good barefoot trimmer and are prepared to give her time to heal in boots and pads then I would recommend that route. It's hard to predict how well she will respond but I really don't think she is a particularly bad case and she has youth on her side. I've seen horses with way worse coffin bone damage go on to be sound so don't give up hope on her too quickly.

Anyway, these other opinions have given me some hope. I am taking Mocha to see another vet for a second opinion on Wednesday. We'll see how it goes!

Diagnosis and Treatment of Pedal Osteitis

DIAGNOSIS:

Well, the results of the radiographs were not good. Mocha was diagnosed with pedal osteitis. According to the vet, her right front hoof is much worse than her left. This is opposite of what I would have thought, because lameness presents more often on her left front than her right front. However, there was a void on her front left (at the time the vet thought it may be an abscess), which could have made this hoof more sore at this point in time.

This diagnosis is very disheartening for several reasons.

First, this means that Mocha has been in pain for a very long time. According to my understanding of the diagnosis, pedal osteitis is a deterioration of the coffin bone. This is can be a result of thin soles being susceptible to chronic sole bruising, which in turn results in chronic inflammation of the tissue surrounding the coffin bone. This chronic inflammation causes a deterioration of the coffin bone. She must have been suffering from chronic sole bruising for quite some time for the coffin bone to begin deteriorating.

Second, this condition can not be reversed, the coffin bone can never regenerate. At this point, it is only a matter of management and preventing any further deterioration of the bone. She is only 5 years old. This also means that Mochs is not going to be able to jump. She would likely be sound enough to be a trail horse. This isn't great because I've only been on 3 or 4 trail rides in my life, the barn where I board her does not have trails and I don't know anyone who trail rides consistently. I am thinking that she may be sound enough for some low level dressage.

I am not planning on riding her anytime in the near future. regardless.

The radiographs used in the diagnosis:

Front Right:

I was told that Mocha has a bone spur on this hoof, which is supposed to be common in cases of pedal osteitis.






Front Left:

Notice the void, which turned out to be white line disease.





DIAGNOSIS:

The vet recommended the following:

1. Monthly injections of Adequan I.M.
2. Supplements: Hoof and Joint
3. Pour pads in front

Implementation:

On May 31, 2011 the following Mocha had her front shoes back on and Equipak pour pads put on and the first adequan injection. During the shoeing, it was discovered that the void, evident on the radiograph, was white line disease, which was also present on her rear left. She continued to be lame on her front right for 11 days, with intermittent lameness still continuing at the time of this post.

Here are current photos of Mocha's hooves, including the pour pads and white line disease removal:

Front Right:







Front Left:






Front Left White Line Extraction:




Back Right White Line Extraction:




Mocha's current body condition:






I am apprehensive about the current path Mocha and I are on, but more on that later.

Start of My Quest to Help Mocha's Hooves

This is my pretty girl, Mocha. I bought Mocha in January, and we've been trying to figure out what's wrong with her feet ever since. By way of background, Mocha has supposedly always had some behavioral problems when asked to canter, particularly on the left lead. I never thought this was behavioral, I always believed that it was a pain response. I recently moved her (beginning of March) from another boarding barn where I was having some difficulty keeping weight on her, she had severe sole bruising in all four hooves and extreme soreness in her topline. I tried to rule out saddle fit to no avail. I had her teeth floated, which was never done before. She had some corrective shoeing done and pads put on and regular chiropractic care was instituted. She was coming along nicely by picking up needed weight and muscle through light riding and ground work. Her back soreness was diminishing, although she still experiences some from time to time. Her feet were getting better, until she was re-shod. Lameness in her front left, and possibly right, presented and continues off and on for the past month.

The day before the lameness presented again we had a terrible lesson and she bucked extensively when asked to canter. The next morning she came up lame. She was rested for 3 days and lameness went away. I did ground work with her, and she was acting terribly. She didn't want to lead out of the paddock and when lunging, she was not her usual responsive self and was galloping around out of control. I attributed this to the nice weather and our first groundwork session outside. However, she came up lame again the next morning.

My conversation with the vet let me to believe that she thinks this is a chronic problem and will likely not be able to be healed, but instead management is our best option. I need to be able to establish trust and respect with Mocha and be able to listen when she is trying to tell me that she is in pain. Sometimes I believe she is misbehaving, or anticipating pain when there really isn't any. But, as I am unable to tell the difference, I feel like we are never going to get anywhere building a trusting, respectful relationship or progress in our training. I wouldn't trust or respect anyone who hurt me whenever they were around!

X-rays are being taken today to try determine the cause. I have my fingers crossed that she is not diagnosed with pedal osteitis.