The Ouchies

The last couple weeks have been crazy. My in-laws came to visit, so I took a couple days off work to pick up them from the airport, settle them in their Airbnb, grocery shop (never again!), and explore the desert a little. I thought they were flying in Thursday, instead of Wednesday, so I lost a day off to relax and do "things". One of the things I was trying to do before they arrived was have a new farrier out to trim Truby's feet.

Our last farrier did a nice job on her feet...but was a PAIN to deal with. He wouldn't schedule appointments in advance, I had to call every 6 weeks. Dude...you KNOW I want her feet done on a regular basis, plus you trim two other horses here...just set up a regular schedule for us. But, no. He was super paranoid about opening gates, so he'd either climb awkwardly over/through fences, or I literally had to open and close the gate for him. I can see the benefit to this paranoia, but it was weird. Speaking of weird, he wore canvas slip on shoes. Need I say more?

Of course I do! He was super arrogant, which went hand in hand with his misogynist viewpoint. Combined with the fact that he was chatty...made for often uncomfortable interactions. Just trim my horses feet and maybe not insult every other farrier or woman you've ever met? Maybe?

He thought horse shoes was EVIL, and hoped PETA would learn how malicious shoeing was so they'd "take care of it". He also though open carry laws were dumb, because "you still get in trouble if you shoot someone! What's the point of being able to use a gun if you get in trouble for using it?!" 

So...I thought maybe I'd try someone new. Cherry's owner raved about her farrier, so I gave him a call, he seemed fine, and he came out Tuesday. While he was nice enough, handled Truby well, and his trim looked ok...I also thought it looked VERY short. And he worked FAST. Like, the fasted I've ever seen a farrier trim. And I've been at a lot of barns and been around a lot of different farriers. And he was kinda pricey. Whatever. My week was cramjam full and Truby seemed ok, so I didn't think too hard about it. 

Except for two days later, when I brought my in laws out to meet Truby. Despite having owned Truby much longer than I've been married, and having been married for 11 years and change, my in laws had never met Truby before. How does this happen???? So I brought them out to visit what turned out to be a very miserable little gray horse. 

She did not want to walk. She just looked painful. It was hard to tell exactly what was wrong, because it appeared to be everything. 

Hard to get a nice pic with their grandpony. Truby was
feeling pretty bad.

Jena offered to take a look the following day, since she would be out to get Cherry's teeth floated. While the in laws took a midday siesta, I headed to the barn. The vet was there doing regular stuff on a few horses, and Jena checked Trub. She thought she was still painful in the painful areas she had after her hitching rail drama. Then another boarder tried some flexion tests, and thought she hurt everywhere. And "If ONLY THERE WAS A VET HERE, RIGHT NOW, THAT COULD EXAMINE TRUBY...!" So I asked the vet if he had time to look at a new patient that wasn't feeling well and we weren't sure why. To which he replied, "of course I do, it sounds like we need to take a look!". Love him.

thorough exam on my unicorn

Grumpy unicorn: That HURTS!!!

Hoof testing

Truby: Hello, new friend. Please to make Trubys feel better?

I was very pleased with how thorough, careful, and methodical the exam was. He checked everything. He also had a great "dad" sense of humor, and halfway through the exam the whole gang started singing Safety Dance, because Truby. 

We can dance if we wanna

I really appreciated the good cheer and humor, because I was tired, stressed, and worried. The final verdict was a combo of painful feet and painful body. Great.

The vet said she tested painful in all 4 heels, but especially ouchy on the right front. Her toes were ok, so he didn't think laminitis (whew!) but it was probably going a bit longer than normal between trims (9 weeks as opposed to her usual 6/7) and a different trim style, and also way too short. He was able to give me a recommendation for a new farrier that he thought would be a good match for us. Apparently she's as obsessed with trimming as I'm obsessed with my horse, so that sounds worth trying. 

The body pain was basically the same exact ouchie spots Jena found. Leftover trauma from the hitching post. That' "good" because it's not "new" damage. just old damage that's a little worse than we thought.

He said the combination of the two was probably just making her feel painful and miserable all over, which it totally was. Poor Truby! He suggested a week of Bute followed by another week of no Bute but rest. That would give her time to heal, relax, and grow some hoof. And then we could see what was what. 

I was extremely happy with both the exam for the current problem, and suggestions for general health. He noticed Truby's sorta "pre-metabolic", something I'm always aware of. He suggested running some bloodwork, mostly to get baseline numbers, as we may need to check for Cushings or other metabolic issues in the future. He also noticed she does have a little arthritis in her hocks, and at 17, it's not surprising! He went over supplements vs injections briefly, and for now, we've started on a good basic joint supplement. 

I also really appreciated him taking on an extra, unexpected patient, and giving her such a thorough work up. It relieved quite a bit of stress and worry. Although now we've finished our Bute week, and have almost finished rest week. She looked so much better Bute week, but now seems a bit stiff and ouchy again. This has gotten a bit long, so I think I'll continue tomorrow. Right now, I need a nap!