A Pain In The Butt...Part 2

As promised, here is the follow up post on Anna.  Back in November, I noticed that she was "off."  It looked like it was in her front right, and then would go away.  Figuring she had twisted it in the field running, I didn't worry too much when a day or two later, she was fine.  Then I noticed she was lame again.  I called Frances, and she suggested I give her some Bute, and see if that helped.  It did.  For a while.  She would still run and kick up her heals with the other girls,  but on and off throughout the winter, she would be lame.  In April, Pyper was DYING to ride, so I caught Anna, and lunged her.  I noticed she was REALLY lame, like head bobbing lame.  I again, called Frances, and she thought it may be the beginning stages of Navicular.  This is not something you want to hear.  It's a chronic case of "tendinitis" to simplify it.  Here is a good article I found on it.  http://extension.missouri.edu/p/G2743

Treating Navicular is controversial, some say one thing, some say another.  What I know is that Quarter Horses (Anna) are more prone to it due to small feet.  So, I thought I'd start with the most simple fix and work my way up from there.  Paul, our farrier, came over on Wednesday, the day Anna got her butt whooped, but we still decided to have him put shoes on Anna.  After Frances worked on her, she went to Paul.  Paul had come out last week and watched her in the pasture and he was on the fence as to whether or not it WAS navicular.  She has SOME of the signs and symptoms, but not all of them.  We decided we'd treat it as it was.  What could it hurt?  She was sedated, and stood really well.  He tried one pair of shiny shoes...

 But they didn't fit. 

 He tried another pair.  These fit.  You'll notice they have a bit of a "heel" on them.  I joked and told Anna she's had a pedicure and now will have high heels.  The heel on the shoe is to put more pressure on the toe (front part of the hoof) and alleviate the pressure on the navicular bone in the back.  We'll see if this helps.

 Here, she gets her hooves filed...

 Pyper takes advantage of Anna's sedation and thinks she's a big girl while holding her for Paul. 

Poor Anna.  I'll keep you posted as to if this remedy helps.  In the meantime, please pray for my sweet mare.  If God's eye is on the sparrow, then I know he watches out for mighty horses.  I love this horse.  She is so great with the kids.  She can be a handful (can't all women???) but has a heart of gold.  I don't want her to live in pain.