The What To Feed Debate

So I ended up switching Lily off of her two cups sweet feed and onto two cups of mushy Triple Crown Senior to get the lower NSC's. I've also taken her off of all but a few bites of grass that I let her snatch on our twice daily handwalks. There is a thead on COTH I started about what to feed Lily - many people were shocked that she was getting some grass and sweet feed and assumed I was ignorant, but trust me, I've read safergrass.org as much as the next person and I do consider myself educated on the topic. I actually consciously chose to give her sweet feed and three hours of grass per day. And I'm fairly certain she hasn't had any laminitic episodes since she's been here. I did the whole "natural" feeding program with all of my horses for a year and half and never had much success (however, that's a whole other topic I won't get into). But, I am trying the TC Senior and no grass thing because she's still been looking at her belly a bit - she's eating/pooping just fine though. So, we'll see what happens. On the plus side, I think her belly has filled out a little bit finally! It's getting into the low 40's now at night, so I rigged a too big blanket on her last night and will be ordering her one today.

Here's the link to the COTH thread:
http://www.chronicleforums.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=225401

Got her X-Rays

Well, I finally got to see her X-Rays we took after she arrived (before I trimmed her). Imagining them and seeing them are two different things. I knew they would be bad... they're actually really scary, but on the other hand they could be a lot worse. She's definitely sunk (as if we couldn't have guessed that). The front of her coffin bone is VERTICAL and she has a small "ski tip" forming. However, her coffin bone looks to be in decent shape which is great. She actually has a decent amount of sole under the tip of her coffin bone somehow which is also great! There is a lot of room in front of the tip of her coffin bone, but I am not going to bring her toes back at the moment because she needs that leverage to rocker her back onto her heels. I have her X-Rays in hand, I will try to figure out a way to get photos of them up for you guys.

As far as how she's feeling.... she's about the same. She still whinnies whenever she sees anyone, she has a good appetite, she still lays down a lot, she goes out and eats grass for about two hours in the morning (with a nap somewhere in there out in the grass) and an hour or so at night. She doesn't really want to go outside of her pen any more than that. I let her loose out by the barn/arena to eat when I'm out at in the barn and if I leave her out for too long she just walks herself back into her pen. I've started her on some beet pulp and am giving her two cups of grain twice a day now. I've trimmed her twice more - I try to do it when she's already laying down. She scared me yesterday because she was laying down and breathing just a little faster than usual and looking at her belly - I gave her a 500 lb dose of Banamine and she's been fine since then, but I am watching her very closely. Think good thoughts for our Lily girl (who has recently acquired the nickname L'il!)

She's feeling better

As of last week, she is walking a little better. She covers more distance now when she's out eating grass. She actually walks slower, but steadier, and she is rocking back onto her heels all the way with almost every stride, finally! I tried to get a video but the battery was dead, will get a new video soon. Here are photos of her heels finally coming down taken September 14th. I trimmed her again after these shots were taken and will get new photos soon as well.

Left Front:

Right Front:

Video taken upon arrival to the farm

Sad face / Happy face

As promised, here are a few typical before and after Lily faces! Before (she looked like this all the time):





And after! Tell me that isn't one cheered up pony! She looks like this all the time now!


Aaaand, good news today! She is starting rock back onto her heels now, especially on that terrible right front - yay! I'll get photos for you all soon. I'm letting myself get my hopes up now that I've seen a little progress being made! And I'm kind of getting really attached... that whinnying thing has me whipped. Also, Lily would like to thank Claire very, very much for the iced oatmeal cookies - they are really yummy and they definitely brighten her day!

Intro

So, my name is Shawn Ratliff and I am a natural barefoot trimmer. I am working on starting up a non profit that does barefoot rehab/rescue work, but we are just getting started on all the paperwork so it will be a little bit until it's official. I recently took in a new 12 hand rehab project pony named Lily - she is in her early 20's and is not just foundered, but starved as well. This blog is to chronicle her rehabilitation and keep track of progress made. If you would like to make a donation to help cover Lily's costs, anything (even $1!) helps! To donate cash, you can paypal any amount to FlyingHeartsFarm@yahoo.com with Lily as the subject line. Please E-Mail me to donate items.

Lily's Wish List:
New Halter (or $25)
Blanket (winter is coming up and she's so thin!) (or $100)
Sheet (or $35)
Hoof Boots (or $100)
Probios (or $30)
Or cash for hay ($3.50/bale - lasts 4 days), grain ($3 per month), bedding ($5.50 per bag - lasts one week), or her Source multivitamin supplement ($1.40 per month).
Volunteers to come pick out her pen, brush her, handgraze her, and make her feel important and loved! We are located in Goshen, Ohio - just east of Cincinnati.

Lily arrived home on August 29th, 2009. These are photos of her upon arrival. Her right front is her worse hoof - she weights it less than the left front. She was x-rayed August 31st and there is evidence of an old infection and more arthritis in that hoof/leg - it's also taller than her left front. She is just starting to knuckle over - it's especially evident when you watch her walk...hopefully we can resolve this in time because the darling deserves better than this! Actually, Lily is supposedly nicely trained to ride and drive, but she was also supposedly not old haha! So we'll see.

I trimmed her after taking plenty of photos and video of her, and this is how she looks now - both feet are fully weighted in this photo. Scary, eh?


The good thing is that after a couple of days of plenty of food, attention, treats, and a much needed bath, she has gone from looking miserable and in pain all the time, to looking cheery and bright and whinnying whenever she sees me. Man, she knows how to make me feel important! And the best part is that as of today, September 2nd, she seems to be a little more willing to move about her pen for water and such. She still spends a decent amount of time laying down, but when we go out handgrazing she walks a little faster and with a little more enthusiasm. I trimmed her heels a teeny bit again today, but there really isn't anything to take without going into live sole - I need to be patient and let her heels drop down. I feel like they did a teeny bit since the first trim, but now they are "floating" that high again since I trimmed a little more today. I stretched her front legs forward tonight, I think I'll start doing that whenever I feed.

Right now she's getting free choice grass/timothy hay, about 20 minutes of grass a day (will be upping that slowly starting tomorrow), and one cup 2 x day of mushy Equine Senior with Source and electrolytes (she was barely drinking when she first came, now she's drinking a bucket a day instead of a few sips).

I think with some weight she's going to be a really pretty little mare. I'll get some happy face photos tomorrow and put up some photos to compare how much her expression has changed since she arrived 5 days ago.