Working Up to Zero

This picture shows how patient "Chance" and I have had to be over the past nine months.  Last July, I picked him up from the barn in SC where he had been abandoned.  The barn manager got legal custody of him then sold him to me to recoup the pasture board money they had lost. When I picked him up I had to make a decision to take a chance because he was dead lame.   His feet were so full of thrush, and his hooves were so bad from lack of care, that he could hardly hobble onto the trailer.  Anyway, I gambled that his lameness was due to his feet and nothing worse, and brought him home.  

"Chance" has recovered slowly from the neglect, although when you consider that it takes a full year for a hoof to grow out I think he's done well.  The thrush is gone, two hoof abscesses have grown out, and his hoof wall is now pliable and strong.  I had to approach his issues on multiple fronts: Feeding him hoof supplements while using various products including Koppertox, HoofHeal, Venice turpentine, and Keratex.  *Phew*  All this to get to a neutral level on which we can begin real work.

That is why I call this process of overcoming deficits "working up to zero."  Sometimes what we do as riders has everything to do with just getting to a place where we can start even under saddle work.  We have to be patient and try to read our horse's condition and mental state.  For example, from the start Chance was good to handle EXCEPT for his feet. Picking up his feet to clean and apply medicine was a real trial.  We went rounds over it.  He almost kicked the farrier, too.  It was clear that his feet hurt, but I couldn't get to a better place without causing him additional, temporary discomfort using the thrush treatments.

Finally, I had to take a different approach to lifting his back right foot.  This was the one he resisted picking up the most. I would tap his hock until he shifted his weight, then let up. Then I would tap again until he would cock his hip and just barely lift his heel off the ground.  This allowed me to slip underneath it with the hoof pick, knock most of the dirt out, and squirt the Koppertox onto his frog and sole.  After a few weeks of that routine he finally felt good enough to allow me to actually pick the foot up.

Through all this, I am convinced that Chance knew what I was trying to accomplish.  He just had moments when it was too uncomfortable for me treat his feet.  Now, thank God, I can easily pick up and work on all four feet.  He is trotting happily on the driveway, something he would never have been able to do when I first brought him home.  So... we are ready to ride and train more seriously, more than just the gentle walks we have taken.  We have worked our way up to zero!

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