This message is from: Marge Littleboy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Most of you are aware that Bill and I have been dealing with a serious founder situation with our 9 year old mare Asta.
Things are not looking good as she has had another relapse this weekend. On Friday we took her back to the vet so that she could have the heartbar shoes reset, and could be re x-rayed (this time front and rear). The reset was not painful for her, but there was some very evident bruising on both front feet. She had good hoof growth, and we were hoping she would continue on the right track. The x-rays were not good on the front though - with the coffin bone even more rotated. The hind feet were fine, with no rotation, and the posturing I had been seeing was due to pain in the front feet. We got Asta back to the farm and she seemed comfortable, even stepping off the trailer with her front feet, keeping her hind feet on the trailer and reaching down for the bite of grass she just had to have. On Saturday Bill and I went to the barn to get the trailer and we were going to pick up my new carriage. We made a stop at the barn to see the girls, and Asta could not walk. We checked to see if she had shavings packed into the shoes, she was not comfortable standing on 3 legs and the soles at the toe seemed soft. We immediately called the vet. We gave Asta bute and Ace, got her stand on a good layer of shaving, and she finally got off her feet. While she was down, we iced her feet, as I could feel slight heat in both front hooves. The vet finally came, and gave Banamine and more Ace. She even did the DMSO into the stomach via the tube. The picture does not look good though. If we pull the shoes, with the soft sole and such a severe rotation to the coffin bone, will she be even more uncomfortable? With the sole soft, how long will it take for the bone to come through? Do we keep the shoes on and keep her strongly medicated, to see if new hoof growth will help the situation? How long is too long? Will we get her through this, the fifth relapse, only to have her relapse again? What is so frustrating is not knowing the cause, is she allergic to something causing this? If the original thought was that the cause was allergic, should we be treating her with antihistamines? I do not think we are going to pull her through this. If we do get her through this, what will her quality of life be? At Fridays appointment we were told that she would never be able to handle being driven on roads, or doing the combined driving. We would not mind her being a pasture horse, having foals (as of Friday she still could have been bred), but she deserves to be comfortable. So many questions, with so few answers. It is not going to be an easy week, as we will have to come up with some very hard answers to these questions. None of us want to see our animals suffer. I wish the news was better. Will keep you all posted. Thanks for "listening", it helps to be able to share what we are going through, knowing that you understand the decisions we will be and have made in our care for Asta. Marge Littleboy. Blomsterdalen Fjordhest
