Friday, February 4, 2011

Continuing Story's Recovery

A horses hooves are trimmed every 6 weeks, and while the trim is a very important aspect of Story's recovery there are a few  things to do to help a Foundered horse's recovery in between trims.

Good blood circulation plays a role in the recovery of a Foundered horse, it helps flush out the harmful toxins that cause the separation between the hoof wall and coffin bone. There are a few effective ways to increase circulation, the first is very basic- movement! It seems odd that a horse who is so sore on their feet should be prompted to move, but as long as they are willing to walk without physical encouragement it can be very helpful in the recovery process.

Story and I started out with a 1/2 mile walk everyday, and have now worked up to 1 mile per day of walking. Story is always hand walked because she is not sound enough to be ridden. Once she has grown in tighter connection of hoof wall and coffin bone (takes a while to grow this connection) she will be allowed to start light riding at a walk.

Story on a daily walk

You may notice in the above photo the black wraps on Story's legs. This brings us to the next effective way to promote circulation. The wraps on Story's legs are not just fabric strapped onto her legs, they are a brand of standing wraps called Back On Track. BOT wraps are made of a polyester/polypropylene fabric with a ceramic powder melted into the fabric. The ceramic particles reflect body heat as an infrared wave which eases inflammation, reduce muscle pain and increases blood circulation.

Story is wrapped with BOT almost everyday (time permitting!) and wears them between 1-2 hours at a time.


Dictionary

sound- a term used in the horse world to describe a fit, healthy, not lame horse
standing wraps- wraps applied to horses legs for protection, magnetic and ceramic standing wraps are used for promoting circulation and reducing soreness

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