Aug 30 2007 Day one post trim 7

Today we did another balancing trim as things shifted over night. Took measurements as well. On one foot there was over 1.5 cm shift to larger in width.

He poses less in 'pain pose' today.

He was in the front paddock and just wondering around this 'new to him' paddock. Before I introduce everyone together I make sure that the new horse will get him time along in the fields so that he can discover it to himself and know where the fence line is as well as being able to smell things and explore without being pushed.

So...he was in the first paddock and exploring and something spooked him and he took off at a gallop and went over the rock alley way. After that he toe walked a bit on the front right.



We took him into the shelter to take pics. The RF bulb was about to burst an abscess. There was some heat present...took pics.

One thing is that when ever we take Vegas inside the shelter...he gets sooo nervous. We joked and said...'don't put me back in there...don't leave me in here'. Being near panic mode, we took him out and stood outside.



One thing I forgot to mention earlier was the bad smell of his poop. It's really slimy and smelly and 'hard' in a way. I suspect that as he eats better and his body detoxes it will return to normal as well.

His body cracks when he walks. Even at a good distance away...you can hear him. He sounds like Rice Krispies...when he's moving.

When he has his head down...his teeth sound not balanced. His cheeks don't look like they chew too much and lack muscling. I suspect that this too shall pass as he finds his was to balance.

Tonight we put him in the big field and kept the others up in the paddocks. He ran alot along side the fence with the others during their bag flag.
His neck and back is so tight that when you touch any part of his neck or back...he pins his ears at you. We keep trying to massage him...and he'll allow it for moment but then it's over. That's ok with us...deep muscle massage can be very uncomfortable.

When it was feeding time...he looked to charge the others...but the fence was in the way. We keep him out of our bubble when feeding. This too shall pass....

The horses were allowed to meet touching over the fence today. Vegas didn't really react much. He was still and allowed them to snoof him all over. When someone went to groom him, he would squeel and spike with his front feet...but didn't move. He was not going to be pushed around.

Pre Trim evaluation 6

Still Aug 29 2007

The vet leaves and asks me not to trim until he develops the x rays to make sure they would turn out. Great idea...but I am dying to trim him. ;)

I took this time to do a thorough pre trim evaluation...and document it. We filmed him walking over rocks and pasture grass. We also took pre trim measurements of his feet as well as thorough photos and video from all angles.

The smell of his feet were aweful and something that doesn't pass through pictures or video. It smelled like cadaver feet. It smelled like death! There was a lot of black greasy necrotic tissue that the hoof pic just slid off of. The strong scent was much like one of those chemical toilets you might see at a fair or something...the blue little boxes! Yuck.

Vegas tried hard to hold himself up on 3 legs, but having to leave his most comfortable pain pose proved almost impossible. He would have a pain spasm and slam his feet down on the ground again. We took things slowly in asking him to lift up his feet and then did a power trim while they were up.
Veggis licked and chewed and yawned a LOT during this process...and for the first time his distant gaze in his eyes focused on us...his ears perked up and he continued to look at what we were doing with his feet and seemed interested and accepting.

The pic below is showing the LF side shot before and during the initial trim. Note the already drastic change in the angle of the bones. An initial trim like this is like having a big chiropractic adjustment...for the better. Movement is KEY after a trim like this...it must be supplied in the free choice manner as well as handwalking on ground that he can handle. He'll not be rock crushing sound yet...;)

After this trim...Vegas was Super friendly with us. He followed us everywhere we went. His eyes were expressive and alert...his lips and face relaxed. He probably felt a huge endorphin rush.

His walking was with much larger steps. His landing was tender as if unsure of where his feet were or were going. In approximately 2 hours post trim...his movement was more confident.

The RF is the most problematic. It had been labelled a 'club' foot for many years already. It is on it's way to becoming 'normal' and healthy.

He was put back in the visitor paddock for the night with the others eating along side of him. Tomorrow is another day. :)

Getting Started...Documenting 5

Aug 29 2007

The vet was called and will come today to do x rays.

After observing Vegas for longer...I would venture a guess of heel pain/navicular over founder...but perhaps both. We shall see. He is always in 'pain pose 101'. Generally it is with the RF forward but sometimes he shifts to the LF forward but spends less time there. His back and hips and loins and neck are all super tight to the touch and he reacts to pressure with aggressive looks with his ears and eyes. After feeling the muscles and seeing the stance...I don't blame him.

The vet arrived and seemed interested in what I was proposing to do with Vegas. He looked at him all over and said he was handsome (nice color) and that he has genetically small feet like many QH's.

Before taking x rays he requested that I cut out the bottom of the foot a bit (sole and frog) to 'clean it up' to get a better reading. I declined. We went ahead and did x rays of both fronts from the side...standing on blocks. I got pics of where the x ray machine was positioned so that we can super impose the pics on one another.

Vet comments: Said his feet were very long in the toe. His hinds needed a good trim but other than that they looked very normal. He did venture a guess that Vegas would never be sound on those fronts. He did the dreaded hoof testers on the fronts. Vegas responded lightly on the RF and not at all on the LF...so the vet went back to the RF and there was no response.

He joked and said "oh, he's not sore now...he's better". ;)

I said that the 'squeeze' must have produced an endorphin rush...he didn't say anything.

He was a bit surprised that this horse was treated at the well recognized veterinary training school in QC and he couldn't believe that they didn't look at the poor shape of his feet and take that into account. He said it's a case of neglect in his eyes...but of course Vegas was not neglected in conventional terms. It's just that this traditional wisdom failed him, on so many levels.

Here are some pics of the x rays poses.

A little history of Vegas 4

Vegas was eating the grasses and still in his halter with his groom that brought him here. She began to talk about his history as she knew it to be.

She expressed love for him and was happy and sad to leave him behind.

It seems he was bought from an online catalogue source for a pretty high price of $10,000 as a two year old. He arrived with signs of founder she said.

He was shod in heart bar shoes like this when he was a tender TWO years old. :-0



This type of shoe is said to increase frog pressure to stimulate growth. (rolling eyes)

Looks to me like it stops things from moving much at all. Looks real comfortable to walk on with immature young feet. The bones in his foot are bound to stop growing in width with a shoe like this.
Problem with that is...the ones above do keep growing in width.

I felt so sad for him.

He just got his shoes off the front feet 2 months ago...and the hinds off 4 months ago.

He was also gelded 5 months ago.

After hearing his entire story, I decided to really do a great documentary and include the vet. I'll get preliminary x rays of both fronts to document boney changes as well.

We took Vegas to the shelter to clean his feet and take pictures and video all around...then we let him out in a large paddock for the night and gave him his first all you can eat buffet of grass hays, some fresh water as well as grazing grass that was in the paddock.

My working student ducked under the fence to take some hay into his paddock. I said...uh don't go in there...and before I got all the words out...it happened.
Veggie attack! He pinned his ears and Ran with vengance towards her and the hay. This sign of food aggression is common in a stabled horse. They have felt hunger many times and are not used to having enough food and want to fight for it when it comes out. I suspect this behavior will decrease over the coming days and weeks. He'll come to understand there is abundance of hays and he'll also be detoxing his system from the meals he used to receive.
In the meantime...he'll eat together across the fence from the others.

My 6 year old daughter was wanting me to take his halter off. She thought that would make him feel better. :)

I told her that tomorrow...after his first night in his new place he would get it off.
I did exchange his nylon halter for a leather one with 'fuzzies' on it. Leather breaks if need be.

He looks up from eating and acts like a stallion calling and showing to the others. The 'boys' look back at him as if to say...'what's wrong with you'? They'll soon teach him how to relax and feel at peace.

Vegas arrives at Equinextion 3

August 28, 2007. This is a day that Vegas will remember, and so will I.
It was a beautiful sunny later summer day. I was anxiously awaiting his arrival and all of a sudden...he was here.

I went outside with my video camera in tow to film him coming off the trailer. As I passed by the open door of the trailer to get into better position with the camera...I smelled it. That familiar smell that I have engrained in my memory...the smell of dead feet. Cadaver feet have the exact same scent that was wafting out of the trailer. Yikes. My heart sank a bit and I wondered what his feet really looked like under there.

Vegas got off the trailer and went for the grass. He looked hungry and my student commented on that. We were assured that he was eating for the entire 3 hour drive.
That's not really what we meant though. It was more like he had been hungry for quite a time. Most stabled horses are. They don't tend to get enough hay/forage and get fed grains and processed feeds instead. The thought process being that they are fed 'meals' of complete feed and the hay is just for munching.
Of course here at Equinextion...we don't feed any processed feeds or grain at all. All the horses get free choice grass hays that are fed spread out to keep them foraging...and of course No more stable for Vegas.
It's a new day for him!!

How Vegas came to Equinextion 2

I started giving some equinextion trimming courses here at my farm in Ontario this summer.
One girl that attended a course in August and has previously attended clinics finished the course and shortly after she went home, I got a phone call from her.
She said there was a horse in dire need at the stable where she boards. The owners spent years chasing lameness and they were 'done' with it. He was going to be euthenized within two weeks.

I was a bit choked. I want to help them all but I did not need another horse to feed, I have four already. I thought that everything happens for a reason so I said I could go and have a look at him as I was going to be in the area the next day. As it turns out...I never made it to the stables...not enough time in the day to do so.
I wondered if they found somewhere else for him to be.
I thought of making a DVD Documentary of his recovery. This could help people to make the connection. To see the process and the progress of this sentenced to death horse right in front of them. To hear the stories that he could tell. I wondered if I could make it work.

Then I got an email...the horse needed help...Now.

"I was told you didn't come yesterday. I just wanted to send you some pictures of Vegas. As I told you, he is only 5 years old. He is an American Quarter Horse (the owners paid a BIG price for him) and he is 15 hands (we measured him). He has a founder history and he limps on and off.
If you want him, someone at the stable is ready to trailer him to your place for no fees. If no one takes him, he is going to be put down real soon. But it may be better to put him down then to have him in wrong hands. Just tell me if you are interested. I understand you may have too many horses... but just let me know of your decision"

She did send some pictures with this email.
As I scrolled through them and cringed from the look of pain in his body and feet...one picture in particular looked right into me. I gave a big sigh, knowing at once that I have to find a way to take him.
His eyes just said he was misunderstood, sad and in pain.
He is only 5 years old...how screwed up could he be?
Being a QH I suspected he grew up mainly in a stall and had his feet bound early (shod at two years old or before). I suspected he didn't get much turnout and certainly never been in a herd in his life. He was a stallion up until 5 months prior...so I assumed he lived the ever so common solitary confinement stallion life that people came to believe is necessary.

I did post on my forum about Vegas and recieved support from people who wanted me to take him...and some that wanted to have him after his rehabilitation period...and I felt that this support combined with a educational documentary it would possible to take him without suffering a divorce...haha.

I made sure that he was donated to equinextion and that he came with the necessary paperwork. I also asked for his medical records...which I didn't receive yet. I hope to get them soon.

I do not know the previous owners...but I do know that they did follow veterinary and farrier advice from one of the countries leading veterinary teaching hospitals. Whatever ended up happening to Vegas was done with the expectation of him getting well and it was done out of love.
They made a decision to give him to me instead of euthenizing him...they gave him one last chance. Vegas says thanks!! :)

An Equinextion Introduction 1

My name is Lisa Huhn.
I want to share with you a story about one horse of soooo many that I have seen and treated over the years with an unconventional approach. This approach is reaping great results with even the toughest cases.

I started Equinextion with an intention to help people to Make the Connection. The connection to total equine wellness through keeping horses more in tune with their nature including being without shoes. The connection to the powerful healingproperties already present in the natural horse.
My web site is http://www.equinextion.com/ and there is a wonderful support forum for those wishing to try something similar with their own horses. http://www.gossiping.net/phpBB2/?mforum=equinextionforu

When I first started to do a barefoot trim...I was already a natural horse keeper. I had this going for me and my learning curve right from the start.
Another thing I have always done with my hroses is to 'bag flag'. I started this as a very young girl. I used to bag flag my Grandfathers big ole' work horse (Pearl) in the field...just to see her run. The old dog ran after her too. I don't 'scare' them into running and my horses today as well as Pearl understood it was a game and looked forward to playing it. I would 'blow' like a horse, as best I could, and scuff my feet to get the most beautiful looks out of the horse. Tail up, neck UP, nostrils flared and a super awesome trot that people dream to ride.
I believe that bag flaggin' done correctly and with purpose and care can have such super good effects on heart and lungs, muscles, tendon and ligament building and of course a great addition to mental wellness.
Mental wellness is sometimes ignored in conventional medicine...but it is a huge part in the healing process.

I hope you enjoy this ongoing blog as I tell you the story of one horse named Vegas...Veggie for short.