Pictures of Feet

Right Front








Left Front








Left Front





Both Front


Left Front After Trim









Back




Left Front-Before Trim


Right Front-Before Trim

feet

Turned him out in the midday, after the rain stopped. Fed him lunch and watched him stand with one front foot up. I had a few minutes and it was warm & sunny, so I grabbed my tools and trimmed his front hooves a bit. They've been neglected a LONG time, at least 6 months is my guess, and the bars had grown over the sole quite a bit. I trimmed away some excess toe, rounded it off and trimmed the bars down. That's enough for one day. Wish I'd taken "before" photos, but we can get some of the back feet.

Looking Good

Chief looked good when I went to see him yesterday. He was eating his hay and looked relaxed. I think he likes having other horses around. I taped him to get a weight, he is about 1000lbs which is probably pretty close. He looks to be about 200-250lbs underweight and with his height and length 1200lbs would be a good weight for him. I never know where to put the tape but as long as I keep putting it back in the same place it should be pretty accurate.
I'll check again in 1 week.

eating much better today!

Chief put away his meals plus a lot more hay today - very encouraging.

Spirit

For an old guy so underweight he has spirit. He has an opinion about what is going to be done to him. He loves to be brushed, the soft curry comb is his favorite so that is my weapon. If he decides to walk away when I approach him all I have to do is touch him with the curry comb and he will stop in his tracks. The only time he really objects to being touched is when it hurts. He can walk in pretty fast circles if he feels he needs to, and as long as I hang on to his withers and don't look around me I don't get dizzy. The stall is scary too and he gave me his opinion about walking in alone. So right now he needs to somebody to walk in with him, as soon as another horse comes in the barn he settles.
His spirit is going to help him recover quickly. He's a tough old guy with a lot of heart. I think he has a few more good years ahead of him, he thinks so too.

eating

Chief has been enjoying his meals of soaked beet pulp plus a myriad of high fat/high value supplements, but I can tell today that he must need some dental work. It took him all day to eat most of 2 big flakes of hay. I fed him breakfast, lunch and dinner and am thinking of a small bedtime snack of more beet pulp. He's drinking and manuring well, and has a fairly energetic attitude. Enough to disagree with Laura about a few things! ;)

Day 1

I've nicknamed this horse "Chief". Jaye picked him up today after receiving a call for help. He needed to be rescued as soon as possible. He is a 25 year old standardbred, he raced for about 14 years, he is approx. 16 hands, and probably 200 pounds underweight. His feet are a mess and very sore. There is some type of fungus growing on the inside of his ears. It is white, hard and crusty-like and is also causing him some pain. Those are the most visible signs of neglect. He does have a nice thick winter coat which has some shine to it. He has not seen a vet since 2006 and it has obviously been a long time since his feet were trimmed but I think the weight loss is fairly recent. He does not appear to be sick, seems very alert, curious and very aware of his surroundings. Although his nose is running in one of the pictures, it is clear and was only running for a short time.

As uncomfortable as this guy must be, he is a sweetheart. He let me worm him without a fuss and then proceeded to make funny faces because of the horrible taste. Then I started to brush him. He loved it! He must be so itchy, it has been a very long time since he has had a bath. I think it felt nice and the attention I was giving him was very appreciated. He kindly picked up his feet for me but let me know that they hurt very badly. He can't hold them up for long and as I tried to clean them he pulled away immediately. Other than his feet and ears I don't think he is in pain anywhere else. I was able to brush him everywhere, I ran my hands all over him and there wasn't a place that seemed to bother him.

These pictures where taken after I brushed him:







It breaks my heart to think this guy was alone without food and care. I don't know all of the circumstances for the neglect, but I do know that he was loved and the situation was out of the owners control. Sometimes bad things happen to good people and the animals also suffer. A call for help was made and tonight "Chief" has had his dinner and is sleeping in a cozy stall with lots of hay & water. :)