November 2009
Aries arrived at our ranch at the beginning of November. His dedicated person, Elizabeth, relocated
to the area, to give Aries a chance at recovery here at the ranch. He is an 18 hand
Percheron/Standardbred gelding. He is 17 years old. He has been chronically foundered in his front
left hoof for 2.5 years. He currently has 50% rotation of the coffin bone, per his most recent xrays in
November of this year.
It is also strongly suspected that he suffers from EPSM. He will be tested for that sometime in the
coming months. For now he is on a diet that addresses this issue (it can't hurt). He also has an old
hip injury on the left side of his body. Its not known how severe the injury is, as it has been this way
since he was a young horse. He has arthritis in his hip. He also has a thickening of the joints of the
left hind leg.
He was on bute for an extended period of time when he first began to founder. He was unable to eat
hay for the last few years due to bouts diarrhea ranging from severe to mild. When he was on an all
mash (wet) diet, his poop was OK. We have been working hard the last month to help heal his colon,
and get him back to eating some hay. To date he is eating about 18 pounds a day of Bermuda pellets
& beet pulp, all soaked to make a mash, and about 15 to 20 pounds of low sugar (6%) hay that has
been soaked and fed via a slow feed hay net. We have worked up to this amount of hay over the last
30 days. He is doing amazingly well. Hes had a few days, where his hind gut hurt and he laid down for
a while, but no diarrhea.
His owner reports that he has had pretty bad skin allergies in the past, fly sensitivity and more. Given
the time of year, this has not yet shown it self, and I have a great deal of hope that given his diet
changes, he will escape those skin irritations this years and for the years to come.
He has pretty bad thrush in 3 of his 4 hooves. We are working at clearing this up. Its easiest to work
on him when he lays down for his nap in the early afternoon. That way he doesn't have to put any
pressure on his hoof with the rotation. Hes been very agreeable so far to me working on his hooves
while he lays there. I have been paring away the dead frog, scrubbing it with a little anti bacterial
solution and packing the worst areas with some penicillin paste.
Aries was cribbing badly the first few weeks he was here, but that has finally stopped. His discomfort
is under good control at this point. I am hoping we can keep it there, or better yet, get rid of his
discomfort all together.
Aries current diet consists of:
Bermuda grass pellets & beet pulp (rinsed) soaked
Orchard grass hay (6% sugar) soaked
magnesium
Phosphorous
Copper
Zinc
Manganese
Ground flax seed
Vitamin E
Acetyl-l-Carnitine
The herbs Devils Claw & sometimes a little white willow tree bark powder for pain and inflammation,
Slippery Elm bark powder for his belly
Cocosoya or Flax oil
He was also on a ten day course of Omperazole and then ranitidine for stomach ulcers.
Below are some photos from his first day here and then his first trim a couple of days later.
Aries arrived at our ranch at the beginning of November. His dedicated person, Elizabeth, relocated
to the area, to give Aries a chance at recovery here at the ranch. He is an 18 hand
Percheron/Standardbred gelding. He is 17 years old. He has been chronically foundered in his front
left hoof for 2.5 years. He currently has 50% rotation of the coffin bone, per his most recent xrays in
November of this year.
It is also strongly suspected that he suffers from EPSM. He will be tested for that sometime in the
coming months. For now he is on a diet that addresses this issue (it can't hurt). He also has an old
hip injury on the left side of his body. Its not known how severe the injury is, as it has been this way
since he was a young horse. He has arthritis in his hip. He also has a thickening of the joints of the
left hind leg.
He was on bute for an extended period of time when he first began to founder. He was unable to eat
hay for the last few years due to bouts diarrhea ranging from severe to mild. When he was on an all
mash (wet) diet, his poop was OK. We have been working hard the last month to help heal his colon,
and get him back to eating some hay. To date he is eating about 18 pounds a day of Bermuda pellets
& beet pulp, all soaked to make a mash, and about 15 to 20 pounds of low sugar (6%) hay that has
been soaked and fed via a slow feed hay net. We have worked up to this amount of hay over the last
30 days. He is doing amazingly well. Hes had a few days, where his hind gut hurt and he laid down for
a while, but no diarrhea.
His owner reports that he has had pretty bad skin allergies in the past, fly sensitivity and more. Given
the time of year, this has not yet shown it self, and I have a great deal of hope that given his diet
changes, he will escape those skin irritations this years and for the years to come.
He has pretty bad thrush in 3 of his 4 hooves. We are working at clearing this up. Its easiest to work
on him when he lays down for his nap in the early afternoon. That way he doesn't have to put any
pressure on his hoof with the rotation. Hes been very agreeable so far to me working on his hooves
while he lays there. I have been paring away the dead frog, scrubbing it with a little anti bacterial
solution and packing the worst areas with some penicillin paste.
Aries was cribbing badly the first few weeks he was here, but that has finally stopped. His discomfort
is under good control at this point. I am hoping we can keep it there, or better yet, get rid of his
discomfort all together.
Aries current diet consists of:
Bermuda grass pellets & beet pulp (rinsed) soaked
Orchard grass hay (6% sugar) soaked
magnesium
Phosphorous
Copper
Zinc
Manganese
Ground flax seed
Vitamin E
Acetyl-l-Carnitine
The herbs Devils Claw & sometimes a little white willow tree bark powder for pain and inflammation,
Slippery Elm bark powder for his belly
Cocosoya or Flax oil
He was also on a ten day course of Omperazole and then ranitidine for stomach ulcers.
Below are some photos from his first day here and then his first trim a couple of days later.
These photos were taken on November 10, 2009
