Hoof abscesses and ground driving

Things have been super busy at work for me, so I haven't had much time to play with the horses.  This has kind of been a blessing in disguise as far as Rachel goes.

A week ago I noticed that Rachel was limping on her rear left foot.  This is the same hoof that the farrier found an abscess in when he was out a month ago.  I picked the hoof out real good, but nothing seemed out of place.  Just for good measure, I had my vet out, and he looked it over as well.  The only soft part of the hoof we found turned out to be a section below where the old abscess used to be.  The vet took pliers and pinched and prodded everywhere, looking for any sign from Rachel that she was tender.  We didn't find anything.  I started giving her a few ounces of Bute a day, and watched her.  She was up and down for 4 days, then saturday she took a turn for the worse.

When I called her up, she could barely walk.  She would take one step, then rest, then another, and rest.  All the while, never putting any pressure on that hoof.  I slowly walked her into the pen closest to the house, and I once again picked our her hoof.  She didn't want me to touch it, but once again, I didn't find any part that was sensitive.  I called the vet and sunday he came out.  When I walked Rachel out for the vet to examine, we saw a good sign.  A big ol' abscess had blown out of the back of her hoof along the coronary band line.  It blew right on the very corner of the heel of the hoof.  That was why we couldn't locate it by squeezing anywhere.  The vet dug it out as much as she would let us, and then she got a good soak in an Epson salt and Betadine solution.

I have been soaking twice a day now.  She is already feeling better.  Today she was running around her pen, and was actually running away from me when I tried to snap the lead rope on her halter.  However, just like in all those old 80 horror movies, I used my psycho killer moves and just slowly walked after her till she wore herself out and stopped running.  :)

She is really a dream of a horse to work with.  She will let me hold her hoof however I need to and for as long as I need.  She will then also let me set her hoof in the bucket of solution and she'll leave it right where I put it.  You can see how this is working in the picture above.  I really can't say enough about what a sweetheart she is.  I'm hoping this heals up quick so I can begin working with her again.  I've been just brushing her and such since her foot has been bad.  If you look at the picture close, you can also see an issue I've been dealing with on her other hooves.  Hard to beleive I just had her trimmed a month ago.  I have her on a lots of nutrients, and so her hooves are growing at a very rapid pace.  I think I need to have my farrier come out every 3 weeks to file her hooves down so they don't crack like they have been.

I got done with my Rachel time, and found that I still had plenty of daylight. I decided that Pam was going to get some attention. She seemed happy to come up for a brushing. Too bad it wasn't cuz of me. She just wanted to be near Rachel. :)

Next thing you know Pam has the harness on. Now here's the funny part. The second the harness came out and was getting put on Pam, Rachel started hollering from her pen. She got VERY vocal. I glanced over at her to see what the ruckus was, and she was just pacing the closest section of fence to us. I think she was jealous that Pam was in the harness. :)

So I started with just some ground driving. Pam did great at that and did it all in a trot. (I don't mind this, cuz it helps me stay in shape) :) After she got at ease, I decided to try hooking her up to something. I've never done this with Pam, so I knew it would be an experience.

Pam did awesome at standing still while I hooked up the single tree and the tractor tire. Then came the moment of truth. The first call for her to step up.

This is where I noticed the difference between a well broke horse like Lily or Rachel, and a green horse like Pam. With Lily and Rachel, they took to dragging a tire with no problems. It wasn't even a noteworthy event. They just went to work, and they acted the same dragging something, as they did not dragging something.

Pam ... was nothing like this. The minute she felt those tugs get tight, she stopped. Her head started going side to side to try and see what was going on. I used the lines to keep her straight forward though. It took some coaxing, but eventually, she stepped into it and started pulling the tire. After 4 or 5 steps she seemed to relax a bit. Then came time to turn.

As soon as she started to come around and the outside tug began rubbing on her leg she came unglued. I was ready for it, and kept her right where I wanted her, but she nearly started bucking. With some nice words I calmed her down and kept her going. Once we started going straight again, she calmed down again. Then I turned the other direction and once again, a rodeo almost broke out. I did the same thing as before though, and she made it through that other turn. I kept doing this and the more I did it, the easier she handled it.

Then I decided to let her hear some sounds. I drove her over my driveway. The second the tire hit the driveway, she once again came unglued. That noise really spooked her good, but with firm line control and nice words, she made it through it. Then I crossed it again, with the same results. I kept doing this over and over till she got more at ease. Then I had her walk directly down the road with the tire dragging in the gravel/dirt the whole way. She did not like this at all, but she knew that I was in control, so she did it.

I drove her around with that tire for about 45 minutes. It was great for a first time, and I'm really proud of her. She obeyed and did it my way, even though she didn't want to. Once again, she stood like a lady while I unhooked the single tree.

The thing that this experience really drove home to me was that Pam is not a safe horse for this kind of thing yet. She is very green, and very prone to spooking. Lily and Rachel pulled this same tire and didn't even seem to react to anything it did. Pam is very green, and this experience really reminded me that I should not rush her into things. Safety first! Without safety, nobody has a good time!!