Khal's feet

["marilyn wiese" <mwiese@earthling.net>]

I wrote this post to the Mark Rashid "considering the horse" list on yahoo.
Thought I would pass it on to others who have heard of Khal's problems.
BTW, Fran Jurga, who puts out Hoofcare &  Lameness - The Journal of Equine
Foot Science @ www.hoofcare.com is the person who helped me get pointed in
the helpful direction that we seem to be going, back in Dec when I was at my
wits end about how to get help for Khal........it isn't like there are black
and white answers.....the more I learn the more I know that this is always
going to be an ever changing and on going process.....not just with Khal's
feet but with the healthy feet of my horse Scout too.....not paying
attention to their feet and other healthy issues on a daily basis can lead
to problems down the line....there are so many opinions and options of how
to do things......all I know is I will always be evaluating the situation
and the things I read and hear and see.

>>>>>>Those of you who were on the list last Oct may remember reading about
Khal and me (and may have seen our pictures).  Just wanted to give the list
an update on Khal's feet situation...the problems with his back feet/back
end seem to have been resolved by removing the heavy back shoes that the
expensive 'therapeutic farrier had put on Khal.

We just got back from our 3rd visit to the TX A & M farrier (8+ hour drive
each way from San Angelo).  Khal had been having problems with soreness in
his front feet.....long toes didn't help (I had been actively working on
Khal's problems but was having troubles even though I was using vet
recommended farriers and trying to communicate with the farriers)...anyway
the farrier at A & M  was able to get Khal's toes shortened properly for him
(with the benefit of seeing x-rays of his feet).  Khal's feet look a lot
different than they did on Oct.....he moves better....but he is still sore
and will be for a while because he has active ossifying of the sidebones in
his feet...this may go on for a while and I will monitor his progress so
that I give him enough time to get through this process.

Khal is now barefoot as of yesterday!  and my local farrier is now going to
be taking over from the A & M farrier (my local farrier comes out to see the
boys right after I get back from A & M so that we can discuss what the A & M
farrier has done and plans to do in the future.

It isn't like Khal is lame....it is just that it is best for him not to be
doing circles and putting unnecessary pressure on the outsides on his
feet....being barefoot will allow his toes to wear off naturally rather than
growing longer between farrier visits.

We have the bottom of the heel moved back under Khal's feet better....the
heel will never be built up.....trying to build the heel up will just allow
it to crush forward under his feet....his feet look really strong and
healthy and Scout's are even better (Scout has never worn shoes).....I'm
excited because I think we are going in a very good direction with both
horses feet.....I hope to 'someday' be putting miles on Khal...but I see
that as being a year or years from now...for now I want to just work on our
'horse and rider' skills at a walk, on the ground, and in whatever fun and
different places I can think of....  :)
mar in san angelo