More about Lacy.....

Above are Lacy's X-Rays of her right front foot from the vet in Lancaster.In the first one (side view) you can see the navicular bone, the small one above the hoof. The vet said it had some deterioration and some small cracks in it. I looked and looked but I don't see them but then I don't know what I am looking at.
Second one is from the back of the foot; what her foot is on is a thick piece of plexi glass so the xrays could pass through. Do click on each one to enlarge. Fascinating photos.

First he watched her trot, which she couldn't do very well and was really limping. Then he did a nerve block on the right front; waited a few minutes and had her trot again. No problem and no limping! So he said it was in her foot not in her shoulder as we had first thought. Well, this isn't good news.
Next he gave her two injections for her arthritis, one in the left knee and one in the coffin joint of her right foot. When he had the needle in the coffin joint he pushed on her skin at the injection site and a very dark fluid appeared in the needle. We asked what it was and he said the fluid in the joint, the reason it was so dark was because it had a lot of blood in it caused by inflammation! Oh, ouch! He said that the fluid should look like Karo syrup. I am not sure if it was Hyaluronic acid or something else he injected her with (so much information that I now can't remember...I will try my best) to help her joints.
It was supposed to help her within a few days, it really didn't. The other thing he said to do was to put shoes...ugh...on her front feet. Egg butt shoes so it would elevate her heels to take some pressure off her coffin joint and to stabilize and support her foot. He said her feet were in really good shape, her trim was excellent and she was balanced....but....she needed to have higher heels to help the navicular area and relieve some pressure.
Kim didn't want to hear that because for three and a half years we both have had barefoot horses and both have done very well. But what is going on inside her foot that we can't see needs support so Kim said she will try the shoes.

 Lacy's front feet, a little dirty! yes, they are a little long because they hadn't been trimmed in 6 weeks and it was time for a trim. But still they are in good shape.

 Kim called a farrier, Bryan Farcus, (click on his name to read more) he is an excellent farrier and taught at Meredith Manor for years. The chalk marks on Lacy's hoof are the angle of her hoof, the rasp is in the angle he wants her hoof to be to relieve the pressure on the joint.

 

In this photo her right hoof has been trimmed and the left one hasn't yet. Can you see the difference in the angle? She now has a higher heel and a shorter toe.

Here Bryan is showing how her shoulder is angled, very steep and short, Lacy tends to be short strided in the front. Gilly on the other hand has a very long shoulder and has a very long reach when he trots and canters.
 

 Here is Lacy's new shoe, looks funny to me but this is what she needs. It's aluminum and light weight.

 It sticks out in back, I asked if she would step on it with her hind foot and Bryan said she might but he thought she wouldn't.

 Putting the finishing touches on the foot. I never had a horse that had to have specialty (corrective) shoes before so this was all new to me too, as it was to Kim.

 and.....here are the new shoes on Lacy. She seemed to walk much better still the turning was a little ouchy but now she needs to see the massage therapist next. Having a massage will help work out the kinks of trying to compensate for the pain she was in.
When turned loose Lacy started running did some bucking too, we could tell that there was a slight improvement in her movement. She didn't over reach and hit her shoe either.

I might also add that Bryan explained, showed diagrams and talked to us for a long time. the actual time to put the shoes on wasn't long at all but he was there for three hours. He said he always makes time for new clients to go over everything very thoroughly; Kim had a lot of questions and  he answered them all. He really knows his stuff that's for sure!

I talked to Kim today and she said that yesterday she worked Lacy on the lunge line and there was NO limping at all, at the walk, trot and canter. She still seems a little stiff but the gal is coming this week to give her a massage.
This is GREAT!!! Now in a few weeks she will probably be able to ride and that means me and Gilly will have someone to ride with!!!

Happy, happy!!!!! I am really happy that Lacy is feeling better. I have arthritis in my feet, one is worse than the other so I have some idea how she must feel, it hurts.
I will post more later and hopefully have some photos of rides!!! :-)