Saddle Fitting Experts: Your Opinions, Please!

OK, let's cut right to the chase here. Does this saddle fit Salem? *crosses fingers* Pleasepleasepleaseplease  fit...

Of course, I am going to have someone look at this saddle in person to determine if it fits Salem well. Just looking for some general opinions here since I am woefully clueless about saddle fit. Fire away!

The Next Chapter

Yes, that little dot is Salem in an actual pasture (something that is a rare find in this area)

Life is full of changes, and lately Salem's life has been jam-packed with them. There's been a lot of drama going on behind the scenes. here. :-)

 Back in January, my BO informed me that he had put the barn up for sale, but that it would take several months and not to worry because the new owners were going to keep everything the same, etc. That lead to much stress, anxiety, and confusion, but when the new owners took over in June, we were quite relieved--we all knew them and were thrilled to have them as our new BOs. That was short-lived, as they decided they didn't want to do part-board (which is what I, the OCD horse owner, have always done) and raised the full board significantly. I did a month of full board, but it just did not work out for us; so, the barn search was on.

As many of you know, looking for a place to keep your horse is pretty much THE worst, most stressful, difficult thing on the planet. For weeks, I felt like I was having eight heart attacks and three strokes a day. My "must-have" list for Salem's new home included:  

1. Either a stall with an attached paddock OR a paddock with a 3-sided shelter--Salem weaves when locked in a stall and walks the fence line when turned out. He's only content if he's in a paddock with the option of going into some kind of shelter (preferably with a fan!).

2. Part-board or at least a "modified part-board" where *I* provide all hay/grain. I am not interested in arguing to get my horse more hay, or the proper grain, or enough grain, blahblahblah. No thanks.

3. Somewhat in the vicinity

4. Affordable without having to sell organs, my soul, other *ahem* parts of my body etc.

Thankfully, the stars and planets aligned and I actually found exactly what I was looking for (thanks to my vet, who suggested it!). It's not fancy; it doesn't have an arena or a round pen or pretty, pretty landscaping, but it actually met all of my requirements. It's got good bones and charm and major potential. Best of all, I was told that Salem could have the "penthouse" suite, the very first stall on the end of the barn, with a nice paddock of his very own attached so he can come and go 24/7 as he pleases. 

Photo overload in 3...2...1...

Shipping outfit! Yes, I pad him up like the Michelin Man even for short (like maybe 2 mile) trips

Holding Salem is Stacy, who was kind enough to trailer us 

(thank goodness for nice people with trucks & trailers!)

Salem's new pad

"There's hay here; I approve."

Salem's paddock view from his stall

Now he really does have a velociraptor enclosure--with electric wire and everything.

We just have to lower the cow-in-the-crate in now :-)

Meeting the neighbors

One of the other perks of this property is the huge pasture--it's probably around 2 acres. I know some of you are in parts of the country where 50-acre pastures are the norm (or small!), but around here we usually have tiny little dusty paddocks totally devoid of grass. So, this pasture is like a giant emerald wonderland to us.

After a few days, I decided to let Salem loose in the pasture for the first time. I figured there would be much galloping, bucking, zooming, rearing madness.

Nope. Just wandering, mosey-ing, sniffing, a munch of grass here and there...and that's pretty much it.

"OK, I'm done now."

This is the one thing about the property that could be bad--lots and lots of coral rock.

Everywhere. Could be great for his hooves, could be a disaster for his hooves.

Could also be a disaster when I start riding him (soon--more on that later!). I don't wish to

fall onto coral rock. Not that I *ever* fall, of course

Indoor wash stall--so nice!

Hoses on either side, just like a little car wash

"Aaaaaaahhhhh."

There's also awesome grass here. Much more lush/thick/green than the last farm

I think Salem has finally settled into his new home. It took him a couple days,

 but he is now back to 24/7 hay (he didn't have that the one month on full board @ old farm)

and he knows that he still has his personal masseuse/groomer/pamper-er *yours truly*

with him every day, so he's quite content

This is how I leave him each night--all tucked into his shavings-filled stall,

with a nice soft mash and a net full of sweet orchard hay.

Yes, moving is stressful, but I don't think he has too much to complain about @ the moment

More news coming soon! I have just gotten extremely behind on all things blogger, so it will take a while for me to catch up.

Happy Year-iversary, Salem!

It's hard to believe, but today was the official one year anniversary of my boy coming home.

Here's to several more decades together, buddy!

The A-Word

Abscess.

Of course, once I started writing a post about how great Salem's hooves are, the universe decided that it needed to kick me down a couple of notches and throw some salt up in my game. I got one of "those" calls that we all dread--"Hey, Meghann, just wanted to let you know that Salem is off on the right front."

*Cue my stomach flip-flopping seventeen times and settling somewhere around my knees*

Luckily, I was already on my way to the barn, and my fellow boarder said that she had checked Salem's hooves for any possible stones, etc., combed his paddock for sharp objects (she had a little pile of spiky plastic things and shards of PVC fencing set aside outside the fence), and sprayed Salem down with fly spray to get him to stop stomping at flies. She said there was no heat or swelling in any of his legs, but that he was lame even at the walk. Immediately, I thought "Abscess."

After a thorough once-over, I found that Salem was actually off in the left front, but all signs were still pointing to abscess and/or solar bruise. Luckily, I hoard first aid supplies and had a whole stash of anti-abscess weaponry at the ready. The first night, I completely over-reacted--I cold-hosed his legs for 20 minutes, packed both front hooves with Magic Cushion, rubbed him down with liniment, wrapped his front legs in standing wraps, and strapped his Cavallo Simple Boots (very generously donated by Candy a few months before) onto his hooves.

The next day, Salem looked no better, so I decided it was definitely an abscess (my theory was that he would have felt better from the Magic Cushion if it had just been a bruise) and changed my daily game plan to the following:

• Hot water & Epsom salt soak for 20 minutes 
• Animalintex poultice pad (soaked in hot water) on the sole
• Thermacare pad on top of Animalintex pad (with a few layers of Vetrap in between) to keep the poultice warm for 8 hours
• Epsom salt poultice on the coronet
• Vetrap bootie
• Magic Cushion on the right front in order to help the hoof with increased weight-bearing
• Cavallo Boots on both fronts

Someone was not a fan of hoof soaks, but he eventually 

learned to deal with them (baby carrots certainly helped!)

Several people were surprised that I didn't call the vet out right away, but I was 99% sure I was dealing with an abscess. Also, I am not a fan of allowing vets to carve abscesses out, so I figured it would be a waste of money to pay the vet to tell me to keep doing what I was already doing. 

After a few days, Salem developed a very slight poofy-ness in the lower leg, which sent me into a bit of a tailspin. Luckily, about 15 minutes of internet research later, my pulse returned to normal--it's apparently quite normal for a horse with an abscess to develop some swelling in the affected leg. Some horses' legs  even swell so badly that it's first thought they have a broken bone, when in fact it's just an abscess. 

So, after a healthy application of DMSO, it was back into the standing wraps for Salem. 

Nine days into his treatment, Salem's abscess finally blew out of his coronet. I wasn't surprised, as his sole is so cement-tough that there was no way the abscess could get through it. The coronet was the path of least resistance, and I was very glad to see the abscess come out there rather than through the sole, since it's much easier to keep clean.

Soon after it blew

A week later, well on its way to healing

You would think this would be the end of the tale, but unfortunately there's more. There's always more with horses! While Salem was totally sound and comfortable at the walk after the abscess blew, he was still a bit off at the trot. I figured either he had an as-yet-undiscovered bruise that needed to resolve and/or there was still more abscess in the hoof capsule. A few swipes with the rasp revealed some blood at the toe, which Candy confirmed is indeed more abscess working its way out.

Solution? Here.

Oral Arnica Montana to resolve bruising, and Jiaogulan to increase circulation to the hooves and help clear out any remaining abscess material. Total cost, including shipping: $31. 

Luckily, even though Salem is not completely sound (at least not when I try to longe him), he hasn't let it cramp his style in the least. He's been careening around his paddock in his spooky prance-trot and galloping back and forth snorting like a T-Rex, so I'm guessing he doesn't feel all that bad. Actually, as long as I'm not asking him to, you know, work, he looks sound as a dollar. I guess he's just enjoying the life of leisure.

Yep. It's a hard life. ;-)

Not Pathological, But Unique Nonetheless

Lately, I've been posting lots of pics of very pathological hooves. So, today I'm going to flip the script a bit and focus on some more "normal" hooves--Salem's! It's been quite a while since I've taken pics of his hooves, let alone posted them, and I think it's important to periodically document them so I can see what's going on and compare them to older pics.

Luckily, Salem's front hooves are now just about textbook-perfect--they have extremely tight wall connections, big healthy frogs, good concavity, thick sole calluses, incredible balance, and zero fungus.

Right Front

Left Front

His rear hooves also have a whole lot going for them; but, while they're healthy and strong, they're a bit more...*ahem* unique. Particularly his right hind.

Right Hind

Yes, that hoof is a bit cattywompus--the frog is off-center, the medial side looks a bit squished, for lack of a better word, and the medial heel bulb is much smaller and less developed than the lateral heel bulb.

But, in all honesty, I'm not worried. Because Salem's whole back-end is a bit funky, and *this* is the hoof that works for him. There isn't a "cookie-cutter" trim that each hoof must fit into; in fact, the only measurements and mark-ups that Candy does are for a 30-degree hairline and a heel that is 1 1/8" from the coronet. That's it. The bars are kept trimmed and the walls rounded, and basically the rest is up to Salem. Keep in mind, too, that his right hind is where his mystery lameness/stiffness is, and hooves are a reflection of what's going on in the horse's body. That's the great thing about having a barefoot horse--everything will show up in the hooves, so it's a great barometer for the health of the rest of the horse's body. So, while this hoof looks less than perfect, it's functional and it works well for Salem.

Left Hind

The left hind is certainly more "normal"-looking than the right hind, but it too is less well-balanced than the fronts. You can see that the frog is, again, slightly off-center. And the medial heel bulb is smaller and less robust than the lateral. (But check out that amazing concavity!!) I do think he either weights the lateral walls of his hinds more, or just wears them more because of the way he moves, because the medial walls are always a bit longer.

Yep, as with all things, Salem definitely has to be unique.