Mornings Minion-Rescue case

Mornings Minion is an 12-year-old off-the-track Thoroughbred gelding from Great Britain. Minion has raced in Britain and Ireland, then in California and Pennsylvania in the United States, retiring at the ripe old age of 8 years.

After his racing career, Minion landed on a lesson farm in Western PA to be trained and then sold. He was placed in a stall and basically starved for 9 months until I purchased /rescued him. He had a body condition score of 2 at the time, and I was told that, without rescue, he wouldn’t have lasted another 6 months.

Along with the many horrible effects of malnutrition, Minion’s feet were terribly affected. He was wearing shoes when I purchased him because his farrier told me that he would never ever be sound without shoes. His feet were crumbling, but each time a shoe got pulled off; the farrier insisted that I put the shoes back on. Minion was so lame, he couldn’t leave the stall. After a few months of this, I decided to try something new.

I met Cherie and she told me that she might be able to help Minion. I was told that I would be her first paying customer, as up until now she had trimmed only her own horses. I figured I would give it a shot…after all, what did I have to lose?

It was tough at first because Minion was even more lame without shoes, and he was initially stall bound. Cherie then encouraged me to try hoof boots and turn him out for short periods because moving was the only way the hooves would heal. I followed her advice, and soon I was even able to trail ride Minion in his boots. Trims were scheduled every four weeks, and Cherie kept on top of his progress every step of the way.

It has been over 2 years now that Minion has been barefoot and he has come so far. He now is sound on all types of ground without hoof boots. Minion suffered a traumatic knee injury at the beginning of summer, and I was concerned about the effect the stall rest would have on his feet. I am so glad to report that his hooves came through the injury with flying colors, thanks in large part to Cherie’s watchful eye and care.

I look forward to enjoying many more years of trail riding with my happy barefoot horse!!

Jed-Founder case

When I first met Jed and his owner Wendy, I was shocked to see the condition of his feet. He looked like he was wearing Dutch wooden shoes. As we talked and I got to know her, I found out that Jed had been given to her. Before that he had been at some point rescued from a feed lot already in this condition for some time. Wendy had been trying without success to get someone to help her horse. One farrier after another turned her down, or did not return her calls. They all said there was nothing they could do.
Seeing this gentle giant of a horse in such pain and knowing I could help him tore my heart. I had not dealt with a horse like this yet but I could not let this continue when I knew I could help. So I asked his owner Wendy if she would allow me to try.
In April we had x-rays taken so I could get a good idea of what was going on inside his feet. The came back not so good. Jed was 2-3 mm from sole penetration.
His owner was sure that he was hopeless and offered me the chance to discontinue trimming him. I refused and told her I fully intended to ride this horse someday.

Jed and his owner Wendy

Left front foot April 2008
millimieters from sole penetration

Left front foot before trim

Front feet before

Still mild founder stance
Feeling much better after initial trim

By July, Jed was comfortable and I was able to give his owner the happy news that not only could she now begin to ride him lightly, but she should in order to help him to continue to heal. I myself sat on Jed's back in August and my oh my what a pleasure to sit astride this beautiful horse and feel him move light and animated into a smooth collected trot around the pasture.

In the fall, new x-rays showed that Jed had developed 1/4 inch of sole depth under the tip of his coffin bone where once there had been none. After some discussion with a vet and with Wendy we decided it was time to rid him of the large chunk of lamellar wedge that was preventing him from continuing to heal on his left front foot. Traditional tools were not making very good headway as the material was very hard and granite-like in nature. So with the assistance of a knowledgeable veterinarian in the area we used power tools to trim the foot and set it on the final road to full recovery.

The last time I visited Jed was Feb 2009. He was now comfortable on his feet, enjoying trail rides with his owner and well along the path to full recovery. Due to life circumstances, Jed and his owner have moved on and are now in the hands of another hoof care provider. It was a great pleasure and privilege to be able to help this gentle giant to be freed from the pain he had endured for so long.