Hankering for Healthy Feet
Barn Name: Hank
Born: Sometime in 2001, approximately. Hank is a registered quarter horse, but along with his real name, his registration and his background became a mystery.
Breed: AQHA - possibly a former cutting horse.
Just over a year ago, we found Hank, laying down in his pasture. He was one week away from being put down due to a mystery lameness.
He had plastic plates nailed to his hooves and he was in too much pain to stand up for any length of time, so he spent most of his time lying down.
We removed the “shoes” and he's been given time to heal. He's so much improved from the condition he came in. He's on feet most of the time, running round the pasture and rarely lays down these days.
His hooves have some work to do yet to complete the healing cycle, and some lameness still shows up at a working trot. But we'll see how he is in about 6 months.
We don’t know yet if he’ll ever be 100% sound again, but everyone who meets Hank loves him. He’s a wonderful horse and extremely handsome. A little bit lazy, but that's okay with us.
Update on Hank: As of 4-25-2010, (pre and post-trim), there was no sign of lameness while trotting in the arena, under a rider. We will continue to watch changes in Hank's hooves such as sloughing of retained sole and if he continues to improve, he will be moved from the rehab list to the list of horses in recovery! Go Hank!
Update on Hank: As of 5-25-2010, Hank's lameness seemed to come and go over the past year. His hooves are doing great, so we wonder if he just needs more time from what his hooves were originally put through or he may have suffered an injury that comes back to haunt him now and then. But he doesn't spend most of his time laying down like he did when he first arrived her. In fact, we rarely see him laying down now. So he's much improved.
Update on Hank: As of 10-2-2011, Working on Hank's hooves is a bit like working on an excavation project. We've gotten an area in his hoof that has been waiting to be unearthed and sloughed out. His gait is solid now so he's doing really well! That beats the alternative he was facing before we took him in!
The shoes Hank came with. It's called corrective shoeing. We call it incorrective shoeing and a sure way to destroy what's left of an unnatural hoof. We need to get over ourselves when we start thinking we can improve on nature.
Summer days and winter days. Hank hangs out while he spends his time growing new feet.
What's Up?
Why do they always toss the hay so far out in the field?
With his hooves feeling so much better, Hank volunteered for a short time for a program called Horses for Heros. He liked being a therapy horse for soldiers. He did awesome.
His hooves about 1/2 way back to normal. New pics to come soon. June 2010.
Kids are one of Hank's favorites! Load 'em up!
