Shortly after Sally's arrival, James arrived. James is also a trimmer & together they were going to tag team the extensive work necessary on Lady & Maark. I was a little excited for them to See Lady & Maark Sunday morning because both were walking better. They were actually wandering most of their acre instead of standing stationery under the trees. We brought them into the barn to begin their extreme hoof makeover.
Lady was first because she needed the most work. Her heels were high & her toes were long with the typical founder dish & rings. Her right front was the worst foot so that's where James started. As James began trimming back her toe he cut through a lot of dead laminae. Lady had a significant lamellar wedge that looked like a bruise or blood line. A lamellar wedge is a grove where the white line should be. The grove fills in with keratin cells to fill the space between the dermal & epidermal laminae, creating the lamellar wedge. I could tell that James was a bit uncomfortable trimming through this, but Sally pushed him on. She assured James & I both that this was dead tissue that needed to be removed before Lady could improve. Slowly, sometimes chunk by chunk, sometimes rasp stroke after rasp stroke, Lady's hoof began to transform. It was incredible to see the change. Once as much as could be safely trimmed away was done, Lady's hooves were wrapped in Equicasts with Super Fast. To do this the hoof wall is lightly rasped to clean it & give it a better gluing surface. VetTech Adhere glue is applied to the hoof, then the Equicast tape (4" tape was used) is tightly wrapped around the hoof, including the bottom. Water is then applied to activate the chemicals in the tape. As the water is applied the wrinkles & folds in the tape are flattened & smoothed. The cast hoof is then placed on a foam or towel surface to finish curing & to form fit the sole. There were a few high spots on the soles so a small grinder was used to smooth the surface. Once this was done, Super Fast was applied to the bottom of cast in the shape of an eggbar shoe. It was applied only to the outer edge of the hoof & not on the sole. This elevates the sole from the ground to give relief while the hoof heals. It was amazing to see the before & after photos.
While Lady was getting her makeover, Maark was tangling himself in his tied lead rope. He'd get it wrapped over his ears & then he's look for one of us to save him. He's such a goof. Finally I gave up & just turned him loose in the stall so he could watch Lady getting done. Next it was his turn. His feet are not in the horrible shape Lady's are. Maark hasn't foundered, he just has a case of laminitis. Laminitis is inflammation of the laminae & there is no bone changes or rotation. His prognosis is a complete return to normal with proper care. Sally & James got his hooves on the right tract to achieve proper healing. Maark had long toes so those were trimmed back. Once his feet were trimmed, he also got Equicasts & Super Fast. While he might not have needed it like Lady, it can only give him a jump start on dealing with my hard, rocky ground. 
While the extreme makeovers were under way, an out of town trimmer came to meet Maark & Lady. She said she just HAD to see Maark after seeing his photos. She couldn't believe her eyes when she saw just how obese he is. I'm sure she thought the pictures weren't showing what he really looked like. She'd be right, they didn't show just how fat he really is. In person he's much bulgier (if that's not a word it is now) & you can actually see the fat pads on top of fat pads. And until you feel his tight, bulging skin ripple under your hand, you can't imagine just how fat really feels. While it's a little embarrassing to have someone see a horse in this condition at my place, it's wonderful to be able to share them with others as learning tools. If just one horse is helped because someones eyes are opened to the plight of obese horses, it'll all be worth it.
When all the work was done, Lady & Maark were turned back out on pasture. Or more accurately, back out on DRY LOT pasture. Both were moving well & seemed to be a lot more comfortable. Later Sunday I went out to give them their evening dose of Bute. After giving Maark's I turned to give Lady's & off she shuffle trotted (until then I hadn't needed to halter them). This set Maark off & what a gorgeous, big trot he has! It was so awesome seeing them comfortable enough to trot. All in all Sunday was a very good day.
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