Monday, March 16, 2009

BOO-TEE-LICIOUS!!!

Time flies when your having fun. I can't believe the weekend has already come and gone. This weekend found me very busy. Nothing like piling several different things into a couple of days. We had company this weekend , horseback archery friends that came up so they could shoot video for training and form exercises , with the beginner archer in mind. Nothing like a home grown video for entertainment on a Saturday night. It was rather entertaining. There was also an informational seminar that the local vet clinic was putting on. A professor from Washington State University was speaking on lameness and diagnosing various forms of lameness, advancements in technology with MRI in relation to Navicular, etc. Last but not least, we had planned to get the Epic boots fitted with the comfort pads for JB. Since last post and looking at the fit of the Epics along with my vet, we opted to give the comfort pads a go.
While the house was brimming with activity of people coming and going, I managed to sneak away and head to the seminar. It was very informative and gave the audience some new things to keep in mind when looking at a lame horse. I won't go into details but I definitely came away with a lot more tools in the tool box to use in the future when trying to identify a lameness. As a bonus I picked up a few informative laminated cheat sheets that I can post inside my trailer for quick reference for vitals and various other helpful information that evades the mind in the wave of an emergency!!
The most exciting part of the weekend? We finally got the Easyboot Epics on JB all the way around, now fitted with the medium density comfort pads. They worked like a charm. JB was initially tentative walking on the gravel road even with the boots but a few passes back and forth found him lengthening his stride and then suddenly he exploded in a display of airs above ground that would have impressed even the Maestro Nuno! JB literally seemed to leaping for joy, I imagine he felt pretty good. He displayed more animation than I have seen in quite some time. I was tickled pink with the improvement it seemed to make for him. We are officially on our way to possibly being another boot wearin success story! Now, for the ice covered roads.... I think by mid week if the temps stay in the 40's, we might just have that issue licked!!!

First walk with the boots on. You can see it on his face. "I am not so sure about these things....I look ridiculous...Everybody is staring at me...."
Above are the fronts. He is in a size 1. We need to trim just a little off the tongue although they aren't hitting the coronet band, I would like just a little more space there.

Above are his hinds and he is in size 0, again, probably will trim the tongue a bit.



After about 20 minutes walking in the boots and post airs above ground, looking pretty relaxed but observing the pigs next door, wondering, "hmmm.. I wonder if these boots would get enough grip on pavement to chase those things?????"

.....and as for the title of this post, that is what JB wants the other horses to call him now....hehehehehe!!



4 comments:

ellescee said...

CONGRATULATIONS!!! What a relief to have progress in the boot department! Sounds like you guys had a busy weekend!

Do you remember what the professor's name was? Was it Dr. Farnsworth?

Elly

Tamara Baysinger said...

Woohoo!!!! So glad you found a solution for him! :-)

Jonna said...

Elly-
It ws Dr Robert Schneider DVM. Is that the school you attend? Do you know this professor?

Tamara- I second that Woohoo!!

ellescee said...

Jonna-

Yup, that's my school and my professor! I haven't worked with him yet, but he's a pretty amazing guy. Glad you got to go to the symposium!

Elly