Our journey: Satin gets Equicasts

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Satin gets Equicasts

It was a gorgeous, windy Florida January at 70 degrees. Satin was a wonderful girl and kept her manners while she got her hooves trimmed before we applied the casts.

Here is the casting tape ^. It is extremely sticky, but extra glue still needs to be applied to the front of the hoof in order for the wraps to stay on. They should stay on for 3 weeks before they wear out and fall off. Pictured below is the equipment: bucket of water to soak the rag in - this was used to trigger the chemicals in the casting tape to harden. The feed bag went under her hoof after it was scrubbed clean.

Equicast on her front right (the more painful hoof). The material is coated with antimicrobial goodness and we also used thrush buster. I didn't get pictures of the left hoof process because Satin was so uncomfortable having to stand on her painful hoof that I had to keep encouraging her not to give up. I felt so bad for her! She kept leaning and stretching and trying to pull away but was such a good girl!

The equicasts should provide her with some cushioning and give her relief. This is what Satin thinks of the whole process:

Exercise will be good for her arthritic hocks so I am super happy to be able to keep playing with her. She's really starting to enjoy it.

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Satin, 1997 Snowflake Appaloosa mare

Satin, my best friend. Her stall name plate (well, one of her stall plates) says it all, "Satin, Mommy's Brat"
She's been with me since she was weaned (too early) as a 4 month-old. I was barely 14 and desperately wanted my very own horse. My family was not horse savvy, although I did get my mom into riding when I started taking lessons as a girl. I dragged my parents across Sarasota, Florida, classifieds in hand, trying to find a horse for me. I still remember the ad catching my attention for two reasons - "filly" and "$500". She was cheap and she was a baby! I had no idea what I was getting into. Never had any experience with foals (I was 14!) and had no experience with any sort of training. I taught her how to halter, tie, load, clip, lunge, started her under saddle, dressage, eventing.. you name it, Satin and I did it on our own. She has taught me how horses talk and how important it is to speak in a way they can understand. Here we are in 2010, starting our new journey to an even better friendship!

Dancer, 1996 Chestnut TB rescue

When I describe Dancer to anyone, the first thing I say about her is "She has such a big heart." She is so loving towards other horses and my hope is that this Parelli journey will allow her to love humans just as well.
Dancer was considered trash to the TB breeding industry. She had 4 foals, then didn't take one year, then didn't take another year. So they gave her away. She was useless to them, so they tossed her out. Someone with no experience picked her up. They held on to her for a short time before realizing that 'owning' a horse is expensive and hard work! So they offered her up for "free" in the classifieds. This was before US slaughterhouses has been shut down. She was picked up by a kill buyer and brought to their transport facility. Fate was shining down on Dancer when she was bought back from the owner who's friends told her the whole deal was odd. She had given Dancer away for free but the buyer made her pay money to take her back. She picked her up the day she was to be shipped to slaughter.
That's when I met Dancer! Abandoned at a boarding facility, nervous of humans but totally a doll to other horses. I knew she needed some love.