Sunday, July 5, 2015

Rocky's 1st clicker session+Chrome's ear+Rocky lameness update+lots of videos!

 So handsome!!  His dapples seem to disappear sometimes lol.

Chrome first.  I had to braid his forelock because the hair kept getting stuck in his wound and then I'd rip it back open pulling the hair out.  I hope he doesn't rub his forelock braid out....  The wound is gaping open again, but it's not swollen and it's a lot less red.  We cleaned it today and put more powder on (the rain has made using the powder very difficult grr).


Here is a cute video of Chrome being a goofball.  It also shows a closeup of the wound.  The pictures didn't turn out very good, so the video will have to be good enough.


Now Rocky.  First of all this is only his third Oxine soak and the improvement is amazing.  I'm a believer in this stuff.

He should dress up as the tin man for Halloween...
he already has the boots!!

Aren't we done with this yet??

Check out these pictures I got of the bottles that I mix the Oxine and vinegar in...

See the gas inside of it?

How about now?

That's the chemical reaction taking place.  That's what happens inside of his boots.  I can't imagine how it must feel, but it does not damage live tissue.  He's a saint to put up with all of this.

It's making a big difference too!  I'll let you see for yourself.  First up is a walking video showing him walking after his trim last weekend and then today.


Then here's a trotting video.  The before clip is short, because it never crossed my mind to get a video of him trotting when he was lame.  He had a huge head bob!  I'm talking he bobbed his head a foot easily.  So the after video is awesome!!


Can you believe that's just from his thrush treatments??  The before clip was taken after his trim.  He was way worse than that before his trim.


He stands under himself.  We're going to start soaking his rear hooves this week too, now that he's so good with his fronts.  I'm going to practice with an empty plastic bag and then a plastic bag with water in it before I use the Oxine.  I have no clue how he's going to react to having something on his rear hooves... I'll update when that happens (and I might get video haha).

Next up is a video of Rocky's introduction to clicker training!  He's never done any clicker training before so this is all new for him.  Sorry the video is kind of long (about 6 minutes I think), but I didn't want to cut anything out.  I had to trim out a couple of sections where I was walking around them (would have made you motion sick) and where I was talking about someone I know by name.


He did such a great job!!!!!!!  Hubby did too hehe.  I don't think it will take long before Rocky moves on to other things.  We are going to do short target training sessions for a few days and introduce following it.  Then we will do the grownups are talking game to keep him from mugging.  After that we will finally be able to work on his hooves.  He's been in so much pain that we can barely clean his feet, much less rasp them.  I'm hoping in another week he will be comfortable enough to at least let us clean them out, do some clicker training to reinforce holding his feet up nicely (and not jerking them away violently like he does now) and then we can start rasping his toe and flares between trims.  :)

I hope everyone had a fantastic fourth of July!  I spent it helping repair a toilet and sink that broke and cabinets that were sagging.  Didn't see a single firework!  We were invited to go see a show, but when we walked outside our tire was flat and it was the only vehicle we would drive that far.  We didn't feel comfortable driving that far on the spare so we didn't go.  Oh well.  We got a lot done around the house and the weather was crappy anyway.  Why did the rain have to come back?????

Sorry, I'll stop whining.  I hope you enjoy the videos.  I'm so excited because hubby is so excited about clicker training Rocky.  I think I'm going to get back into it with Chrome too.  He loves it and I miss it.  :)  I'll update again soon (hopefully tomorrow, but if not it will probably be next week because I just don't have time during the work week).

16 comments:

  1. Glad that the boys are doing well in the hospital ward! :)

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  2. First off, I think Chrome's ear is going to heal up just fine. Small stuff! Good luck with it. Don't fret too much. (It's HARD, I know haha!)

    Just easy with the fly mask rubbing on there now I suppose.
    Rocky looks like a champ. The tiny trot amount looked indeed very lame at first. After the soaking, you can tell he's still short in his steps, but more relaxed. Good for him!

    I'm sure he can feel how happy you are for him. Bet he will be a great partner for both of you, both hubby and you.
    Good for him running with Rocky by the way! I don't think my husband would EVER do that. Especially not in summer in over 100 degrees of course...

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    1. It is hard not to fret! It looks so gross! I'm sure it will heal up fine though. Even with his braid his forelock still got caught in it and ripped it back open again. :(

      Rocky is a really good horse! He learns so quickly. We only have to show him something once and then he's got it for good. :) Yes, hubby is awesome with the horses!! I'm very fortunate to have him. :D

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  3. Rocky has such a cute trot. Sorry so many things had to break down for you around the same time -- appliances, vehicle, horses... Whenever we make a large purchase, things we already own start going haywire left and right. We haven't purchased a new shed yet, but were in the process and our microwave died. I thought we were going to have to abandon getting a shed, and as soon as I had that thought, the microwave magically woke up on its own. How weird is that?

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    1. That is how it always seems to go!!!!! Bad luck runs in multiples I guess. I hope it was just that weekend and that things will chill from here on out...

      That is so weird about your microwave!!!!! So typical lol.

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  4. Rocky's looking so much better - what a relief! glad you all are still having fun with the clicker training too - let us know how it goes !

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    1. Thank you!! I will definitely keep you updated!

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  5. Glad that your boys are doing so well! You don't even need to mix the Oxine first--I just measure and dump into the dry bag. And Salem does still occasionally lift his hind feet when I soak them (it seems to bother him more than the fronts), but it's nothing major, just a bit annoying.
    Oxine/WL really is amazing stuff! It should only take a few weeks of doing soaks 2-3 times a week per hoof to get it all cleared, and then you just have to keep on top of things to make sure it doesn't come back. I do a soak on occasion just to make sure everything is doing well.

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    1. I didn't think about just pouring the stuff in. I think premixing it is easier because then we only have to pour in one thing. We try to be quick to get it in and that first piece of duct tape on because he still tries to pick up his leg sometimes. Once he's a pro at keeping still maybe I'll try it that way. :D I think I'm going to do the maintenance soaks on Rocky once we get him cleared up too. I don't want thrush pain prolonging the laminitis problems. How often do you do it? Once a month for maintenance?

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    2. I probably should do it once a month per hoof, but the reality is that I probably do it every 8 weeks or so (or...even longer, frequently!).

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    3. Hehe that is completely understandable. For the first year I'll at least try to get Rocky soaked once a month, but Chrome might get stretched out a bit if I get busy. I need to soak Chrome for a couple of weeks though because his frog is still small and his sulcus is deep... can't hurt! Definitely need to get some of those dry bags though!

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  6. P.S. Can't remember if I told you already, but it will probably bleach his pastern hair. Totally normal! Salem currently has a bright orange RH because he recently had an abscess and I've been Oxine-ing the crap out of it, lol.

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    1. Oh yes his are orange too!! I remembered you telling me that so it didn't worry me. :D I hope Salem is doing well! Abscesses are horrible for them!!

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    2. Thanks! Abscesses do suck, but apparently neurological horses are much more prone to them. Luckily, he hasn' had one in almost a year, so I can't complain!

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    3. I didn't know that about neurological horses. I'll keep my fingers crossed he goes another year (at least) without one. It broke my heart seeing how much pain Chrome was in when he had his.

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