Isabella – a lame horse turned dressage champion

By Angela Floyd

 My story starts like so many others, “I had a lame horse who…”.  Don’t all our stories start out this way? It is a shame that it takes our horses being lame for us to learn the value of what nature has been trying to tell us – natural is best!! I needed my horse to be lame for me to realize that I need to pay attention to my horse; I can’t just leave my horse’s health up to the “experts”. 

 I bought my mare five years ago as a three year old that had a “nothing to worry about” cough-this according to the vet that I used to vet her. He said she had a slight cold left over from a viral infection. That was in April; in September, Izzy was diagnosed with heaves. Over the next two years, I could not ride Izzy for months on end when she was coughing. I tried soaking the hay, leaving her in the stall/ leaving her in the pasture and trying out all the medications the vets would prescribe. Then in April 2001, Izzy developed a quarter crack on her hind foot. I immediately switched farriers after my vet told me that quarter cracks develop from under-run heels and hoof imbalances. Of course, this “required” shoes to fix. So, when Claudia Garner sent out the email for a barefoot trim course, I couldn’t attend because it was “necessary” for my horse to wear shoes.

 In August, my farrier BEGGED to take the shoes off my mare as she was EVIL about having shoes put on (this was the first time she had ever been shod). We removed the shoes as Izzy’s quarter crack was almost healed. At that time my mare was beginning to learn how to lengthen the trot. It was not going well as she could not be ridden the first two weeks after being trimmed because she was so sore. My thought at that time was that the farrier was trimming her toes too short.  Then Izzy started showing lameness problems even after the initial two weeks. In September, I had to scratch a show for lameness. The only vet I could get in touch with on a Sunday came out and told me that Izzy was pulling a shoulder muscle as a result of trying the lengthening. Her answer was to stall Izzy for three weeks and bring her back slowly after the rest period. Three weeks later Izzy was better. We did not start the lengthening again until December 2002.  By January 2002, I was calling out a different vet that told me that Izzy was pulling a suspensory. Rather than this vet ultra sounding my mare, I decided to use my own vet. I called him up and scheduled the ultrasound for February 2002.  At the same time, I decided to go to the barefoot trim seminar that Claudia Garner was offering. I wanted to know what my farrier was doing wrong that made my horse “ouchy” after Izzy was trimmed.

 On Friday, February 2002, I took Izzy to have the ultrasound done on her suspensory. My vet then told me that no suspensory problem started without there first being a hoof problem unless a direct result of an accident.  So, he convinced me to x-ray her hoof.  He was already leading me to believe that there were some navicular problems.  He said that her heels and bars were in the wrong place.  I went home Friday thinking there was no since in me attending the barefoot trim that I had signed up for at Claudia Garner’s place.   I was certain my vet would have me put shoes on that following Monday.

 Saturday morning I decided to go to the clinic because I had paid for it.  Martha Olivo was the clinician.  The first hour I thought these people were crazy. They were getting EXCITED about moving their horses around, soaking feet and walking them on hard ground. This sounded like way too much work for me! What would be the sense if my horse was going to remain unsound?  These were just some of the “rules” to doing this trim.  The big one that got me was NO BLANKETS. How would my horses survive without their blankets? How could I ride a horse that would sweat profusely in the winter?  I’d be the blunt end of a few nasty remarks if my horses were hairy in the March shows (start of show season for me).  No way was I going to be doing this trim on my horses!

 I made it through the first few hours without immediately jumping to my feet and run screaming from the room.  Then, the stuff that Martha was saying started making sense. It started sounding familiar. The problems she was discussing with shoes and the regular pasture trims sounded like the problem I was having with Izzy.  I sat through the last few hours absorbing what she was saying. We saw a hoof trimmed and then dissected. By the end of Saturday, I was begging to bring my mare on the following day.  They consented to my bringing TWO horses instead of just Izzy. I knew that after watching the trim I could go home and do this on my own, but figured I better have them watch me “just in case”.  I went home that night and looked at my three horses’ feet in a new and more educated light. I felt like I was seeing these hooves for the first time ever.  I saw contraction for the first time, rolled bars and EXTREMELY high heels.

 I loaded Izzy and my gelding, Eric to take to the clinic and trim on my own.  I was sadly mistaken to think I could do this on my own! Martha finally felt sorry for me (she could see I was on the verge of tears, I think) and trimmed Izzy’s feet.  Then Claudia took Izzy to her covered arena and let her run. She wanted to see if the trim had made a difference. I still get teary thinking about that run! I was in the middle of the arena watching a completely different mare than the one I brought that morning. Izzy was floating three feet off the ground! This from the mare that my vet had said would probably never be completely sound.  Izzy is a Hanoverian/Paint cross. That day she moved like the Hanoverian part of her breeding. And she wasn’t COUGHING!!! I had tried everything to get this mare to quit coughing.  Claudia had made a comment on Saturday that my mare probably would quit coughing if I got her feet fixed. I didn’t believe it could happen. 

 I called my vet to see what the x-rays looked like on Monday and tell him what I did.  He told me the x-rays confirmed his diagnose of navicular problems. Before he could tell me to put shoes on her, I told him about the trim and the results. Rather than hanging up the phone, he said he would not have suggested this to me originally because most owners don’t want to hear this. He said he would have suggested the shoes first but knew that I would have a “serviceably sound” mare for maybe only three years that way. He said barefoot, my mare could have at least 10 more years.  I was happy to hear that he supported my decision. I’m sad to think that he must act two different ways to treat the same problem.  I have a hard time believing that vets are in this for the money rather than the animals’ welfare but I know this to be true now in some cases.

 In November 2002, my 15.3 hand Hanoverian/Paint mare diagnosed with navicular and heaves won the Regional Dressage Championships at Training Level BAREFOOT and on no medication! And yes I trimmed them myself after all.  I went home that Sunday in February reading everything I could get my hands on about the trim and attending some clinics offered at Claudia’s house.  I was in the situation that I HAD to learn the trim. No one else in our area was doing this trim and my farrier was not willing to learn. I went through a couple of farriers that said they were doing the trim, but ultimately learned to do the trim myself after they left bars and heels too high.  My mare has not coughed over two years now EXCEPT when I get the trim wrong. She lets me know immediately if something isn’t right. 

 I also started trimming my three year old after my farrier started turning her toes in. And I trim my gelding as well.  They all thrive on this trim. I still make many mistakes, but I continue learning about the trim and fixing what I do wrong.  I’ve also since converted to the Naked Oats for feed and have deserted the blankets. My horses do not get near as hairy as they did when they had the farriers pasture trim. And I’m surprised to say that I really don’t care about people talking about my “unkept” horses.  I’ve got more time to trim since I don’t have to walk out a sweaty horse (they don’t sweat as much as I would have thought) or change blankets.  My horses are proof that horses can live naturally and still compete well (minus rider faults).