MAMA TESS UPDATE: She walked DOWN a very steep hill! Seems like nothing to a healthy horse but for MT, that was AMAZING!

For those of you who are keeping tabs on Mama Tess’ epic journey back to health, yesterday was a banner day!

Lately I’ve noticed a new determination with MT… she seems to have hit a different kind of stride. It is as if she totally believes in herself and believes that she will get better. Tess is pushing herself more and acting like the Little Engine that Could, “I think I can, I think I can….”

Or at least, that is how it seems.

(For new readers, MT is my 24 year-old Morgan ex-show mare who foundered horribly last year. She had rotation in both front feet and sinkage in the left. All the specialists involved told me that it was time to put her down. However, she just didn’t seem like she ready for that. So, I took her home. For sure, it has been an uphill battle. But, MT is happy and, we are learning about this uncharted territory daily.)

TREATMENT

The process of recovery is slow because the tissue inside her hoof was so damaged that she has inadequate blood supply to certain areas. She can create tissue in the damaged area, but it eventually dies due to lack of blood supply – and this happens just about when the hoof has totally healed. The necrotic (dead) tissue is then trapped inside of her healed hoof which creates constant abscessing as the body tries to expel it.

Last week, we hired a huge fleet of medical maggots to come in and clean out her hoof. They did a really good job and MT was feeling G-O-O-D!

YESTERDAY

Yesterday was a banner day because every time I went outside, MT was in a different place on the ranch. She was by the pony pasture, in front of the house, up by Finn, down the driveway… On my last outing, she was up by the arena!

Amazing.

As she was coming back from her stroll to the Arena, MT clearly decided that she felt good enough to take the short path back to the barn – the very steep hill. She has not taken this path to the barn since she foundered (over a year).

I ran to get my camera to take a video of this remarkable event!

And she did it! She came down the hill one foot in front of the other. Yes, she looked lame, and yes, she did it slowly. But, she did it!

She was very, very proud of herself.

Today, she was sore, but… if I could ask her, I think she would say that she may have overdone it, but it was WORTH IT! ;)

Click here to watch the video of her walk down the steep hill.

CLICK image to watch Mama Tess challenge herself and walk down this very steep hill – the first time in over a year!

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MONDAY MAMA TESS UPDATE!

I cannot wait for the day that I say, “Mama Tess is trotting!”… but not yet.

However, I am happy to report that she is having more good days than bad days!

Right now, MT has maggots in her left foot. The reason? Well, her left foot (the bad one – the one that had coffin bone surgery in February) had healed all the way, and then her hoof from the coronet band to the toe split open down the center a few weeks ago. We surmised that this happened because there was not quite enough blood flow in that area to keep the new tissue alive. There is more healing to be done.

So, while the blood channels are healing, we need to help her clean out the dead tissue in that area of her hoof. Surgery is one way, but maggots are easier, less expensive and can get into all the nooks and crannies that would be very difficult to find for a human. Maggots instinctively go for the necrotic tissue. They are happy to crawl into itty bitty areas and scarf down a smidgen of bad tissue… and that bad tissue is what creates the abscesses that blow open her hoof.

Of course, that was my layman’s terms for what is going on in there…

Monarch Labs, click here.

You can read more about medical maggots from Monarch Labs – click image. (No affiliation)

HOOF CINCH (NO AFFILIATION)

Oh, I almost forgot, she is now wearing a HOOF CINCH again on her left. I think it helps her foot not spread too much and cause pain – since the hoof is split, I’ve got to think it hurts for her to step on it. So, since I had a Hoof Cinch from earlier in the treatment, The Founder Warrior and I reapplied it to her left. Tess is back to walking around the ranch as usual, so I think the Hoof Cinch must help her.