The Founder Warrior was here today and we were both so busy, I only remembered to take 1 photo.  Sheesh.  Here it is… it is the right foot, the good one.  As you can see, she has an abscess draining.  But, the sole looks pretty good otherwise.

Tess’ good foot now has an abscess draining. It could be from constant weight or it could be from a number of other issues. But, she seems to be OK with it – thank you Theraplate!

SO, I’LL WRITE AND TELL YOU WHAT HAPPENED…

As always, the FW was amazed that MT is doing as well as she is doing given the extent of the damage done to her feet via the founder and not recognizing the cause until very late in the game.  (The first Cushings test came back negative, so we tried everything else… after all that, we took a second test and it came back ‘off the charts’.)

Today, we cut away another large hunk of her toe to expose the last of the outgrowth from her coffin bone surgery and subsequent surgeries to clean out more infected and necrotic tissue.  As you might remember, she had a hole through her hoof in February.  That hole was now down at her toe.

However, as the foot healed, it trapped necrotic tissue in pockets.  So, as the areas grow down, we are able to cut away the tissue and expose the necrotic tissue (or cut it out) so it can drain or be expelled on its own.

So, that’s what we did today.  Except I didn’t get any photos…

THE FW DID NOT BELIEVE ME WHEN I SAID THAT MT HAD BEEN EXPLORING THE PROPERTY.

This week, I hadthe grand idea to open MT’s gate and let her GO!  Of course, she could not go fast, but she did go.

She went up to Finn’s pasture and over to the pony pasture – all in the hopes of scoring some better tasting food.  Daily.  Often.

To my surprise (although I shouldn’t be surprised), Tess knew when she had had enough and she would come back to Home Base and take a nap.  Then… she’d be out again, exploring.  When it became dusk, she’d make her way back to beddy-bie.  I never had to go search for her in the dark.  She was always in her Chateau by nightfall.

Smart girl.

WHEN WE WERE DONE TODAY…

We did all four feet, which was great.  I’m sure having the rears done consistently now is a relief for MT’s back…  We also were able to trim up her left foot to be able to have her wear her Soft Ride on that hoof again!  Yay!

Anyway, when we were done, I untied Tess as the FW and I were finishing up our conversation.

MT practically pushed the FW out of the way as she plowed out of the barn to snag some snacks up the hill.

The FW was ASTOUNDED.  She could not believe her eyes!

“That horse has unbelievable heart!  She is amazing!”

The FW could not believe that Tess was marching along like she was…

Yup.

I WENT TO GET HAY…

I left MT out to explore and recover from her morning of trimming while I took the truck to go get some more awful hay for the poor Queen.  (She hates the low-calorie hay.)

When I returned, MT was on the truck like bees to honey.  She would not move away as I tried to back into the barn.   She stood her ground.

I had to lock her up.

(Pause to honor the huge pouting session that followed.)

Although MT refused to eat anything while she was locked in the dreadfully small first stall that is only used as a bathroom, for heaven’s sake…  I kicked the bales off of the truck and dragged and flipped them into the hay barn.

Then I let Ms. Hissyfit out.

She proceeded to clean up all the waste I had created by dragging/flipping/tossing/beating her bales into the haybarn.

Then she walked up the hill to see what the other horses had that she could steal…

Atta Girl!