Fritzy Update

 A few weeks ago was the 6 month of Fritzy's stall rest for her fractured coffin bone. My OH and I brought her out of the stall to check her for lameness so I could call my vet and set up an appointment for her to come out and re-Xray her hoof. Once my OH started walking her away from me, she looked off. And when he turned her around to walk her back towards me, I could tell right away that something was way off. She looked worse then she did at the beginning of this 6 months ago. We put her away immediately and I called my vet the next day. My vet scheduled to come out right away. 

My OH walking Fritzy out of her stall. She was a little hot!

My vet came out and from the way Fritzy was pointing her toe out, to the elevated pulse and the pain in her heel bulbs, she said all signs pointed to a hoof abscess (Fritzy is prone to hoof abscesses) that was trying to work it's way out the coronet band. So the plan was to soak her hoof in Epsom salt twice a day until we could get the abscess to burst. Also my vet said that the special shoe Fritzy had been wearing for 6 months could cause hoof abscesses, since it acts like a cast and the hoof can't expand.

A look of disappointment on my OH's face.

6 days later, Fritzy was still pointing her toe out, but her pulse was better and she wasn't as sensitive in the heel bulbs. I did not see an exit site for an abscess at all. I called my vet back and she wanted to come back out and reassess. This time she pulled her shoe and the minute the shoe was off, she could tell that Fritzy's hoof had grown out long in the toe and really low in the heel, which could be caused by the bar shoe, again since her hoof can't expand. For some reason in rare cases this does happen. She also took X-rays to see how the coffin bone fracture was healing. We were hoping that the lameness she was showing had nothing to do with the CB fracture and that it was because her hoof was growing abnormally, she had a lot of hoof pain and she wasn't carrying weight properly on that hoof, which is causing her to be more lame.

  
My vet called me after the X-ray results came back later that day. The fracture line was still visible, but not quite as much. My vet still thought that we were dealing with severe hoof pain and not that the CB fracture had gotten worse. So the new plan was to have my farrier to put a different shoe on, one that was not as constricting but still would help support and stabilize the CB. My farrier came out right away and shortened her toe and put a regular shoe on (she had a bar shoe with 3 clips on each side before) with only one clip on each side. Right after he put the new shoe on, I noticed a difference in how she was standing, with her hoof not pointing out and her hoof looked more normal without the long toe and she wasn't sitting down on her heels. 

Waiting for the drugs to kick in. My farrier wanted Fritzy sedated to put new shoe on since she was so sore.

My vet wanted me to give her a few weeks to see how she did with the new shoe. It has now been a week and a half with the new shoe and she is no longer pointing her toe out. It is hard to tell if she is still as lame while in her stall, but I wanted to give her enough time to heal before we brought her out of the stall again to check for lameness. I am really hoping this is the reason for her lameness and that it is not the fractured coffin bone. If she does not show signs of improvement (which she has shown some so far) we will have to haul her to the vet hospital for another total work up and digital X-rays. For now, Fritzy remains on stall rest and I have no idea how much longer the poor girl will be confined. I do have to say, considering Fritzy's personality and attitude, she has handled this way better then I could have ever imagined. Don't get me wrong, she has had her really naughty moments, but she has been a fairly good patient and has been quite calm in her stall. But I will be so happy when I get the go ahead to start hand walking and eventually lunging to get her back in shape and hopefully back to pasture again.

It's been a really long road and I am hoping we come to the end soon. I just want my horse to feel better and back to pasture living.