Very Sad, Disappointing News....

With a heavy heart I write this blog post.....

Fritzy and I a few years ago.

I had been preparing myself for a worst case outcome on our Paint mare, Fritzy. And I sure am glad I did....

After almost 8 months of stall rest, I had another vet come out and take digital X-rays of Fritzy's hoof. She just had not been showing any signs of improvement, in all actuality she got worse for a time, until we found out that the bar shoe was causing her hoof to grow long, narrow and she was sitting down on her heel. So we changed her shoeing, which relieved the pressure on her foot and helped her to be more comfortable just standing in her stall.

Fritzy and I on a trail ride about 5 years ago.

The digital X-rays taken today confirmed that there is definitely something seriously wrong with Fritzy's hoof. Back in September and even as most recently as a month ago, my regular vet had taken X-rays, but not digital (she does not own digital X-ray equipment.) That diagnosis from her and a surgeon from a local Veterinary Hospital saw what was a coffin bone fracture, but it wasn't conclusive. So they recommended that we treat her as if she had a CB fracture, which meant putting a bar shoe on with 3 clips on each side to prevent her hoof from expanding. Basically it acts like a cast and holds the CB in place to give the CB time to heal. Plus she was to be on stall rest for at least 6 months with absolutely no hand walking. I followed the vet's instructions with absolutely no deviations. I wanted to make sure that Frtizy healed and we didn't have any major setbacks. 

So today when the vet showed me on the computer the digital X-rays of Fritzy's hoof and what she found....... I was so disappointed. Now, I can't talk vet lingo very well, but I will explain to the best of my abilities what is going on. She did not find any sign of a CB fracture, but that does not mean there was not one there and that it had healed. But what she did find in the same general area, but not in the exact same area where the fracture showed up on the other X-rays, was what she called bone lysis, which is an area of reduced bone density, on the lateral side of the coffin bone wing. So in normal person language, there is bone loss in the CB wing. Which would definitely make her as lame as she has been. Now what causes bone loss? Well, it could be a couple different things. One, since she is prone to hoof abscesses, there could have been an abscess that went into the bone and got infected and basically it degenerates the bone, hopefully I explained that right, I am not a hoof expert by any means. Second, she could have bruised her foot and that could have caused internal issues with her hoof.

So, what do we do from here? Well, first thing is that my farrier will be coming out and putting a normal shoe with thick pad back on her and we will turn her out to pasture. Yes, stall rest is over. It isn't doing her any good standing around in a stall when she does not need to be in a stall anymore. Being in a stall isn't going to make her hoof heal, because it can't. And being turned out on pasture isn't going to make it any worse, I mean it is already bad, how much worse can it get? So why not let the lame horse enjoy being an actual horse for the first time in 8 months? But that is NOT good news. 

Because the chances of Fritzy ever being a sound, rideable horse EVER again is slim to none. Yep. My horse is done.

My OH and his beloved girl, Fritzy.

And the reason being that she will never be a sound or rideable horse again is because you can't make bone grow back. So the bone loss in her CB is gone for good. Which means she will be lame forever. Now that is not saying that she won't or can't improve, but the vet told me she hasn't seen a case like Fritzy's ever turn into a 100% sound horse. There are a couple treatment options, one being a drug called Tildren. But she did not recommend it, first it is super expensive and second, there are absolutely no guarantees that it will work. The other option she said was we could do is a permanent nerve block, which permanently blocks all feeling from that area of her hoof. Now I do not like the sound of that, my farrier even told me that isn't a good idea because the horse can't feel if they are landing right and can injure themselves even more then what they already are. So I am pretty much out of options. This vet is going to send the digital X-rays to the same Doctor at the Vet Hospital who helped my other vet with the original diagnosis. So he may have other treatment ideas or know something else we could possibly do. But for now..........

I will never look through these ears again.