Ah, the thinned-soled Thoroughbred

I got the dreaded call from Sally on Tuesday: Leo's lame. Of course he is! It's the week of our first horse trial after all and I had planned to be in Aiken on Wednesday to take him cross country schooling with Sally. Of course he came up lame.

At first, all signs indicated it was another abscess. Leo has had a long string of them: Feb 2011 left front, May 2011 right hind, September 2011 left front again....Sally said it was his left front this time too. Her farrier came out and pulled the shoe, but said it wasn't an abscess.

She told me Leo's soles are ridiculously thin and he had a bruise. Sally's team has been poulticing it all week with epsom salts and iodine. I got to Aiken today to meet the farrier. The shoe went back on and she said he's good to go to Jumping Branch tomorrow.

I actually wonder if the thin soles were the issue all those previous times too. The farrier today said the humidity down here will exacerbate the issue more than in the north. Hardening his soles is something I can manage (would have been nice if one of my farriers had mentioned this to me!). I had been using Farriers Barriers for maintenance. It was for Apollo's feet but I ended up using it on both of horses. The farrier today recommended Keratex Hoof Hardener. She also said, packing his hooves with an iodine solution every couple of days will also help harden his soles. When I went to the tack store to pick up supplies, the woman gave me a list of supplements that would help too. One of which was Farrier's Formula. Leo was on this back up north but I took him off when I came south.

In summary, these are some tactics for hardening thin soles that easily bruise:

• Apply Keratex Hoof Hardener everyday for the first week, then twice weekly for maintenance
• Pack and wrap the hooves every other day with iodine and epsom salts, or Magic Cushion
• Apply Venice Turpentine directly to the sole of the hoof
• Feed a supplement like Farrier's Formula or Horseshoer's Secret

I rode Leo tonight in the rain and he was fresh, to say the least! He has been on stall rest since Tuesday. Weee! He was running sideways across the field to start but I eventually got him going forward and we got a workout in. I don't have high expectations for us tomorrow - clean jumping would be FANTASTIC! I'm just siked I get to ride.

Sally is even letting me sleep in tomorrow. They're going to throw Leo on the trailer for me and I'm just going to meet them over there. Sweet! Not so sweet are my accommodations. Everything but the Super8 in Aiken was booked for the weekend. This is the saddest hotel room I have stayed in for a long time. I was hoping to entice Mike into driving down tonight to stay with me, but no luck. So tonight it's me, a 20 yr old TV and some take-out sushi. And my computer. Can't leave home without it. At least the Super8 has free wireless internet!