Jun 13th & 14th

Saturday was pretty uneventful. Mama & Filly spent 2 hours turned out in a 60 x 100 area. They enjoyed nibbling on a little grass & Filly napped in the sun. The splints & wraps remained on because no one was available to lend extra hands.

Off came the splints & wraps for 5 hours on Sunday. Filly was finally able to walk most steps without knuckling over. Smiles everywhere from everyone. She steps very carefully & doesn't try to run & play. She's a very smart little girl, knowing that she needs to be careful. She nibbled at grass & sniffed noses through the fence with her future herd mates. She & Mama were only out for 1 1/2 hours before going back into their freshly cleaned stall. Filly's leg can't be allowed to tire so there's a fine line as to how much exercise is too much. At the end of 5 hours, Filly found it easier to just let her left leg knuckle over while she was standing & relaxing. Time for the splints to go back on.

There was a visitor who came to watch CMK & DW re-splint Filly's legs. The visitor is a friend who has a filly with carpal vargus, an angular limb deformity, & she wanted to learn how to splint her filly. The visitor was quite impressed with Filly's wonderful disposition. She was also amazed at how well mannered Filly is for her re-splinting procedure. The visitor even pitched in with a little rasp work to balance Filly's hooves. She also added an extra set of hands to act as a fly swatter. It's always great to have help & Filly loved the extra attention. She's such a "pocket pony" & loves being scratched by everyone.

The toe extension cuff that Filly's grandpa made has done wonders. He spent a few hours Sun creating a cuff with a heel extension that will be glued onto Filly's hoof in the next day or 2. The heel extension will give support to the tendons that are now ready to start strengthening. It will also help keep Filly's hoof from rocking back onto the heel bulb. To fix the contraction her tendons had to be relaxed & now they need to strengthen. Seems fixing one problem creates another, but with Grandpa's expert help we expect that Filly's problems will eventually resolve to normal. Grandpa has generously offered to make a cuff with side extension for Visitor's filly. She needs the side extension to support the weak side of her leg, helping the knee to grow normally. Grandpa is such a wonderful person with a heart of gold. Thank you Grandpa.

Mama's new diet is already showing healthier signs in Mama. Her diet now consists of digestive enzymes & amino acids, as well as the probiotics & aloe vera juice. She readily eats all that's put in front of her so her special supplements are easy to feed. She's loosing the gaunt flank look, the big bellied appearance is gone & with it her ribs & back have taken on a softer look. Her manure is also no longer smelling as foul & it's appearance is normal. It's taken 2 1/2 months of hard work & special feeding, but it's well worth seeing the light come back into Mama's eyes.