Meeting New Friends 06/21

Filly & Grey Girl spent the day together, along with their dams. Of course Mommy Dearest wouldn't let the fillies play, but Filly sure wanted to get close to Grey Girl. Maybe one day soon they can be real friends.

Today was a long unsplinted day with the splints & wraps off for 7 1/2 hours. Filly did great. Her right leg is doing very well & went to a 1/2 splint. DW modified an Ace elbow wrap by adding a 1/2 cast & sheepskin. It works wonderful by providing just enough support without immobilizing the leg. This leg is ready to be weaned off the splints. Filly's left leg still needs the support of the full splints. The pastern is too lax & her hoof rocks back too much, but even this is ever so slowly improving. She's no long walking on her heel bulb since she's been wearing the heel extension. Her leg is learning to function more normal. While she needs the unsplinted time to strengthen, care has to be taken to insure the leg doesn't get too tired & relapse. So far her progress is in the right direction. In a few days it might be possible that she finally reaches the 12 on/12 off as recommended. We sure hope so. Her cuff was reset today with a Hoof It product that was supplied by her trimmer. It set up well although it might be that not enough was used. Another learning process through trial & error. Hopefully the cuff will stay on for at least 12 hours & if it comes off, it will be reset better the next time.

Something OT is a little news about a friend of CMK's who has a filly with carpal vargus. This sure has been a tough year for the fillies. This filly is crooked at the knee, with the inside growing faster than the outside. With the lessons learned by CMK & DW in splinting & wrapping Filly, Friend is successfully wrapping her filly. Filly's wonderful grandpa has made a cuff for Friend's filly that has a side extension & it will go in the mail tomorrow. When a foal has carpal vargus, the weak side of the leg needs an extension to provide support. Because Filly has needed toe & heel extensions, Grandpa has engineered a great system for making cuffs & has been able to modify them for individual needs. While Filly's odyssey has been long & trying, it's wonderful that lessons learned can be used to help other foals. So even with the bad, there is good. Hopefully every new day brings positive progress to all foals everywhere.