I jumped off and looked at his feet. I couldn’t find a loose shoe, or anything else that would make such a sound – until I picked up his foot. One of his front shoes was unevenly worn, and the clink was him landing hard on one side. Thinking it strange, I turned for home and made a mental note to speak to his farrier about it.
I didn’t have time to speak with the farrier though, because the next day Alvito was very lame and clearly uncomfortable. We removed the shoe and began a routine of twice daily soaking, poulticing and wrapping.
We repeated our routine for the prescribed period, followed by dry poulticing, then wrapping, then just barefoot on soft ground. A quick visit and the vet confirmed that he was sound and could have his shoe back on.
Gently, the farrier tapped his shoe back on. Leading him away, he was lame again. The shoe came off, and we started back on our soak and poultice plan.
In time, Alvito was re-shod with particular attention to balance, and we started a 12 week fitness program, with four weeks of walking.
We walked for Britain! Over ground and raised poles, up and down the hills we could find and around and around the school, twice a day, in the dark before work and in the dark after work. We were just about to trot when we stumbled into a… set back.
It wasn’t exactly a disaster, but it was scary. A young horse broke through Alvito’s fence and the two had a fantastic time galloping around the paddock, playing and practicing their sliding stops.
By the time I got to the yard, he was steaming in his stable, trembling with excitement. He was however, lame again. Tears of frustration streamed down my face as I washed and cold hosed his legs that evening. We had been so close to trotting!
I decided it was time for x-rays to see if there was an underlying problem. I booked the vet and their portable x-ray equipment and started reading books about all the horrible things they could find.
When the vet arrived, we flexed, trotted, blocked and lunged before sweeping the bedding back in Alvito’s stable and settling down to take x-rays. With a laptop and a few very expensive attachments, we positioned, manipulated and took pictures of the troublesome front leg, as well as a couple of the other leg for reference.
Because the x-rays were digital, the pictures were available immediately. I felt light-headed and sick as we sat down on a bale of hay to scroll through the images on the laptop screen. Software scans the x-rays for abnormalities and changes in the bones – and in Alvito’s case, they didn’t find anything out of the ordinary. We then went through the pictures manually, the vet patiently explaining what he was looking for, and mercifully, what he couldn’t find.
At the end of the process, the vet told me Alvito had strong and correct legs and feet. He then prescribed a course of treatment and management to get through the lameness. Giving Alvito a big pat, he said he thought we’d be fine. I felt weak with relief.
It took two weeks to get back into the saddle – and this time I did all the walking with a big smile on my face, listening to his beautiful clip-clop, clip-clop.
Tags: Alvito, clip-clop, farrier, hoof, horse, lameness, rider, shoeing
