Category: Magic

Magic is much better today. The limp is almost gone. It was an abscess the whole time and I missed it. It would be nice to be able to post a video of the limp and get lots of suggestions.  I am packing the hole dug in his hoof with iodine soaked cotton balls.

I am happy to be wrong. Since yesterday I have realized that several of my assumptions about Magic’s lameness were wrong. I emailed Andrea as it was too late to call Dale and Susan and I did not have their address. She got in touch with Dale and Susan and Susan called this morning and they were in fact in the Harrison area shoeing horses today. They came by about 6pm and Dale found an abscess in the near front. I was thinking it was the knee but I was wrong. I thought he was lame first, just slightly, on the off side and that this more sever lameness was on the other foot.  What tipped me off that my thinking was wrong was when I saw Magic raise his head when he put down the foot that I knew was lame. I was thinking he would drop his head when he put down the lame foot. And Wanda Graham called and said her horse Dusty had been through what she thought was a leg lameness only to find out that it was an abscess. Another tip off was when Wanda said Dusty pointed with only the toe of the lame foot on the ground. It is just wonderful to be wrong because I was thinking the prognosis was not good. I am giving him an antibiotic.

Rain and cold this morning. Magic is no better and no worse. I got 21 bute tablets from Beverly.

I noticed something about Magic’s limp. He often stands with the left front with the knee bent and only the point of the toe touching the ground. So I know it is the near front. When he walks, he bobs his head. The thing that I noticed today that seemed odd to me is that he raises his head when that foot is on the ground. I would have predicted exactly the opposite, that he would lower his head when the bad foot is on the ground. It is very obvious now which leg it is. When he first showed just a slight lameness, I thought it was his off front because he lowered his head when that foot was on the ground. But the bobbing pattern is the same way now except it is obvious now that it is the near front. Maybe I was wrong about which foot it was in the beginning. Maybe it has always been the near front. I need to read up on lameness in horses. I’ve had the book “Lameness in Horses” for 35 years but I cannot find it tonight. I do however have the internet.

(P.S. next day. I was wrong. A horse lame on the front lifts his head when the lame foot hits the ground. A human will drop their head when the lame foot hist the ground.)

Magic was much better this morning. Still limping but able to put weight on the foot and get around. Bute may have eased the pain or maybe it is better. I do not feed in the morning and I only have 4 bute tablets left, so I did not give more bute this morning.

I have been keeping Glory and the other horses in a pasture where they are not next to Magic and Little More. Today I worked on the electric fence on the shared fence side of Magic’s pasture but it is still not hot. Anyway I needed to clean up a brush pile ash pile in Glory’s pasture and I put them in the pasture next to Magic. They were there about 2 hours. Glory is a trouble maker mare today and kept running over to Magic’s fence. One time, while I was looking, of all coincidences, Magic kicks at Glory and gets hung in the fence. It obviously is not hot at all and luckily it is a web wire fence with a smooth hot wire at the top. I was far enough away that I could not tell exactly what happened and, anxious as I am, I quit work and went over to see what happened. No posts were involved. Magic scraped a little hair off and there was a little blood. He pulled the off rear shoe. He was hurt but I do not think seriously. I like electric fences because this does not happen when the fence is hot. They just stay away from it. I will get a new charger Monday. I think that is the problem.

I was hoping Magic’s limp would improve with stall rest. But it was worse this morning. Always the optimist, I hoped that activity would help during the day. This afternoon it was even worse. It seems to be considerable difficulty for him to walk. It is possible the other leg, holding all the weight, will start to swell due to the stress put on it.

Examining it I find no heat, no cut. I cleaned his hoof good as I have seen a stone packed in the hoof cause lameness. To no avail. I see no abnormalities. Swelling, if any, is minimal. I gave him 2 grams of butazolidin in his feed.

I have not worked the horses the past two days because it was cold, windy and cloudy. I can enjoy any one of those conditions but not all three at the same time. I thought I noticed Magic limping this morning and I did for sure notice it this afternoon. This time it is his near front and I think it is the knee. He will stand with the weight off that foot with the knee bent. No noticable heat, swelling or injury. I need hoof testers but that is not what it is this time I don’t think.

Groomed and worked Magic today. I lunged him in the round pen. Again, the limp is not noticeable. I am happy about that. I probably will not ride again for a few days to insure this recovery. We worked with the clicker at the trailer. I am training Magic to “target”. The target is an old plastic water bottle secured on the end of a stick. I will present the target, the rest of the time I hold it behind me, and when he touches the target with his nose, I click the clicker, and then give him a treat. The click tells him quickly / immediately “this is what I want” and “you will be rewarded.” I provide some purchased horse treats but I need to remember to try animal crackers on Magic. Most animals like them, they are cheaper, and I can eat the leftovers. It seems that Magic is more interested in the 2nd treat than he is in the 8th. Six may be the optimum repetitions. When I get the targeting working like I want, I just move the target further into the trailer and he will follow.

It started to rain when Magic and I finished. I did not work Newt.

I am noticing a lot of deer in the pastures. This morning there was one in Magic’s little pasture. After I turned him out I noticed 4 deer just over the fence from him. He walked towards them and stopped about 100 feet from them. He just looked and then started grazing. I am glad he is getting this exposure to wildlife as I doubt there was much at the racetrack and he will see lots of stuff later when we are riding trails. Right now there is new grass, short and potent, showing up in the pasture and I think the deer are attracted to it. This grass is potent and horses inclined to founder usually founder on grass when it is in this stage. Mara’s ponies are confined to “dry lot” to protect them from this grass. I will let them out when the grass gets tall and tough.

Afternoon: It rained this afternoon. The horses were wet and eager to come into the barn. Magic was feeling his oats. No sign of the limp. This was the most playful I have ever seen him. He was running, jumping, bucking and rearing. To me he seems very athletic and very balanced. Lisa Molloy’s (New Vocations) only reservation about Magic was something like “he’s just not the best mover”. She explained that the flat knee, extended leg is what they all want and Magic just does not have it. So I have looked carefully at his movement both on the videos and ever since I got him. I just do not see the limitation. Magic does bend at the knee significantly. Sonny Parker, an old roper, saw the video and I mentioned Lisa’s comment. Sonny’s comment was “A horse that bends his knees is not so apt to stumble on rocks.” I always see the conflicts: like “Look before you leap.” and “He who hesitates is lost.” I respect Lisa’s experience and knowledge, after all she talked me into selecting Magic, but I just cannot see Magic’s limitation in motion. And I’ve seen lots of horses at New Vocations that I said “I don’t like the way that horse moves.” so I’m not inclined to accept a horse that does not move good. Magic looks good to me, really good. Especially when he is not limping!

Groomed and worked Magic in the round pen. The limp seems to be better. I don’t think I would notice it even at the trot except that I know he was bobbing his head Friday and I’m looking real close.

I think Magic is getting pretty keen about the target and the clicker. He was lifting a front foot at the trailer. I did not work Newt. Glory had busted out of her stall (glad she did not turn the barn over) and Newt was beside himself. So I just let him out. It was Glory and the ponies. They are about football size to her. Everybody was all right.