Part V

Winnie's Story - Part I

Winnie back when he was shown in open shows almost every weekend.

There are special horses that only come along once in a lifetime. They don't have to be great show horses. If they are, it is because of a certain strength of character that shines through and makes them stand out in a crowd. The horse in this story was only known as a show horse in his home state of Texas; it is his fight with chronic laminitis that has captured hearts around the world. Hopefully, the story of his struggle will help other horses and horse owners in the same situation.

Winsome Star is a 17-year old Arabian stallion. In 2000, he was being shown quite extensively in western pleasure at the local level, promoting his breed in the open shows. In late July of 2000, a strange incident occurred at a show. This incident was believed to be the trigger for the first laminitis attack in the first week of August. "Winnie" never exhibited the classic founder stance or even any extreme lameness. He merely seemed slightly "off". A vet was called because there was a strange bruising on the hoof that seemed sensitive. A check with hoof testers revealed laminitis. At this point, the farrier was called in and he put on shoes with a special pad under the frog. Again, nobody thought this was a serious case, as Winnie was not even limping. Three days later, the coffin bones were sinking in the hoof capsule, evidenced by the loose skin and sunken look above the coronary band. A second vet was called in, and x-rays taken, which showed coffin bone rotation of 15 degrees on the left and 13 degrees on the right, in addition to the sinking. Prognosis was that the horse "would either walk out of his hooves or he wouldn't." So, a specialist was called in. For the next year and a half, the specialist worked with Winnie, at a cost of over $7,000 (excluding the first 2 vets and all farrier work). At first shoes with wedges were used, later they were lowered, then replaced with plasticon (a material like dental putty) supports. With the wedges, there appeared to be some improvement, and even a little new hoof growth. There was some abscessing, but the hoof wall was

Winnie in February 2001 - during conventional treatment.

removed (resection) over these areas and they seemed to drain and heal. In January of 2001, the wedges were lowered and Winnie started abscessing. This was dismissed as a normal part of the healing process. But the specialist had gotten busier, and there were longer gaps between visits. Winnie relapsed in April and once again rotated 15 degrees on both front hooves and sank. Any progress made was lost. Because of the constant severe abscessing, the decision was made to pull the shoes to allow better access to the abscesses, and the hooves were instead bandaged with plasticon supports. But Winnie's condition continued to deteriorate, and by December of 2001, we knew it was time to either find a new method, or say goodbye. We detailed the above history because the proponents of the Strasser method are often accused of only taking the "easy" cases. Or it is said that the horses are so neglected, ANY treatment is an improvement. Obviously, that is not the case here.

Winnie's conventional shoe - shoe with plasticon support (February 2001)

Lori and Rachael Meet

Lori was put in touch with me by the owner of www.naturalhorsetrim.com whom she had contacted about Winnie's situation. Gretchen knew that I was a current CSHS student and also that I had some experience with founder, my having become interested in the method because of my own foundered horse. We talked and after several emails regarding the Strasser method and its requirements of the owner, Lori asked me to come and see Winnie and a date was set for December 23rd, 2001. I was very excited at the prospect of meeting Lori, Anita and Winnie but also very nervous because of the severity of his condition and the fact that I was only a student. Not to mention I had never handled a stallion before! This type of case really should have been handled by an experienced CSHS, unfortunately I was the closest available help. So one of the first things I did was contact Sabine Kells, my CSHS course instructor and my fellow students and ask for advice and some pointers on what to do first and how to prioritize.

Things Go From Bad to Worse - Rachael Coggins

Before I even got there though, the situation took a turn for the worse. Lori called me December 21st to tell me that large cracks were forming horizontally across Winnie's soles directly beneath the tip of the coffin bone. I called Sabine again that night and discussed what to do about the penetration, what the possible complications might be and what to do first. I was also very concerned that Winnie had been on bute for so long and might not be able to handle the added stress of healing on top of the sole penetration, rotation, contraction and other damage to his hooves. So Lori had blood tests run to check Winnie's liver and kidney values so we'd have an idea of what sort of shape his metabolism was in. Luckily, the tests looked good so we were able to get started immediately.

Winnie's Story - Part III

Front View as of 1/19/02.

It’s Not Just Any Trim
December 29, the regular farrier was at the farm to trim and shoe the other horses. Trying to hold Winnie up and trim him every other day was wearing on Anita, so we showed him the trim pictures and let him trim Winnie that day. He said he did a 4-point trim, anyway, and that this looked close. When Rachel saw the trim, she said no, no, no. So I got to take over the trimming duties. Ouch, my back.

Second Trim
I had left Winnie bearing weight on his heels with the toe floating since it was already much too short and very painful to bear weight on. When I returned I found him flat soled again with the toe bearing weight and in more pain than before. All we could do was wait for enough new hoof to grow down so we could get his hooves back in the correct shape again. He had also abscessed twice since the first visit, one abscess in each front hoof and had very swollen coronet bands. We got his hinds trimmed this time but it was extremely difficult for both Winnie and myself.

Gentleman Winnie
By the end of the second trim, any concerns I had about trimming this stallion were gone. Winnie was perfectly behaved despite the pain he was in. Several times I wound up beneath his belly trying to judge hoof balance or rasp a toe a bit more, but I never worried about my safety. He is a tremendously sweet, big-hearted horse and while I trimmed he would either bury his head in Lori’s arms or sometimes nuzzle my head while I rasped his toes. Winnie taught me that the relationship between owner and horse is one of the key ingredients in a successful rehab; without his cooperation much of what we were doing would have been impossible.

Making Progress
We started making progress rapidly in January. I was starting to understand the trim, though I was very nervous. I had never trimmed hooves before, and I had to learn to use the tools (and have the scars to prove it!) and learn a corrective trim, all on a horse that could barely stand for me. Many sessions ended with me in tears and Winnie looking very apologetic, but I kept trying. Rachael even brought cadaver hooves one night to practice trimming. Yuck, and thank goodness it was freezing out, but it definitely helped me to know what I could trim without having to worry about Winnie having to live with my mistakes. By the second week in January, I could

Right Front Sole. The hole from the sole penetration in December has already grown to the end of the toe area, the coffin bone is no longer protruding.

already see new growth at the hairline and Winnie’s heels and bulbs were expanding. Diana Stephens came to visit, and she noted that Winnie had a sour smell, which I had also noticed, but hadn’t paid much attention to. She suggested peppermint tea and aloe vera juice for his stomach, which oddly enough, Winnie loved. We discontinued the Bute completely, and Winnie stopped having that “drawn up” look as the smell disappeared. Once he was apparently feeling better, he refused to drink his “tea” anymore. By the end of the month, the holes in his soles had grown out to the end of his toe area. Our walks were no longer forced marches. Winnie was circling me, crossing gravel without a care (except for maybe a large rock), and strutting for his mares. He would even occasionally canter up to the fence line to threaten the other stallions when they were in the turnout! It was a very awkward canter, as he was still very sore, but it was wonderful to see such rapid improvement.

January 2002
Things happen very quickly this month, Winnie’s bulbs and heels are expanding and he has approximately 1 cm of new hoof wall, which appears to have a good connection. The abscesses seemed to be subsiding as well and Lori’s concoctions of peppermint tea and aloe vera seem to be helping his stomach. I instigated a cadaver hoof trimming night at Lori’s in preparation for leaving. I had to go to Portland, OR in February for the CSHS Mid-Terms and wanted Lori and Anita to be well prepared when I leave. It was four weeks before I saw Winnie again.

The angle is not quite correct on this 1/19/02 picture of the right front hoof, and the heels are too short, as we were forced to wait for more growth after the incorrect trim that put the weight back on the toe area.

Winnie's Story - Part IV

Left Front sole taken 4/12/02., Note the hole from the sole penetration is gone.

When I came back from Portland and re-trimmed Winnie on March 2nd, I was excited to see what great work Lori and Anita had done while I was away. Lori’s vet was there while I was trimming and commented on how much happier Winnie seemed compared to the last time he had seen him. The holes in his sole from the penetration are getting very close to growing out and we are all starting to feel a bit more relaxed. With the soles healing well we started to concentrate more on getting his imbalances worked out and fine tuning Lori’s bi-weekly trims. Near the end of the month, we decided to get new x-rays to see for sure what was happening with his bone alignment because of continued soreness in his right knee.

I was very glad to see Rachael when she returned. I was very nervous in February trying to keep everything up correctly on my own. After we backed up the toe area quite a bit to correct his break over, Winnie began reminding everyone who was king of the farm. Our problem now was keeping him from getting too sore after his “I am stallion, hear me roar” strutting sessions along the fence line. He was still limping, but moving much faster. We dug out Winnie’s x-rays (from November, 2001) and noticed the coffin bone was also laterally rotated (more so on the right front than the left). When we walked around the farm and looked at all the other horses, we noticed all the horses were laterally imbalanced in the same direction as Winnie. Their hairlines made them appear to be growing on the side of a hill. Hmmm…

Heel too high, note coffin bone tipped and pointing downward (this xray was taken shortly before he penetrated.

Winnie’s experiences and lessons helped another horse this month, as the (ex)-farrier trimmed one so short that the sole under the coffin bone gave to pressure from my bare thumb. I felt the digital pulse pounding, and the horse was acting sore and reacting to the pressure from my thumb—no hoof testers needed. Here we go again! But this time, thanks to Winnie, I knew what to do. I took the heels down and gave him Winnie’s trim, and started walking him. This horse is now back in full work as a lesson/ trail horse in his new home, and cutting cattle by himself whenever he manages to escape into their pasture!

By April, Winnie was getting to be quite the stinker. He had a mare to breed and living in the pasture with him, and life was good. When I walked out to trim him April 11, he apparently didn’t feel like it right then, thank you. He saw me coming with the halter and raced off across the pasture, bucking and jumping over downed tree limbs. He was sore afterward, but I guess it was fun while it lasted!

Coffin bone position ground parallel - emabling even loading of hoof capsule.

X-Rays
The new x-rays showed little change in amount of separation/rotation when compared to the “old x-rays”, but, the sole thickness under the coffin bone was greatly improved and the angle of the coffin bone and joints looked much better. The Left Front coffin bone was ground parallel but the Right Front still had about 5 degrees to go before being ground parallel. The previous x-rays of the Right Front showed a lateral imbalance and some ossifications around the pyramidal process and the coffin and pasture joints – a result of long term incorrect balance and the old club foot (due to old injury—scarring visible on right front leg). We believe these additional problems are part of the reason for his continued soreness on the right leg.

Winnie Gets The Girl
With much anticipation, an open mare was introduced into Winnie’s pasture with the hope of both giving him one more reason to exercise and of getting the mare in foal. He took his new role as “Herd Stallion” very seriously and patrolled the pasture constantly. Tajza didn’t make it easy either; she wanted no part of him at first, and delighted in sneaking away and hiding which kept him on his toes. The constant movement seemed to really help free up his muscles and get him more comfortable body-wise. His back and hind end soreness both began to be less apparent (his hind feet were much easier to trim); his manners went downhill for a short period however. Lori remarked that it was terrible of him to make her have to discipline him in his condition!