Down an internet rabbit hole of lameness.

Sunrise over beautiful Chester County.

Ugh. Of course, I find a saddle that fits him, start going to the barn at 5am for sunrise rides and then...

Riley is lame, again. I have owned him for 2.5 months and he's had two abscesses in the same hoof (and he blew one in that hoof a month or two before I bought him) -- he's hardly been sound for more than a week at a time. Remember his PPE was near perfect, not even the slightest reaction to the hoof tester or flexions/jogging... so yea, I'm a little frustrated at his chronic lameness. I'm trying to dutifully record the patterns of lameness to see if I can find any common threads. This latest case of lameness was likely caused by him ripping off his bell boot AND shoe (shoe was not loose) on Friday. However when the farrier came out to look at him she wouldn't put the shoe back on.

Here's what I've come up with so far:
*He is quite flat-footed up front
*He probably has thin soles (he's quite tender on gravel without shoes)
*He's had 3 abscesses in his left front (all that have ruptured near the toe)
*The last time he went lame was right after the farrier came out to trim and re-shoe him
*He seems to respond well to magic cushion/wrapping for a few days
*He's definitely more comfortable being outside. We kept him in for a few days and he got VERY stocked up behind. But keep in mind it's about a million degrees here and the humidity is off the charts.
*In the past he's traveled well over varying terrain and types of surfaces
*Usually after a day or two of tenderness he's sound again (ex: he trotted across the field sound this morning)

My game plan for this week is to have the hoof x-rayed and see what the vet says and if everything looks okay, I'm going to have a second farrier take a look and see what their recommendations are. I think my farrier is fine, but she's not much of a problem solver as much as she's good at doing simple trims and shoes. I will admit, I was a little frustrated on Friday when he was jogged for the farrier and she decided that he was too sore to put the shoe back on. Of course he was sore, he just ripped his shoe off and you can see he's standing on his soles. Sigh.

Because of all of this I've found myself digging deeper into internet rabbit holes into the causes for multiple abscesses in the same hoof and of course all I have done is thoroughly freak myself out. What if it's laminitis? What if it's pedal osteitis? AHHHHHH. I'm so new to horse ownership and I am positively freaking myself out because I'm sure I'm going to ruin him.

Step away from the internet. Slowwwwwwly.

For now, I think I am making the right decision to get a picture taken and have a second and third opinion. He's only 4 and if the worst case means I pull his shoes at the end of the summer and let him recover and grow hoof, then that's okay with me. There are lots of horses there for me to ride. I gave him a nice microtek bath on Saturday, scrubbed his legs with betadine (he had some little cuts on his back legs) and stuffed him full of treats before re-wrapping his foot.

Speaking of riding, I had a lesson on Saturday and I discovered two things: one... my horse is really easy/comfortable to ride, two... I forgot how to ride any other horse but him. I rode my friend's new mare who is a 5 year old OTTB mare. She's gorgeous and dainty. She last raced at the end of May and she's pretty quiet in nearly every way. Of course, when I rode her, I nearly got taken off with at one point, so we spent a majority of my lesson working on helping her understand contact at the trot and we got some really nice work out of her in the end. I just love watching the greenies figure things out.

She's going to be really special and better yet, she's a sort of celebrity. If any of you follow along the Retired Racehorse Training Project, you can read about her here. I took some glamor shots of her for the blog too:

Victory Money, aka. Prima

Two cheeky ladies (ps. Emily is the person that sold me Riley!)

I feel quite fortunate at least that I can keep my horse under the guidance of Emily & Co. I describe myself as a horse owner that has training wheels... at least for now. And while Riley gets sorted out she's graciously offered to let me ride her horses so I don't miss out!

I'd love to hear any feedback you guys have about abscesses and lameness and everything else!