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2011 – Rock & Roll – 8-15-11 – OUTDOOR ARENA TRAINING

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8/15/11: Today Rock got a haircut and was really happy to be able to do a workout today in his new “booties.” These are actually the temporary boots that were made for a draft horse, so they are a bit wide on his foot and he was stepping on the side of them over the weekend and breaking rivets out of them. We just replaced them, but I think his workout helped him to be more aware of the abnormal width on his front feet because he also wears them during turnout and since his workout, he hasn’t broken anymore rivets. I will be glad when his custom boots arrive. I am sure they will be much better. He will need to wear them until the founder is completely grown out. I am just glad he is able to get back to moving around. It also is helping the swelling on his sheath from the bug bite go down. It just wasn’t getting better while he was up for rest until the temporary boots arrived. Today Rock did 3 of his halts perfectly four-square with weight on the right hind!

2011 – Rock & Roll – 8-18-11 – MASSAGE

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8/18/11: Rock and Roll really enjoyed their massages again today. Rock’s feet are doing better and we measured him a second time for his custom “booties.” Roll is much quieter during his massage now that he is getting his workout on the morning of his massage. Both mules are really displaying their personalities and communicating openly with us now. I think they finally trust that we will not hurt them. Rock tolerated 3 people working on him all at once today: Joanne massaging, Chad measuring and me brushing and feeding him. To begin, Rock even tolerated me sweeping around his feet with the broom. What a good boy!!! Both mules had dry hooves, particularly around the coronet band, so I applied some Mazola corn oil to their hooves. The next day, Friday, I got some Farnam Rainmaker and they will be treated weekly with that now that they have gone from “mushy” foundered hooves to harder and drier hooves. Roll decided to play a game of “Tug O’ War” with the towel! What a silly boy!!! Mules do love to play games!

2011 – Rock & Roll – 8-22-11 – OUTDOOR ARENA TRAINING

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8/22/11: Rock did superb again today during his workout. He does seem to look forward to it and is again doing very good stops with weight on his bad hind leg. He does get a little tired toward the end and must rest that leg, but he is doing a full rotation of the hourglass pattern with stops at all four points between cones after coming back from a month off. I couldn’t ask for more. His booties seem to help a lot and we plan to cut off the seedy toe on his left front next time Dean is out as per Greg Farrand’s suggestion. We don’t want it taking new hoof wall with it. He has already lost the seedy toe on the right front. The swelling in his sheath has subsided, but he now has swelling in the abdomen that appears like Pigeon Fever, but Greg is doubtful that is what it really is. We are now hot packing it twice a day and it is already beginning to go down. We think he is just detoxing from years of abuse. Today Rocky is gaining confidence and became a Pocket Rocket!

2011 – Rock & Roll – 8-25-11 – MASSAGE

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8/25/11: Rock and Roll really didn’t have an opportunity to relax and get into their massages today because the film crew was here from Los Angeles and they were filming us while we were working and our own crew was also taking pictures and filming. It was a case of organized chaos! Still they did get a general full body massage and did seem to enjoy that. Rocky made his faces again when Joanne was massaging brachiocephalicus. Roll and I played Peek-A-Boo Po!

2011 – Rock & Roll – 8-31-11 – SARCOID REMOVAL

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8-31-11: Poor Little Rocky! He no sooner gets over one thing that he gets something else! Today we removed a small sarcoid the size of a shooter marble from the base of his neck in front of the withers on the right side. We used a local anesthetic only. We also injected the site to prevent recurrence and will do follow up injections to that end. Today, I noticed a small wart on his chin! We hope the sarcoid injections will help that to go away as well.

2011 – Rock & Roll – 9-1-11 – MASSAGE

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9/1/11: Rock and Roll got to enjoy their massages this week without the film crew here. They both got an overall massage with the thumper and Dave worked on Rock and Roll mostly behind. I put on their hoof dressing (Farnam Rainmaker) which seems to be helping them significantly improve. Chad did both their eyes with Refresh eye drops as we have been doing from the beginning. Rock is rather torn up on his front left leg at the knee and fetlock and in the hock. He may be having problems getting up and down after his month of rest because of his feet and the booties could also pose a problem as well. We avoided contact with the sarcoid surgery site that is now bandaged and stuck to him with Gorilla tape.

2011 – Rock & Roll – 9-2-11 – FARRIER

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9/2/11: Dean Geeson came today, re-shod Rock behind and trimmed him in front. The back feet are looking much better, but in front he may have White Line going on with the seedy toe. We agreed that we will probably be able to get him sound eventually, but we are probably a year out from that if we don’t have a bad case of White Line disease. It is hard to tell at this point because of the severe founder. Rock had some thickness of unhealthy tissue on the soles of his front feet, but since we did not know how thick it was, we opted to keep his booties on for longer periods of time to help that grow out. Then we can pare it off next time. He also trimmed Roll and rebalanced his right hind. Roll has been doing much better and did not show imbalance in that foot until about a week and a half ago. He is able to stand squarely, even though the foot had grown out some and was listing him to the outside again. Chad did their eye drops again today.

2011 – Rock & Roll – 9-8-11 – MASSAGE

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9/8/11: Rock and Roll enjoyed their massages today. Dave and Joanne worked on them both and they were pretty relaxed from having their workouts that morning. Both did really well during their respective workouts as is shown in the workout section of this diary (previous section). I showed Roll his picture in the RFD-TV November-December 2011 advertisement that I had printed out. He really liked it!!! See the pictures in the diary below. Roll is very mischievous!

2011 – Rock & Roll – 9-8-11 – OUTDOOR ARENA TRAINING

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9/8/11: Rock and Roll both had good workouts today after being basically on rest for a few days because the film crew was here. Both animals did very well and though they were tired toward the end, they both accomplished the goals that were set on their previous workouts. Rock did 1 ½ rotations in the hourglass pattern over the 1” PVC poles with his “booties” on and Roll did 5 rotations of walk and 10 rotations of trot each direction in the round pen. Rocks front feet are so bad that he now needs to wear his booties all day and then they are removed at night. We are checking constantly for any rubbing on the pasterns, but so far, so good.

2011 – Rock & Roll – 9-13-11 – OUTDOOR ARENA TRAINING

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9/13/11: Rock had a really good workout today. We had two 2-inch poles on the ends of the ground rails with two 1-inch rails in the middle. He did hit the rails going through them a few times, but it was probably due to his “clod-hoppers” in front. They do limit his finesse because he is still in the temporary boots that were made for a draft horse and are too wide, but I thought he did very well walking and halting correctly through the pattern. They only seemed to affect his foot placement through the poles. The tumor we removed from Rock’s wither area turned out to be a sebaceous cyst and not a sarcoid. It is healing well and the wart on his chin has dropped off. The edema in his abdomen has also gone away and he is once more moving forward with his health. I did most of this workout without guiding him with my right hand on his lead to see how much responsibility he could take for his own balance and direction. He did excellent and only needed to be guided through a few turns around the cones and to steady him lightly over the rails.

2011 – Rock & Roll – 9-21-11 – OUTDOOR ARENA TRAINING

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9/21/11: Rock had a good workout today. I used the vacuum on him and then cleaned out the site where the cuyst was removed. Everything looked good. He was energetic, happy and though he is still exhibiting some soreness in his right hind leg, I believe it is from compensation for the sore front feet that are in his temporary “booties” that just don’t’ fit right. He is paddling over the poles to avoid stepping on the side of the “booties.” We should have his custom booties soon. I think that will make a huge difference. He is still moving forward much better than we ever thought he could and is significantly improved on his range of motion and bending angles in the joints of his bad leg (and in the other legs as well).

2011 – Rock & Roll – 9-22-11 – MASSAGE

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9/22/11: Rock and Roll both enjoyed their massages today. Their feet seem to be improving with the Farnam Rainmaker hoof dressing. Since they are both feeling much better, they are getting more expressive and actually jealous of the attention they get from us. Roll tried a half-hearted “kick” to get Chad’s attention while he was working on Rock’s feet. Joanne and I quickly reprimanded him from both sides! Joanne popped him on the rear with the flat of her hand on the right side and when he moved over and seemed to laugh at her attempt, I came up quickly on the left and popped him with my hand on that side. Boy was he surprised to get it on both sides! He will definitely reconsider before trying that again! He pouted when I went and fed Rock afterwards, but I returned to him when he seemed genuinely sorry and let him have a treat for his atonement. Then he felt better again! They both continue to improve beyond our wildest expectations.

2011 – Rock & Roll – 9-26-11 – FARRIER/SHOES

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9/26/11: Rock got more swelling in his abdomen midline, so we hot packed him again and will continue until it goes back down. There was mild swelling in the sheath as well. Roll got shoes put on the back feet today. Though we trimmed the left hind foot to balance that foot because of the irregular shape due to side bones, Roll was wearing the inside down quickly enough to put him off balance 2 weeks before his next trim. We hope the shoes will keep him from wearing the foot away and offsetting his good balance. The side bones do allow him to stand squarely for several weeks after his corrective trimming, so the shoes should help that to continue and become the norm. We have yet to grow in enough healthy foot to see if the hoof angle will improve after the foundered hoof is gone. That will not be for at least another year. The angles have improved from what they looked like initially last December of 2010.

2011 – Rock & Roll – 9-26-11 – GROUND DRIVE HAYFIELD

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9/26/11: Rock and Roll did their respective workouts through the hourglass pattern in the hayfield on the harder flat surface today. At first, both mules didn’t realize they were supposed to do the hourglass pattern in the hayfield, so it took a few times around the cones to get them to pay attention. Rock seemed to have less difficulty with the poles with his booties on out of the sandy arena. I suspected this and wanted to relieve him a little so he would stop the paddling. It did seem to work. Then I ground drove him through the pattern and he did very well, taking an even contact on the lines and stepping with a rhythmic and regular gait. Roll did well through the pattern on the lead line, but did get a little lazy in spots. When he was ground driven, however, he had difficulty taking an even contact on the lines which made his gait very irregular and snaky. Roll is still lacking adequate forward impulsion. When I tried ground driving them together, Roll’s irregularity spooked Rock off to the side even though Steve was leading Roll from the near side. To end the session on a good note, I removed Steve from the near side of Roll (on Rock’s left) and stood between the two of them and led both while Kristen held the lines behind. That worked fine and we ended on a good note, but since Kristen was driving, there are no pictures, only video.

2011 – Rock & Roll – 9-29-11 – MASSAGE

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9/29/11: Rock and Roll both got massages today. However, Rock came up VERY lame yesterday evening and was having problems walking. By morning, he could not walk at all and was standing in his pen not able to put weight on either of his back legs and his knees were shaking in front from all the weight shifted forward. We could not put on his front booties because he could not lift the front legs without falling down. It looked like he had rolled sometime between last night and this morning because his hock sore and knee sores were freshly bleeding, so he could have hurt himself getting up and down. We had Greg Farrand out to check him in the morning. He checked the pulse in all four feet and decided it wasn’t founder. He thought it was coming from the sacrum area. We put Rock on bute and will continue this for 9 days as well as Gastro guard to protect his digestive tract from the adverse effects of the bute. Walking slowly does seem to help. Dave McClain came out in the evening and adjusted him. He said the stifle in the left hind was locked up and after he got it adjusted, Rock seemed better, but still in some pain, probably from being out of adjustment for the full day, but it could not be helped. He did respond well to a very guarded massage though we did have to make sure he was standing downhill. He was very uncomfortable otherwise. Rock and Roll will now have to be kept separated during turnout. Since they are both generally feeling much better, we think he may have overdone and Roll could have precipitated the trouble. Dave McClain came back the next morning and did acupuncture on him and he is relaxing in his pasture today (September 30).

9/30/11: Here are the pictures taken after Rock’s adjustment and acupuncture. It is clear that the stifle is released, but the right hip still is very indented in previously toned places above and below the hip joint after his stressful situation.

2011 – Rock & Roll – 10-4-11 – MASSAGE

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10/4/11: Dave Miller came over this morning and gave a massage to Rock. He was very sore all over from his bout with the locked up stifle and is still weak and sore on all four legs. I did wrap the sores on his knees, fetlocks and hock to protect them from getting skinned up more when he lies down and gets up. He had trouble standing still for his massage. Dave did 15 minutes on each quarter and though he was sore, I am sure it had to do some good. He seemed to feel better afterwards.

2011 – Rock & Roll – 10-5-11 – OUTDOOR ARENA TRAINING

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10/5/11: Rock and Roll both got checked by the chiropractor and did their workouts today. Dave was happy to find that Rock’s hips were not cracking as badly as they had the last time he saw him. Roll did his usual 5 walk, 10 trot rotations in the round pen both ways. He did very well after not doing the round pen for a couple of weeks. I took the wraps off because they were just sliding down his legs. I have ordered some wraps to put on his hocks, knees and fetlocks. Hopefully his new custom boots will arrive soon as he keeps tripping over the temp boots that were made for a draft horse. We modified Rock’s hourglass leading pattern to only one rotation each direction and he only had 2 1-inch PVC poles to cross in the middle. He did well and seemed happier moving than he was standing still. He was hesitant to back even a few steps, so we did not stop and square up between cones each time. He did seem to balance himself differently when we did stop. He would square up without backing up to do it, so I know he is still trying to distribute his weight evenly where he did not before his lessons since last December. He was so tired after his workout that he laid down in the dressage arena right after I took off all his gear and turned him loose.

2011 – Rock & Roll – 10-6-11 – MASSAGE

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10/6/11: Roll got a rather abbreviated massage by me today because Rock needed more attention from Joanne and Dave. Rock was very sore today with all the sores he has developed from getting up and down with his compromised left hind leg. The wraps I was trying to keep on were sliding down his legs. I finally got a system that seems to work with two fetlock wraps on the front with knee wraps above that and a hock wrap on the left hind leg. When Rock lies down, he does not go down as easily as he had when the left hind leg was stronger, so he is hitting the left point of shoulder and hip rather hard. We are keeping him in the dressage arena all day long with the gate to the south pasture open so he has a soft place to lie down and a place to graze. Roll is next to him in the front pasture during turnout so he is still near, but cannot interfere with Rock in any way. When we got rain, we decided to put a large area of sand in his pen as well, so when he cannot be turned out, he still has a soft place to lay right outside of his stall.

Rock and Roll Diary (continued)

October 7, 2011

10/7/11: Joanne and Dave came out today and gave Rock a session of Alpha Stim, an electronic way to stimulate healing in the affected areas. Rock drew the line at his ears! We will still need to see over time if it has actually helped in any way.

2011 – Rock & Roll – 10-12-11 – OUTDOOR ARENA TRAINING

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10/12/11: Rock was very sore and having difficulty walking in the boots. I groomed him with the vacuum, took the wraps off his legs, and just rewrapped the fetlocks to prevent sand from getting into the wounds. The stifle area seemed a little puffy, so we ice packed it and his sacral area. I decided to relieve him of his boots for the workout to see how sore he really is now in a nice sandy arena. Even walking to the arena on the cement and pea gravel did not seem to pose a problem. I know the sores on his legs are really bothering him, but they do appear to be getting slightly smaller. As long as I can keep them protected, they do well…that’s the challenge! Rock could do a Duct Tape commercial! He does tire easily and lies down several times a day and evening. His feet are improving and there does seem to be hope that we can get his feet strong and healthy after his severe founder.

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