Belle is a very wise mare. She can be a bit of stand-offish when you enter into her paddock but once she takes an assessment of you, she is easily caught and willing to go along with what is being asked of her. She stands nicely to be groomed and has a pretty relaxed demeanor when she is with her daughter Aurora. We have begun helping the two separate since they have never been apart.
Her dental was uneventful and she was good for the vet to do her evaluation. We dealt with an abscess in her front left hoof which quickly resolved with Epson salt soaks and poultice wraps. When our farrier came, we also were able to see that she had some older possible abscess ports, one on the hind and another on her right front. We are hopeful that with better hoof care we can help her build up stronger hoof walls and healthier feet. Abscesses happen now and then but there is a lot we can do to stop them from popping up so frequently. Keeping her out of mud and allowing her to get off of wet ground both in her shelter during the day and stall at night will help immensely. Proper farrier care and trims every 6 weeks are key to the overall health of the hoof and keeping abscesses and fungus at bay. Our Barn Managers are diligently treating Belle’s hooves with Venice Turpentine to help both harden the sole and stop the growth of bacteria in the frog and sole. They are treating her at night so she can have the full effect of the treatment while she’s in a nice dry stall.
Overall Belle appears fairly sound for her age. She has some conformational changes in her left front leg and stands fairly over at the knee but it does not seem to both her so it’s probably something she’s dealt with for a long time. We are hoping to keep her barefoot at least while we assess if she will be a riding horse or not but she may require shoes or boots if she is ridden on hard surfaces. She is a kind mare and we hope to have a better idea soon of what type of adopter will be her ideal match.
