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The Story Of Cimmaron
Cimmaron is a twenty-year old Leopard
Appaloosa who was a professional polo pony for most
of his life. He competed on the polo field under the
name "Chip." When he lost his right eye to the game,
and damaged his right front hoof, he was prohibited
from returning to the field. He changed hands many times
and has been with his current family since Valentine’s
Day 1995. At that time, his farrier began working slowly
on straightening both front legs.
Cimmaron has a quarter crack on the
front right along with coronary band damage. The angle
of the hoof shows side-by-side imbalance, which can
be both a cause and effect of Navicular. In his case
it resulted in an unsightly vertical protrusion along
the outside wall of the hoof. His gait was unsteady
on the right, which was helped by applying a bar shoe.
May 25, 1997: Cimmaron refused
to take the canter on the right lead, and if he started
on the right, he would immediately switch to the left
lead. He was moved to a facility where he was turned
out all day, with the hope that the continual movement
would encourage more stimulation and circulation to
the hoof. A supplemental nutritional program was started
at the same time, which improved the overall condition
of the hooves.
Winter 1997/98: This was the
El Nino winter that kept most horses indoors for a prolonged
period of time. It was too dangerous and wet for turnouts,
and the weather was too difficult for riding. Cimmaron
was hand walked through most of this winter.
June 13, 1998: Cimmaron was
moved to a new facility which was warmer, flat and provided
him with a large corral to move around in.
September 6, 1998: He was tested
for lameness and found lame in both front hooves. The
left front was soft tissue damage, and the right front
was diagnosed Probable Navicular. Both were old injuries.
Cimmaron tested positive for Navicular on both the blocking
and clinical signs, and he was rated #3 on the lameness
scale. X-rays were not taken at the time of the exam.
September 7, 1998: Corrective
shoeing was performed using a therapeutic "moon" shoe
with a rocker toe on the front right and therapeutic
shoe with rocker toe on the other three hooves.
He was in obvious discomfort for a week after the correction.
October 16, 1998: Cimmaron
was tested for lameness again with great results – he
dropped from a #3 to a #1. X-rays were taken at this
time so that they can be compared to changes six months
from now. The same type of corrective shoeing was applied.
He was again uncomfortable for the first week.
November 1998: Cimmaron was
shod again and this time he tested at 1/2 on the lameness
scale.
April 1999: The tissue on the
bottom of his hooves was chalky and chipping off. We
put him on the Free
Choice Stress System.
June 1999: The chalky texture
had disappeared, and the bottom of his hooves appeared
normal.
November 1999: For the first
time since we started the corrective shoeing, Cimmaron's
front right was nearly symmetrical, matching the coronary
band which had changed from mangled to nearly normal.
More information will be added over
time.
At JustRehab for Equines, we
help horses heal. Please contact us for more details
at info@justrehab.com
and remember to include your daytime and evening phone
numbers.
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on the specific products or services we use in our rehab
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