Nancy Filbert's "Chief"--
Better hoof shape corrected lameness and
prevented grass founder from recurring.

(January, 2000 update on Chief--As long as Chief's feet were kept trimmed, he stayed out of trouble. However, because Nancy and Tim's backs were both "out" for some time this winter, he went 10+ weeks without a new trim. He had a mild mechanical founder in January, 2000 because of the lack of hoof mechanism and increased leverage on his overgrown hooves. He began recovering quickly with another dose of UAA Gel and a trim.  Grass founder was not a possible cause at all, as this happened in winter conditions in N. Wisconsin.  This serves as a warning--losing hoof mechanism by letting the trim go too long can result in re-foundering.   If he is maintained with more frequent trims, he does really well, though.)

-----Original Message-----

No, Chief definitely hasn't heard the news that "11 degree rotation is a death sentence." Yesterday morning, he shook his head, spun off his hind legs and cantered around his shelter! Yesterday afternoon, while Tim was riding his horse in the field, Chief was doing bronc bucks, something that he hasn't done since last spring. He leaps his front end off the ground,
and while his front feet are suspended in mid air, he brings his hind legs off the ground and kicks them high in the air! Then he comes down with all weight on his front feet.

A month ago, he was very well aware of the fact that traditional treatment, using bute, was definitely a death sentence, as he was in extreme pain in his feet, as well as his gut was ulcerated and he didn't want to eat. He was down, he had a strong pulse in his feet (It was light when on the bute, and heavy when I took him off.) he didn't want to eat, he was very thin, his sides were sunk in just ahead of his hip bones, between his rib cage, and he was sucked up on his belly just ahead of his flanks. His eyes did not show his wonderful little spirit. At the beginning of March, even though he was on 1.5 grams of bute a day, this did little to alleviate his discomfort. It allowed him to stand and walk stiffly, with obvious pain. He was depressed, as his gut could no longer tolerate this, and his feet hurt him considerably. Throughout half of January and most all of February, he was on 1/2 gram of bute a day.

This light dose had slowly irritated his gut enough to cause a slow and gradual weight loss. This weight loss was actually a good thing, as he was still a little heavy. Come March, the pain had increased in his feet (don't know why), I increased the bute, and that provided the finishing touch towards irritating/ulcerating his gut. I knew I had to take him off the bute, so I did. His last dose of bute was on a Thursday night 3/18, by Sunday 3/21, he could not get up without EXTREME URGING AND PAIN. It was awful. Educated horse neighbors and a very qualified vet almost had me convinced that I needed to put shoes on him, backwards, to get his toe off the ground and allow him to break over easier. I was referred to a local farrier who had good luck with shoeing in this manner on foundered ponies.

Something told me I needed to go back to your website and study it, as your philosophy contradicted everyone else’s. After studying it, I recognized that horseshoes could only slow down any healing, no matter what people said. So, Monday 3/22, I put him back on 1.5 grams of bute a day to give me a little time; did this for 3 days. On the 4th day, Thursday 3/25, he only received 3/4 gram. Monday, when I started the bute again, I also added the supplements DMG, Calcium, Magnesium, vitamins, D Tox, and MSM. All doses were appropriate pony doses except MSM, this was a horse dose. D-Tox was also increased. I had been told by my neighbor down the road that MSM could help with the inflammation and to increase the dosage.

Sunday was the day of truth. He had been bute free since Thursday, just like last week, but had the addition of daily supplements to his diet. As far as I was concerned, it was a miracle. He could still walk! He walked up to his corral a bit stiffly, but he did so cheerfully. During this next week, he seemed to get worse in a way. He ate poorly, seemed to be depressed, even though his feet weren't that bad, and by Thursday, he was depressed, anorexic, running a 101 temp, increased respiration, and an obvious pulse in his feet. His diet had been nothing but grass hay. My educated horse neighbor said he was "going toxic - can happen to small ponies in founder cases." I decided to give the UAA gel a try. One tube down the hatch, and the next day found him up, bright eyed and bushy-tailed, with a nicker to boot. The pulse in his feet was dramatically reduced. All vitals were normal. Oh, I also gave him an epsom salt enema as well. For the cost of $1, what did I have to lose. The UAA gel put an end to this toxic process inside of him. (Since then, he has had no problems with this, except when he was on 30 min a day of grazing on dead winter grass (2nd week of April) and began to founder again. He was down when he should have been up, and the pulse was stronger than it's normal barely feelable condition. Gave him the UAA gel and he was fine the next day. He can eat no grass, despite the additions of magnesium and DMG to his diet. This UAA gel is incredible stuff.)

During the first week of April, it was obvious to me that his feet were well under control. He could walk, but there was still pain. He stood in the classic founder position, alleviating pressure from the rotated tips of his coffin bones. It was during this week that while we were on the phone together, you decided I needed to talk to Sabine Kells, put me on hold and dialed a conference call. In detail, Sabine explained to me how the hoof functions and what I needed to do to Chief to begin bringing this around. She explained techniques necessary in the trimming process applicable to founder cases. I took my notes, had good visualization of what she was trying to teach, and applied it the next night. Tim and I took Chief down to the barn to trim his feet on a flat cement surface. I taught Tim what I had learned, he trimmed the feet. During this first trim, all we did was change the angle of the foot, apply good frog pressure, back up the toe, and remove the hoof wall 1/4" up from all areas ahead of the point of the frog. He walked back up to his corral with a definite improvement in walking ability. Yes, there was an immediate difference. Because we ha taken so little off the whole hoof, he was not sore. We continued to trim 2X weekly until the flu hit us and we got behind.

On his first walk around the yard (the day after his first trim) Pat Parelli would have been disgusted with me. The little shit was dragging me everywhere! Frankly, I was thrilled! When I would tie him to the tree next to my racing pigeon lofts, he would pitch a fit! When we put him in the barn on stormy nights, he would wait for his buddies to arrive from the outside pastures by waiting in the position of draping his front legs over the stall door and standing on his hind legs.

The big problem during the month of April was not his feet. The UAA gel, the daily supplements and Sabine's hoof trimming techniques licked this problem in a jiffy. Chief could stand and walk with little discomfort compared to the past. The problem was his gut. I described what he looked like in the previous paragraph. It was obvious that he didn't want to eat.

It was probably March 31st that I called Dr. Nancy Scanlan in L.A.. She was a previous instructor of mine in school, and a personal friend. Dr. Scanlan has a strong background in all types of holistic medicine as well as traditional medicine. Her knowledge in both of these areas complements each other beautifully. She is well versed in small and large animal medicine. I have used her advice in many critical cases and it has served me well. After receiving a minor tongue lashing for not calling her in 5 years, (and yes, I deserved it) she told me to use 5 apple pectin capsules 2X a day to help coat his stomach. I had heard conflicting reports about using cimetidine from Sabine, but Dr. Scanlan left it up to me. Her words were, "It is easier to deal with secondary effects from cimetidine, than it is to deal with a hole punched through his stomach." Good thought, had to agree with her. She also said I could feed him up to 50 pounds of carrots and apples a day to keep him eating. (Feed carrots heavier than apples; carrots have less carbs.) She also suggested I use safflower oil to help put in calories. I could use up to 1 cup a day. Because he was eating and drinking so little, his stools were hard and compact. The safflower oil served a dual purpose, adding calories and loosening his stool. I used the apple pectin capsules and cimetidine for 2.5 weeks. He is literally eating like a horse after this period of time.

As of yesterday, April 26th, I noticed that Chief is beginning to get a gut again! I am cutting him back to a flake in the AM, and one in the PM.

Gretchen, I can remember during that week in March when I returned to your website reading about why shoes are bad, I read stories from many postings about horses and ponies that found success. I felt so lost during this period. I would have never thought, dared to think that my pony would be one of these. The professionals in this area gave me little to go by. I knew I had little time, as my pony was dying. When he went down and was so thin, didn't want to eat, and I didn't know or understand what was going on with his feet, it was such a scary time. My gut feelings were telling me to prepare to lose him. After applying yours, Sabine's and Dr. Scanlan's knowledge, it is obvious after watching him yesterday afternoon that he has fully forgotten there was ever a "death sentence" involved!

It is so sad that this knowledge is not more prevalent. Horses are suffering right now, and so many of them could feel so much better instantly if these technique were put into play. Sabine's words still echo in my mind. "RESTORE HOOF
FUNCTION." These are words to live by. Chief's 11 degree rotation certainly didn't give him a death sentence as suggested in the Western Horseman article. The bute almost did.

As many of you know, I have been involved with saving my pony's life this past spring. Chief, the brown and white pony, foundered last July, October and November. All episodes were caused by grass, even the last 2 were caused by grass founders on frozen, dead grass. This pony can't even have 30 minutes of grass just sprouting through the snow, as I found out 2 weeks ago. Recently, his feet were extremely painful, and he ulcerated internally as a result of using Butezolidan through the winter (in light doses) to ease the pain of his feet on the hard, uneven ice. If it weren't for this website, and all of Gretchen Fathauer's time with me on the phone, and her putting me in contact with Sabine Kells in Canada, my pony would be dead.

Dad and Bro Bill, thanks so much for my computer. If it weren't for you two setting me up with this, I would have had a different ending to this story. This case, treated with traditional medicine, would not have turned out the way it did. All the vets up here were clueless. Thanks to you, I could access the world and what it offered.

Enjoy this website, it is long and extensive, but certainly worth a look. Take the time to let the pictures download. They are excellent.  I used the supplements calcium and magnesium, DMG, MSM, vitamins, and the DTox supplement. The UAA Gel will definitely stop a founder in progress, as I found out 2 weeks ago, as well as there is certainly no harm in using the epsom salt enema to get more magnesium into the animal during such a time.

I did have a chance to talk to Dr. Scanlan on
Wednesday night. She said that it is common, as in Chief's case, that the
creatnine is elevated when the animal is not eating well. I reviewed the blood work with her and she does not think it is leaning towards Cushing's disease. She had me put Chief on some apple pectin capsules to help coat his stomach, and therefore make him feel better and encourage eating. She said it should take 3-4 days to get him feeling better. He is still sore on his feet, but when I let him loose in the front yard this morning, then tried to get him, it impressed me just how fast he was attempting to walk away from me! We will trim more this weekend. It was great to review the case with Dr. Scanlan. She was very interested in your web site. I gave her the address, I am sure she will be visiting it this weekend.

Nancy