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August
2004 |
Mariela foundered in May of
2003 due to ingestion of insecticides and herbicides. Her
pasture is bordered by cotton fields. Intense rains washed
the toxic chemicals through her pasture, which she then ingested
while grazing. Signs of founder showed up two weeks after
the spraying of the fields.
Unfortunately, photos that were
taken during the initial visits were lost. This valuable information
can not be duplicated or recovered. Very disheartening.
Mariela is all but fully recovered
as of this writing, March 2005. This is still an ongoing case,
however, as she returns to full use. More updates will follow.
The images that follow showcase
the progression of the feet over the last year or so.
Mariela's
X-Rays |
Left front |
Left front |
Left front |
| July
2003 |
August
2003 |
March
2004 |
Right
front
 |
Right
front
 |
Right
front
 |
 |
November
2004 |
Movie
- Mariela on April 25, 2005 (large
file)
November
13, 2005 |
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As
of this date, Mariela is recovering nicely. The pictures
and short movie clips should help you draw your own
conclusions. You may wonder what her feet look like
at this point in time. Well, since Mother Nature is
always kind enough to offer pleasant days with lots
of warm sunshine, picture taking is hard to do well.
Picture updates will be taken when the light is more
favorable. Bright sunlight just isn’t the most
conducive to accurate and detailed photographs.
The trim
frequency for Mariela is that of a normal horse. She’s
been trimmed every six to seven weeks. Her trim is nothing
more than the normal trim that I perform on any other
‘normal-footed’ horse. Mariela is a quiet
and usually cooperative horse. Trimming her is usually
quick and easy, that is, now that she’s back to
being a normal horse.
Mariela is
a little unique in that she hasn’t received the
usual rehabilitation. She’s not received as much
massaging, stretching, chiropractics, walking, working
and repeating of the process. Nevertheless, her environment
and personal care has been conducive enough to afford
Mariela the chance to recover, albeit slower than most
of the other cases. The point to this is, even though
her rehab wasn’t ideal, the protocol was adaptable
enough to her situation so that she could still mend
her feet and body.
Now that
Beverly sees that Mariela is capable of riding again,
she plans to re-introduce her breeches to her saddle
and put them both to good use by riding Mariela more
and finish out her rehab program, which will bring Mariela
back to full service. Beverly lives in a great place
to ride several miles without running into any traffic,
unless it’s harvest day for the hundreds of acres
of cotton.
Mariela,
Beverly and Gene are all living happily ever after,
in the heart of So. Georgia farm country. |
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A momentous day for Beverly and Mariela.
It’s all smiles and miles from here.
Stay
tuned for more updates in the future.
See
Mariela in action!
Video1
Video2
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Please contact me if you have
any questions or would like to discuss your horse's condition.
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