Kelly is a gentle mare and been fairly easy to work with so far. Her biggest trouble has come around picking up and treating her hooves. She was fairly naughty for the first farrier visit last month and we are hopeful with the care and work we have started she is feeling better about letting us help her. Her second farrier visit at SAFE went quite well, and though she is reluctant to lift her hooves very high or very long, she was quite cooperative all things considered. She is currently still slightly off on her front, and we are waiting to see if consistent regular trims and treatment for thrush can help eliminate the soreness or if more investigation is needed into the cause of pain. Right now, most of the Graham horse’s hooves are in such bad shape, it’s hard to know if there is more going on than proper hoof care will clear up. More time is needed to determine, and we will make them available for adoption when we can let perspective adopters know if there any chronic soundness issues.
We are also treating her for scratches on her legs. The combination of her long feathers and the filthy environment she was living in have cause a lot of this bacteria to grow and irritate her skin. This also could be a contributing reason she was not so happy with the initial farrier visit or having her hooves picked up. Having to hold and touch her sores could not have been comfortable. She is living in a mud free paddock now and getting daily treatments.
Kelly will see the vet for a dental float this week, where we will get a better determination of her age. She has been vaccinated since arriving at SAFE, and has been dewormed. We also ran a bloodwork panel on her to check all her levels, and to test her for Cushing’s and insulin resistance (her results all came back within normal range).
Kelly is a sweet girl who enjoys hanging out along the fenceline she shares with Apollo and Nutmeg, and will never refuse a pet on the head.
