Andromeda is a National Show Horse (Arabian and Saddlebred cross) who we rescued from a horse trader in November 2022. You can read about her rescue here.
In the past 18 months since she’s been at Hanaeleh, Andromeda has gone from being thin and emaciated to a bit fat and sassy! She regained her weight (and then some), but she had some evidence of having previously foundered before we got her, keeping her from being completely sound. Founder is when the coffin bone in the hoof rotates and drops, which can be very painful. Horses can founder for a number of different reasons, including an improper diet or stressful event. She enjoyed running around the arena and seemed comfortable at liberty, however, so we decided the best option at that time was keeping her barefoot and putting her in boots to run around in.
This past month, however, we saw that Andromeda seemed to be tender on her feet, and was clearly uncomfortable. We decided that it was imperative to contact the vet as we were concerned that Andromeda had another founder event. The vet came out and took x-rays of her hooves and determined that her coffin bone had rotated in both feet, but her right had rotated to the point that it was incredibly painful. Several years ago we wouldn’t have had any options for her, but farrier care has developed quite a bit. We are incredibly lucky that the farrier Greg Perez is not only local, but he was able to add us to his caseload; he is one of the few farriers in Southern California who is able to do specialized farrier care for horses like Andromeda.
Horses with founder or severe laminitis can improve using wooden shoes! These are actually pieces of wood that are measured and designed specifically for each horse- these shoes help the horse’s hooves to heal by allowing the horse to rock back and take pressure off of the hoof, allowing for the laminae in the hoof to improve, and can help to reduce any pain the horse may be feeling. This takes several months, but the positive news is that Andromeda’s prognosis is good, and it is possible to change the rotation much more closer to normal, meaning Andromeda will hopefully be able to run around again without pain!
We will continue to provide Andromeda with the best care, with the help of our wonderful vets at OCEVS, and with the help and dedication of Greg Perez. It is only with the help of these specialists that we are able to ensure the health and safety of all of our horses!
As you can imagine, Andromeda’s vet bills have been costly and with regular X-rays every time she gets her feet done, they will be in the hundreds of dollars. We are a small rescue that depends solely on donations from people like you. Please help us with a donation, no matter how small here.
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- Andromeda’s feet before the shoes- you can see that the right has obvious changes.
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- The vet came out and completed x-rays on both front feet.
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- Greg Perez measures the blocks for Andromeda’s feet.
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- Each shoe is custom made and the angles carefully measured to help alleviate pain and pressure on the coffin bone.
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- Andromeda with her new wooden shoes on.
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- It took a few minutes to get used to them, but Andromeda seems just fine in her new wooden shoes!