The Ginger Saga Pt. 3

I don't know how many posts I have done about Ginger, but they never seem to end. Don't get me wrong, I love our little girl and she has a special place in our hearts, but I wish we could get to the end of her challenges.

Ever since Ginger was a newborn, she has had challenges with her back hooves. She has never developed strength in her flexor tendons which have caused her to have incorrect form. Her hooves roll to the inside and she walks on the sides of her hooves.

I'm sure it is painful and we have tried a few different things to correct it but without success. We have been trying to do some corrective trimming with our farrier by angling her hooves differently.

Next, we purchased some orthotic braces that we hoped would offer support and force her to walk more upright. These created pressure sores no matter how much padding we provided.

Being unsuccessful in these attempts, I realized our only hope was the vet.

I took her to the vet clinic and they glued these plastic shoes to her hooves. It forces her hooves to stay flat and trains her legs to straighten and gain strength correctly. Even though she's tiny, it took four grown adults to hold Ginger down for the process!

The hooves are only bandaged until the epoxy sets up completely.

It is wonderful to see her feet flat to the ground! She has been a little sore and we have given her a little pain medication to help her as she adjusts to her new feet. After five weeks, we'll return to the vet where they will trim her hooves and reset the shoes. We hope that after two or three trimmings we'll be able to remove the shoes permanently! Maybe after that, the Ginger saga will be complete and she can live a happy, normal life!