An update

First, my computer is not working, so I am logging in on Jack's for a quick update. So, forgive me if I don't visit your blogs, or respond to your emails as promptly as I should.

Emmett was quite the trooper yesterday through all the poking and prodding and his first trailer ride. The UW Vet school staff was phenominal. They took excellant care of him and did a great job answering any and all questions I could think of.

It wasn't a clear cut diagnosis. He definately has two club feet, but the decision on how to treat it was left to me. Either he could have surgery or we could take a more conservative approach and try to shoe him out of it. I was completely at a loss of what to do. My good friend Tammy rode along and she didn't have an answer for me either. I finally called Jack and he said, as long as it won't hurt him to wait and see if the consrevative approach would work, we should go that way. In other words it's never a good idea to go into surgery unless you HAVE to.

So, Emmett has a new set of aluminum sliders on his front hooves. He, like Big Brown, has glued on shoes. They farrier guru trimmed the dead heal and frog off and built up his heal to allow him to put weight on it. In addition he is also on pain medication to allow him to stretch those little muscles to get his heal down.

When it was time to go home he leaped into the trailer and slid across the boards to the front as if to say "get me outta here!"

I have to keep him out of mud and confined to a stall for the next two weeks, and then we will head back down to the Vet school to see how he's done. He let me know today on one of his twice daily walks, that he wasn't a BIT happy about not being able to jump and play.

Tammy let us borrow a stall for a couple days while I do some work here to finally finish the stall he was birthed in, create an indoor stall and create a nice grassy paddock for him to have a small turnout in. Thank goodness I had purchased 12 connecting fence panels last winter.

I appreciate immensly the support you all have given me. I have gotten a LOT of good advice, and just typing all we are going through has helped tremendously.

Thank you AGAIN to Tammy for her support. I don't know what I would have done without her. She always comes through when I need her most, providing stalls, mental support and great advice.