First off, I want to thank our farrier.  Val took time out of his schedule to go with me to DAS and give his opinion on whether or not these horses could be helped.  My intent was to find out specifically if Dancin Shecky&rsquos condition was something that could be helped and that he would be comfortable.  I truely value Val&rsquos opinion as he was a jockey at one time, managed a few racing farms and was raised around horses.  He&rsquos seen a lot, knows a lot and promised me he would give me a straight answer.  Quality of Life was uppermost in my mind for Dancin Shecky.  I also wanted his opinion on the pronounced &ldquodivot&rdquo  in Spin Around&rsquos back.
Heads up.......I totally forgot the camera so I didn&rsquot get any new pictures.  I had planned on taking pictures of Dancin Shecky&rsquos feet for everyone to see.  Sorry.  I guess that will have to wait until tomorrow! 
Yup!  Val really checked out his feet and legs.  Frog is so overgrown that it protrudes from the SIDES of both hooves!  But the good news is that he hasn&rsquot lost his sole.  There was no heat, inflammation or pulse in his feet.  Flies were buzzing around the blown abcess sites on both fores at the cornet band.  Shecky lifted his feet when Val asked and held them.  We didn&rsquot even have a halter on him.  Val talked to him the whole time in his low murmuring voice.  Shecky was a prince about the whole thing.
 
After checking out Shecky, Val said &ldquoLet&rsquos take a look at this sweet red mare&rdquo.  He started his murmur stuff and then checked her feet, ran his hands all over her.  Spin reached over and gave him a hug like a long lost friend!  Val kept rubbing her, telling her how pretty she was and she just sucked it up.  When I asked about the divot he said &ldquoNot to worry.  It&rsquoll fill in when you get some nutrition into her.&rdquo  I asked why it was so pronounced and he explained something that I didn&rsquot know and hadn&rsquot seen before.  He said since she was used primarily as a broodmare that her pelvis had expanded when in foal.  The weight loss just &ldquoenhanced my view of her frame&rdquo.  I guess most of the mares we have rescued that were under weight hadn&rsquot had many foals so this was a new one on me.  Live and Learn!  Her feet need trimming and most likely she will need dental work.  But he said she was a really nice mare and would fill out with good care.  He said  &ldquoShe&rsquos good to go&rdquo meaning he didn&rsquot see any major problems.  She continued to follow him around until we went back to Shecky&rsquos pen and hung her head over the fence near him.  Kristy, one of our HARD WORKING Volunteers, has graciously offered to house her during her rehab!!
Since Val hadn&rsquot said anything about Shecky and had gone over to Spin after checking him out, I was expecting him to tell me that the prognosis was not good.  When I asked him if we could help this horse he said &ldquoThis is totally doable.  No problem.  He ain&rsquot gonna win any races, he&rsquoll never be 100%, but at 25 yrs. old he just needs a little assistance with groceries and his feet.  He hasn&rsquot lost his sole and in fact has a little extra that we&rsquoll get healthy again.&rdquo  Shecky also seemed to think the sun rises and sets on Val and nuzzled him up.  I asked him to check his teeth.  After a brief look & feel of Shecky&rsquos teeth, Val&rsquos comment was &ldquoOh Lord!&rdquo.  I guess that means we&rsquoll be feeding pellets, senior feed and scheduling a dental appointment. 
Val didn&rsquot want to do his feet today.  He said for us to get him to TIER, get some oil/moisture into those hooves because his hooves will split where the abcesses have blown if we don&rsquot.  He wants him to have a few days of moisturizing treatments before he tackles the mess that is this boy&rsquos feet. 
Our contact at DAS was pleased to hear the news about Shecky as she too thought it was going to be sad news.  While we were all standing there talking, I walked over to him and felt inside his sheath.  His sheath has a lot of edema and I&rsquom sure he has a bean the size of Texas, but there was so much thick/dried Smegma (sp?) in the opening I don&rsquot know how this horse peed without spraying his stomach!  Shecky had been nuzzling up and glad of company until I went to his nether regions.  He was none too happy about my visit there and kicked out a couple times.  Can&rsquot blame him as the stuff I did pull out was hard and dry.  Once he gets to TIER, Kristy assures me that her lovely sister Bonnie is quite proficient at traveling in the Nether Lands and will be glad to soften up that stuff.  When I mentioned it to Bonnie, she said........&rdquoNoooooooooo&rdquo  We&rsquoll see.  HA!
So, Kristy will be housing Spin and Shecky will come to TIER.  We will be picking them up Friday morning!!