I don’t think I posted this guy since I first joined the forum! He has since turned 19
Chip was diagnosed with navicular (hoof/bone issue). It would have been a death sentence years ago and was almost one for Chip too. There has been progress in treating and rehabbing horses with it though. He was lame enough (trouble just walking) and unresponsive to a lot of the treatments we tried that putting him down was not completely off the table. In the end, we decided to give barefoot rehab a try along with pain meds when specialized shoes and shots into the affected area wasn’t working 100%.
And this is Chip just last month when I decided to pull him off the pain meds after 2 years of barefoot rehabbing. I wanted to see where we were at without pain meds hiding any of his possible issues. As you can see he has made a recovery! There is still progress to be made when it comes to his hoof structure but he is sound again. Horse people or anyone that has watched Chip over the years can see he is very slightly off every once in awhile. I think it’s actually because he has always been very wimpy when it comes to stones. The arena has stones mixed into the sand. When he looks slightly off I’m thinking he hit a stone.
Some pictures from this summer and fall!
His tack box no longer filled with show stuff hahaha. I have a new bag of molasses treats on the kitchen table right now for him too
Chip was diagnosed with navicular (hoof/bone issue). It would have been a death sentence years ago and was almost one for Chip too. There has been progress in treating and rehabbing horses with it though. He was lame enough (trouble just walking) and unresponsive to a lot of the treatments we tried that putting him down was not completely off the table. In the end, we decided to give barefoot rehab a try along with pain meds when specialized shoes and shots into the affected area wasn’t working 100%.
And this is Chip just last month when I decided to pull him off the pain meds after 2 years of barefoot rehabbing. I wanted to see where we were at without pain meds hiding any of his possible issues. As you can see he has made a recovery! There is still progress to be made when it comes to his hoof structure but he is sound again. Horse people or anyone that has watched Chip over the years can see he is very slightly off every once in awhile. I think it’s actually because he has always been very wimpy when it comes to stones. The arena has stones mixed into the sand. When he looks slightly off I’m thinking he hit a stone.
Some pictures from this summer and fall!
His tack box no longer filled with show stuff hahaha. I have a new bag of molasses treats on the kitchen table right now for him too
Thank you for loving him so. 
