Panache has crossed the Rainbow Bridge. More info coming soon.

Wowie Kazowie!! Thanks to a very lovely lady (Rosemary-who was the driving force in rescuing Panache) and her employer, Panache is being sponsored until February 2003! Thank you so very much Rosemary....and company!! HA!

Wowie Kazowie! This guy is doing so good! The farrier that comes out every two weeks (4 weeks the last time) only takes a little off his feet each time. Panache is now coming out of his pen on his own and CRUISING!!! His movement is much better and he is able to put more weight on the foot with the severe navicular. He is also able to run some! We are so proud of him!

Just a little Panache update. He was worked on by the chiropractor (who loves him!) on Friday. Dr. Quay said he was pleased with his progress and he wished every horse was as easy to adjust. Everyone falls in love with Panache!

Farrier comes out this Thursday to do another little trim. Fingers crossed for this boy to improve and be comfortable.

He is let out of his pen on a daily basis. The other day he joined Pearl at my backdoor begging for goodies.....which of course he got. He is a carrot fiend and like the apple snacks too! He is doing so well. We also have him on a Hawthorne berry supplement to get blood flowing to his feet. He is doing so well, that the other day he was in the arena with Buck and a few others (he gets along with everyone! We just don't put him out with pushy or overbearing horses so he won't have to try to defend himself or get away) and he started running with Buck! The next day he was a little sore, but he worked himself out of it as he cruised around.

He still rarely comes out of his pen on his own even when the gate is left open. If Grace is out, he is more inclined to come out or, if I have carrots he will come out right away! HA! But once he is led out he knows he has permission to go anywhere he likes. Of course, his favorite thing to do is go to the poop pile and roll. Sigh. Everyone else likes to go into the roundpen or somewhere to roll in the sand/dirt.....Panache is a poop roller! HA!

As you can see from the pictures, Panache is doing much better! The abcess has drained and he is much more comfortable. I checked it this evening and it still looks a little moist to me, so I am going to wrap it for another 48 hours with icthamol to try to draw out any remaining infection. He is now wandering all over the place, whereas before, he would stay close to his pen alot. We still have to halter him and lead him out of his pen as he refuses to walk out on his own. But, once he is out of his pen, he is fine.

We are also giving Panache, Jordan & Callie some Hawthornberry herbs to increase circulation to their feet. Panache is doing so well, that he followed Ms. Pearl & Grace through the backyard and onto the porch. I happened to look out our kitchen window and saw this huge red object! That Pearl is certainly spreading the word about goodies at the back door! Panache wouldn't eat any pies, so I cut up an apple for him. He was very pleased and I expect to see him and the ever growing crowd of Backdoor Beggars again soon.

The big stinker is feeling much better today! He was out and about. This is good news as we are turning him out daily in hopes that he will walk around and get the blood flowing to his feet to help with his navicular. Lately, he had not been moving around as much as I would have liked him to and I was turning him out with other horses in order to get him to move. Must have been the abcess giving him pain and he didn't want to move. Now that the abcess is draining, he is feeling much more adventuresome and even tried running! HA! That was good to see!

Here's a pic of the big boy. He has an abcess on the bulb of his foot. Found it yesterday. Sigh. We put iodine and ichthamol on it, wrapped in cotton, Huggies baby diaper over that, vet wrap, duct tape. Will take it off tomorrow and see how it goes. He was lying down yesterday morning (which he doesn't do). I gave him some bute and sat down to talk to him and noticed a bunch of flies gathered on the heel of his foot. That's when I found the abcess. I had attributed his lying down to his Navicular. He was up after the bute took effect. Buted him last night too.

Sigh. Got the results back from the vet. It's navicular. Pretty bad. But......our special farrier will be out monday and we will get to work. I will show him the x-rays and give him the vets input which is:

Dub the toe back. His toes are too long.
Dub it down until you see laminae.
He's not foundered.
Don't need to take any heel off and his level is good. Needs to grow some bottom though. Maybe special shoes?
He has never been nerved so might be a candidate for nerving. (Nerving, in my opinion, is a last resort.)

Now......my vet is old school. All these new fangled methods can leave him shaking his head.......unless they work of course. So, we will wait to hear what the farrier says.

I spoke to the vet regarding x-ray, etc. of Panache's legs/feet. The vet asked that our farrier remove Panache's pads & shoes and have his feet flat
so that he can do proper x-rays. A call has been put in to the farrier for scheduling.

Panache is a big sweetie. Kind, genlte, respectful of your space. He waits to be asked to move, rather than moving on his own when a human is around. We have see this behavior before in horses that have been used/trained well. He is hesitant to leave his pen on his own and waits for permission...someone needs to lead him through the gate...to be turned out into the area surrounding his pen. Jake was like this too...until he found out it was okay to be spoiled and he could come out the gate when we opened it, told him it was okay and moved out of the way. Panache seems to be totally enamoured of Grace. Grace's attitude? "Oh, another man houndogging me? I'm just so popular!" We have turned Grace & Panache out in a small area together. Panache dutifully follows her around while Grace makes it
plain she has other more important things to do! HA!

We are hesitant to put alot of weight on him just yet as we need to see what the farrier & vet says about his feet. He is eating well and very politely. A good boy. And......HE'S BIG!!!!

Panache arrived around 9:00 p.m. tonight. We moved horses around, etc. and got his new "quarters" ready. I put a layer of wood chip type shavings down so that he would have some cushion. He came off the trailer well. A perfect gentleman, no hestancy to follow Blair back to his new abode. Dogs barking didn't phase him. Went into the pen, over to the corner to sniff Pilgrim, Woody & Grace (4 pens meet at one corner) and immediately went to the dinner table (feeder).

He was limping, but nothing like what I expected. I would assume that we will see a little more lameness tomorrow due to the stress and the travel. Plus, he had to step down onto asphalt to come out of the trailer. He's a real trooper. As it was almost dark, we left him to get acquainted and settle in. I did tell him "Welcome Home Nach" and "Moma Rosemary sends her love".

Thank you my friends for helping this boy. I will try to get some pics tomorrow. I will put a call into the vet on Monday to come visit our newest best friend.

Thanks to the deep attachment formed by Rosemary for a horse she has never met and his plight, Panache will be leaving the feedlot soon to come to True Innocents Equine Rescue - TIER. Many people have been concerned about this boy and Rosemary went full speed ahead to make sure that after all his years of giving to humans in the show ring and teaching people how to ride as a lesson horse will be repaid by giving back to him. Thank you Rosemary, Karen, LeeAnn & Rosemary's Employer. Thank you for giving Panache a tommorow after all the hard yesterdays.