From Illness to Wellness: A Journey of Healing with My Beloved Horse

(Published in  The Barefoot Horse Magazine, Winter 2023)

From the moment I locked eyes with the smoky golden mare across the paddock I felt a deep knowing within my soul that Skye and I were destined to be together. It is believed that Morgan horses choose their human. When Skye purposefully closed the space between us with her long strides, and tapped her muzzle against my heart, I definitely felt chosen.

Horses are remarkable creatures that bring joy, companionship, and endless possibilities into our lives. However, the journey of rehabilitating a horse that has multiple health challenges can make even the most dedicated horse owner/guardian question if they are the right person for their equine partner.

In sharing our journey I hope to provide valuable insights and guidance to others who may be facing a similar situation. I invite you to join me as I recount our three-year journey from chronic pain to wellness, despair to triumph, and offer the lessons we learned along the way.

Recognize the Signs

I had initially leased Skye from a rescue up in the mountains in British Columbia, Canada. We had enjoyed a handful of trail rides our first summer together back in 2020. Yet, from the first time I was on her back I sensed something was off. Skye couldn’t relax under saddle. She had a preference to go backwards when I mounted. And when she moved into a trot she would hold her nose high in the air. I wrote her behaviours off as a result of the newness between us. I discounted my intuition, as it had been more than two decades since I had my own horse and I was only the lessee.

Then one day, in between the end of warm summer nights and the beginning of frosty fall mornings, I found Skye shivering in the paddock. She was hesitant to move. We thought that perhaps she had slipped while out running with the herd the day before. A week later, when she showed no improvement, Skye was booked to see the chiropractor. That appointment was followed with treatments from the massage therapist, and multiple sessions of acupuncture.

The first step in healing any horse is to identify the signs and symptoms of illness or lameness. In my case, although I had noticed a sudden change in Skye’s behavior, I was still only leasing her and trusted the expertise of others around me who shared she just needed more rest.

With the next shoeing cycle things got worse. Skye reared and struck out the farrier. He wasn’t able to trim her and the lameness continued.

A few weeks later I arrived at the ranch to find Skye standing alone sedated in the round pen. She had undergone surgery to remove a benign bone growth on her jaw. The protruding bone caused her considerable pain whenever she bumped it against the hay feeder. It was on that was day the ranch owner asked me to take responsibility of Skye. I remember looking over at my mare wobbling with sedation thinking how much she needed her own person. Without hesitation I agreed to adopt Skye. I then called my daughter to tell her of the beautiful senior mare who was lame and unrideable that was joining our family. I couldn’t have been happier.

In my brain I thought a few more weeks of rest and we would be back to riding the mountain trails again. Little did I know that it would be three years before that activity was even in our realm of possibility.

With Skye under my full-time care I had the vet return to do a series of x-rays of her neck. She had limited flexion of her neck, on top of the lameness, and I wanted to rule out osteoarthritis (Skye was eighteen years old at the time of the adoption). The vet suggested we add in a radiograph study of her hooves.

The x-rays cleared Skye of any arthritis but we did discover that she had thin soles, which could be contributing to her lameness. While most horses have a sole thickness of 10-15mm[1]Skye’s soles were just 3mm. The vet suggested gel pads and steel shoes to rehabilitate her soles.

I didn’t know enough at this point to question the recommendation of steel shoes and pads to rehab thin soles. Shoes and gel pads to prevent sole bruising from the mountainous rocky terrain where Skye lived made sense to me. So every 6-8 weeks for ten months I coordinated the vet and the farrier to have her sedated and shod. An incident of being twitched by the farrier had left Skye refusing to let me handle her feet so she needed to be sedated for each shoeing. Unfortunately the shoes and gel pads did not reduce Skye’s lameness.

While Skye would have the odd “good day” she was living mostly in pain. A daily NSAID was added to her care and we continued with bodywork and acupuncture treatments. However, there was still no improvement. I felt helpless that I couldn’t relieve her pain, which was clearly evident on her face and in her gait. It was at this time in our journey I began studying equine reiki. My goal in learning this healing modality was to be able to offer her energy treatments while her soles were growing under the gel pads.

The weather changed from summer back to fall and once again her lameness became worse. We added gabapentin to her daily pain management regimen. I had her test for insulin dysregulation repeated. Although her insulin was slightly elevated from the previous year’s testing the vet still considered it within normal range. The vet suggested we add hoof boots overtop of the steel shoes. But the rehab boots didn’t stay on her hooves when the herd was out exploring the forest. I spent many hours scouring sixty acres recovering boots hidden in mud puddles. She went without the boots extra protection.

A few months later it was time to do another radiograph series. Skye had now been in shoes and gel pads, and on pain meds, for almost a year. In my naiveté I believed she was growing massive amounts of sole under her protective pads and would miraculously be cured. I had put her on a vitamin regimen, plus she had enjoyed an entire year of rest. How could she not be better? However, that wasn’t to be the outcome. The new x-rays conveyed a very different situation.

Skye’s soles had experienced further deterioration under the gel pads and steel shoes. Her soles were now less than 2mm thick (1.68mm at their thinnest point). I was devastated. A year of waiting, shoeing and sedation (and at an incredible financial cost) and Skye was in a worse position. It was at this point in our journey that the vet suggested that the kindness act I could offer Skye was euthanasia. I wrestled with the vet’s recommendation for days. There had to be another way!

Sitting with Skye in the snowy field in December 2021 the tears of despair flowed as I poured out my heart to her. It had been a year and a half since we came into partnership together and everything I had done to help her had made her pain worse. Although the vet had recommended euthanasia as a ‘humane act’, and for some horses in severe pain it is, there was something within me that refused to believe this was the end for us.

Skye had chosen me for a reason. Maybe she knew I had a tenacious spirit and loved a challenge, especially when people around me tell me something isn’t possible. However, the decision to keep moving forward had to be one we both agreed upon. I checked in with Skye through a reiki session and asked if she wanted to go on a rehab journey with me. Despite her chronic pain her life force felt strong. I interpreted that as a signal to carry on.

Trust Your Intuition

I had turned my back on my inner knowing that something was wrong right from the beginning. It was time to get quiet and tune back into the wisdom of my heart and let it guide us through the next steps. Skye and I had been together for 18 months. I now knew her better than anyone else and she needed me to advocate for her.

While the vet and farrier each had their unique expertise, which I had valued and was thankful for, I had to remember that they were evaluating Skye through the lens of pain management (which we were struggling with) and movement (which she was struggling with.) I began looking at her through a lens of holistic care and intuitive healing. My first act in taking control of her health was removing her steel shoes despite the experts telling me otherwise. If the steel shoes weren’t helping, in fact they were impeding her well being, they had to go.

Seek Professional Guidance

I began my journey to help Skye led only by my love for her and a curiosity that there had to me more healing therapies that we hadn’t yet discovered. I truly didn’t know what my next step was to be after I removed her shoes. Despite having had multiple horses as a young woman I had never experienced a horse with chronic lameness or the high level of pain Skye was enduring daily. I made the choice to commit my time and finances for one more year to help her heal. And then, if she was still in chronic pain at the end of 2022, at least I would know in my heart that I had done everything I could to help her.

Skye’s hooves and her health became my daily focus, although others around me would probably say my desire to help my horse heal, became an obsession.

I began seeking the wisdom of other professionals. I reached out to hoof care providers and equine rehabilitation specialists I found on social media. I asked strangers if I could send them Skye’s x-rays and blood work for second, third and fourth opinions. I was shocked and deeply touched by the kindness and willingness of people around the globe to help us.

It turned out that Skye’s diagnosis of thin soles was just one of her challenges. With each assessment from the hoof and rehab professionals I received reports and emails that referenced “chronic laminitis”- a condition that had not been previously identified. However, the follow up x-rays showed Skye had rotation of both coffin bones and distal descent. Her images also showed demineralization of the lower edge of the coffin bone in her left front hoof.

I now had my answer to why she had thin soles. While genetics and confirmation surely played a role, the chronic inflammation in her laminae had caused a slow but consistent downward movement of the coffin bone, probably over a period of years. This bone’s sinking onto the vascular structures in her soles had compromised the blood flow resulting in limited sole thickness.

Follow The Bread Crumbs

The more I learned about hooves and laminitis the deeper I went into the research. I was no longer just a student of how to rehabilitate a horse’s thin soles. I learned about natural horse care, herbs and healing, equine nutrition, homeopathy, vibrational medicine and positive reinforcement training. I left no stone unturned to help Skye. I additionally took courses in cranial-sacral therapy and equine body therapy for horse owners. I studied equine psychology, aromatherapy, acupressure, sound healing and emotional horsemanship. I brought my skills of teaching mindfulness and meditation to humans into the paddock to create a peaceful healing environment for Skye and her herd.

My goal of why we were on the healing journey shifted somewhere during that second year. Initially my goal was to get Skye well enough to ride. Along the path my focus shifted to simply helping her feel good in her body again.

The suggestion was made that Skye wear hoof boots full-time to ease her pain. We trialed multiple brands to find a pair she could wear daily, and would not lose, in her 24/7 turnout. She ended up wearing her boots 23 hours a day, seven days a week, for the next nine months. The boots were a great support tool. Skye was moving a little easier with the rubber soled boots and felt pad inserts. We took her off the gabapenetin.

On social media I saw a post referencing an equine holistic health consultant. I looked them up and immediately booked an appointment. That’s when things got interesting as we began revamping Skye’s diet.

We went back to the beginning and took Skye off everything including the pharmaceutical pain medications, opting instead for a herbal remedy. That initial request from the equine health consultant raised significant resistance within me. How would Skye cope without her pain medication? I was afraid to watch her pain escalate again. However, when we reviewed all the medications and supplements Skye had been taking, with little improvement, I had no choice but to let go and trust the guidance on this new path.

We switched her from a senior grain to a handful of alfalfa cubes as a carrier for her supplements. We traded commercial vitamins and supplements for natural herbal remedies. We added tinctures, flower essences and homeopathy to her daily care. All traces of sugar were removed from her diet including apples, carrots and horse cookies. Celery, cucumber, pumpkin seeds, rosehips and timothy hay pellets were now her rewards. The only thing I couldn’t change was the hay.

Skye lives outside 24 hours a day with a permanent herd that have continual access to round bales. With a hay shortage during the pandemic it was futile to do any testing when the bales were coming from multiple sources. Additionally, trying to segregate Skye from the herd to feed her alternate hay caused additional stress in her body. Instead I focused on what I could control. We took steps to reduce her anxiety, as we were concerned the cortisol could trigger a laminitic episode.

Herbal protocols work slowly. I had to trust that although I couldn’t see any immediate changes in my mare, the transformation was occurring deep within her at a cellular level. We persevered but the herbal treatment wasn’t enough to manage her pain. We put her back on the NSAIDs for a short time.

And then one day, three months into the new nutrition plan, I received a video from the ranch of Skye cantering and bucking in her paddock for no reason other than she was feeling better and she could! I felt a rush of joy and validation that what we were doing was working.

Another two months passed and it was time for more radiographs. I held my breath as the vet looked at the images on his computer. When he slowly turned towards he smiled and gave me a high five. In five months her soles had gone from less than 2mm thick to almost 5 mm. We were on our way!

Build a Community

When you are on a rehab journey, it is crucial to involve qualified veterinarian care but it is also important to identify equine practitioners in complementary therapies who can play a vital role in supporting the foundation for your horse’s recovery. It took a team of professionals to bring Skye back to health. We benefited from the expert care of multiple vets, farriers, trimmers, chiropractors, body workers, nutritionists, herbalists, energy workers, an osteopathy practitioner, hoof rehabilitation specialists, positive reinforcement trainers and animal communicators.

Beyond that it is also important to build your own community of personal support. As the distance to Skye’s home in the mountains home prevented me from being with her daily I had to ask for help. This wasn’t easy to do, as I am one of those people who always insist on doing things on their own. Yet asking for help for Skye was different. She needed others involved in her daily care if she was going to get better. I couldn’t do it alone.

I am blessed to be part of an equine community filled with kind and caring souls. So many people on the ranch eagerly joined Skye’s care team. There were friends who gave Skye her daily pain medications, others who offered her flower essence drops, and another who took off her boots and washed her felt pads daily. One family fed Skye her herb supplements every day that I couldn’t be there. This community persevered with me through hot summers, freezing winters and snowstorms for over a year to help us. Skye would not be where she is today without the generosity of time and spirit of that community.

Healing a horse is a journey that requires unwavering patience and perseverance. Trying to stay positive and adapting to setbacks and challenges can wear down even the most dedicated and determined soul. There were many days I didn’t want to go to see Skye as her as her pain was so visible that my heart ached. Other days when I tried to work with her, I would become frustrated she didn’t want to move, or even stand with me in the field. I often ended up in tears leaving the ranch feeling distraught and questioning if I was the right human for her. In those dark moments you need to reach out for support and guidance. There were so many people who encouraged and supported us through the dark days of pain and doubt.

We need to remember that healing isn’t linear. There will be days where progress is evident and you will want to high five everyone you know. There will also be days, that stretch into weeks, where you will experience setbacks and you’ll ask yourself if it’s all worth your time, money and heartache. Don’t go the path alone.

When an opportunity arose in the summer of 2022 to have Skye live on a track system I jumped at the chance. Due to her lack of movement because of the pain she had gained over 200 pounds. I was concerned about the impact of her increased weight on her recovery.

I had hoped more movement on a softer terrain would be the final key in her rehab journey. More movement would stimulate the natural hoof mechanism and pump blood through the hooves, improving her hoof health and overall well-being. Moving Skye out of the mountains would also provide increased access to weekly body treatments, a barefoot trimmer familiar with rehabbing laminitic horses, and low sugar hay options. I didn’t make the move lightly as I was concerned about the stress of moving her from her herd but I followed my intuition trusting that it was the right choice at the time.

Within the first month of living on the track we began transitioning Skye out of her boots. She couldn’t live in them forever. Moving through the pain was going to have to be the way forward for her. We supported her through the transition by adding a small dose of an NSAID back into her care. Eight weeks she was no longer in boots in any part of her day, and was visibly moving without any signs of pain or a need for pain medication. Skye and I returned to the ranch nine weeks later.

Today as I write this article it has been 2 years and nine months since that first day I found Skye shivering in pain in the paddock. Skye remains on a herbal protocol and is restricted from sweets. She lives outside 24/7 with her mixed herd of donkeys, mules and horses. She has access to continuous hay and regular opportunities to forage in the forest for wild plants. She sees her hoof care provider ever 4-5 weeks for regular trims. She is blanketed as soon as the weather drops to below 5C. Having her core warm has also helped minimize her hoof pain. This past winter we added rubber mats and thick wood shavings to her run-in shelter. Winters are cold in the coastal mountains but this past year Skye has tolerated the extreme weather without a disruption in her wellness. She sleeps more, which has also supported her healing. I am watching her transform and blossom into the horse she was always meant. We broke the pain cycle she’d been living in and helped her nervous system reset back to peace.

The road back to barefoot living and optimal health can be a long journey with your horse and finding ways to celebrate the milestones helps to focus your attention on all that is going well. As Skye made progress, I tried to mark the milestones we achieved. Sometimes the celebrations would consist of me baking her a sugarless treat because we reached 30 days without pain medication; or tea with a friend to share our recent win. And this past spring we held a ceremony in the field to acknowledge her transformation and release the narrative of our relationship being solely focused on her rehabilitation. We are excited to discover a new purpose for our partnership.

Hold onto Your Dreams

Recently Skye and I went on an adventure through the forest and along the river covering almost six kilometers. We walked together, shoulder to shoulder, on the trail. This walk was something I had dreamed for us for almost three years. I took the time to record parts of our walk and shared the moments on social media to celebrate our success with others who had supported us. It was a significant milestone. I encourage others on the rehab journey to do the same, emphasizing the significance of acknowledging and appreciating even the smallest steps forward, as they serve as reminders of the incredible resilience and spirit of both you and your horse.

Skye and I have not gone back to riding. I do feel an occasional longing for this activity as I watch other riders amble down the trail with horses. However, I know our connection isn’t found riding in the mountains. Our journey has been one of the heart- just as Skye had pointed out to me with her muzzle on the first day we met.

Skye’s journey from pain to wellness has taught me valuable lessons about compassion, resilience, and the power of a strong partnership between human and horse. Remember, healing takes time, but with determination, a positive mindset and unwavering dedication, miracles can happen. Skye and I hope your journey is filled with hope, strength, and the joy of witnessing your beloved horse’s remarkable recovery.

[1] Sole depth and weight-bearing characteristics of the palmar surface of the feet of feral horses and domestic Thoroughbreds  https://avmajournals.avma.org/view/journals/ajvr/72/6/ajvr.72.6.727.xml