Coffee Crisp's rehabilitation

This story starts in 2023 when Coffee Crisp (CC) was born.  Initially we could see that her right hind leg appeared “windswept,” but that condition is something foals grow out of, and the leg becomes straight in time.

Amanda B.(Banana) took a great interest in this very tiny foal and her well being.  Last fall we put CC in the trailer with her aunt as a companion.  By last December I decided we need to try “something” to straighten the collapsing right hind fetlock.  Consultation with Dr. Ed yielded a plan to place a “pony shoe” (the biggest metal flat washer I could find at an equipment dealership in Meadow Lake) under the hoof to prevent the ankle from twisting off to the side.

This method did not seem to be bringing any improvement, so we moved to Plan B, stabilizing the fetlock joint by fusing the bones in the ankle.  This time we took CC to the vet clinic and, because of the injections, gave her a sedative.  Dr. Ed and his assistant clipped the fetlock and then injected alcohol into the bursa to cause the calcification of the bone.  A  cast was then placed on the leg to immobilize the entire structure until the bone had time to grow, in a straighter position.

By the end of April, the bone should have stabilized, and CC went back to the Vet Clinic for assessment.   The fetlock still seemed “wobbly”  so then we did another round of injection to calcify more bone.  More time spent in a cast, with Banana dutifully checking there were no pressure sores.  

In the summer, Dr. Ed returned to the Ranch with his assistants and together they removed the second cast.  A half cast was placed around the leg to continue to give it some stability but also allow more movement.  

Probably because her body was struggling to heal for most of the spring, CC did not shed properly.  She was fuzzy and, I suspect, itchy when the days got hot.  CC found a convenient scratching spot as she wandered about the yard.  It does give you an idea of just how tiny CC is. A few days later Dawn brought out her clippers and over the course of a couple of days she turned CC into an even smaller pony!  I imagine that CC felt much cooler with all the winter hair gone.

We decided that CC’s undershot jaw was probably another one of her problems that makes chewing and especially tearing off food difficult.  We started feeding CC “mash” (soaked alfalfa/timothy cubes) with a little oats, and she started to gain a bit of wight so she looks more like a regular miniature pony now.  CC lives in the small pen in front of the Brown’s house and has her own shelter.  She receives warm mash morning and evening, perhaps we will have to lower the amount of mash once the cold weather has passed by.