“Patching Up Pie and more …” – Email 24

Hello There

You’re not to worry… there’s been plenty to keep me busy 😊

I’m enjoying spending time with Sandra Williams (for more on what Sandra is up to in Buckinghamshire see end of email) and students with our Online Horse Psychology on Tuesday evenings. And then there's Hugo – he could nearly be a full time job!

Hugo's latest – he looks great and is a very happy hacker but he’s a little ‘asymmetrical’ – is one way of putting it…

I said last week that he’d seen a veterinary chiropractor, I didn’t want to give too much information until I got the mystery veterinary chiropractor’s permission and Hurrah! Vet chiropractor has agreed to do us a webinar in February (remember we’ve got leading equine cardiologist webinar in December and leading dung beetle/’should we poo pick’ webinar with Jane Myers of Equiculture in January).

The Vet Chiropractor need no longer be a mystery because she is:

Nicole Jones BSc MA Vet MB Cert VA Cert EM(Int Med) MRCVS. From Donnington Equine Vet Practice, Newbury,Berks.

Nicole graduated from Cambridge in 1992, completed an anaesthesia and orthopaedics internship at the RVC, and joined the practice in 1994. She now holds certificates in Veterinary Anaesthesia and Equine Internal Medicine, and is also a German-qualified Equine Chiropractor, blending chiropractic and acupuncture in her treatments.

Nicole’s main interests are in sports horse lameness, injury prevention and poor performance. She has a strong interest in dressage being an advanced dressage rider and producer of sports horses. She has one daughter who competes internationally in dressage.

Nicole will be great on a webinar, she’s like a lot of us – once we get going on our subject it's hard to stop us!

Of course, I went to Nicole with the full approval of Dr Jessica Kidd, who originally got Hugo back into working order. I can definitely see improvements in Hugo since the chiropractic treatment – particularly watching trot to canter on the lunge this time. However, he’s not quite right trotting to the left on a hard surface, so I’ve arranged for him to have feet x-rays on Thursday to see if that shows up anything.

Foot x-rays were the first thing I did when I got him in September 2024 as imbalance there can throw up all sorts of problems. There was no problem at all then. Just as well to see if anything has changed though. I had the expression ‘get there before it happens’ drummed into me years ago. There’s a recent study showing how horses will stay sounder longer if you treat small issues before they become bigger ones. Makes sense.

This Tuesday on the Online Horse Psychology we’re going through ‘The Problem Solving Checklist’. It feels like I’m living this at the moment! I do want Hugo to get in as great a shape as possible (or course!) but I must admit I find unravelling all that’s going on with him fascinating.

There are a lot more decisions to be made with Hugo but meanwhile … The Most Important Thing you’re asking is … How is Pie’s FACE?!?

It’s healing well thank goodness. It was lucky he had an extra check in the field that Saturday lunchtime, my friend, Katie Gormley, staying with me and the first thing she wanted to do was say hello to Pie and Blondie and Hugo (That's normal!). Katie used to make all the H&C programmes and they are mostly on the IH Members pages now.

Katie with Hugo and Blondie.

Pie had a flap of skin loose on his face (about the size of a teaspoon) which looked a bit yuk but I didn’t take a picture as you’ll understand that wasn’t a priority at that time.

I felt fairly confident I could fix it myself although it was in an awkward place. I gently poured warm water over it and then let some very mild saline solution run over it (Boots contact lense cleaner). I then managed to swiftly get the injury flat with a human plaster. Miraculously the plaster stayed on a day and a half. I didn’t want to mess around with it too much as it was obviously sore for him, poor boy.

NOTE! This does not constitute veterinary advice. If a wound looks deeper than skin level, has lots of debis inside, looks infected or is near a joint ALWAYS contact your nearest vet! The worse thing for any type of wound is one of the powders. Listen to our very first webinar by Dr Jessica Kidd to hear how bad these are!

The next plaster wasn’t so good at staying on so I gave it a little help with gaffer tape. I didn’t know if I should put a post on my local community Facebook page saying ‘Please note I am not just patching Pie up with gaffer tape there is a plaster underneath!’

NOTE: Depending how long you want something to stay on, it can be worth making the tape a little less sticky to help get it off easier.

This was day 3 with his tape.

This was with the gaffer tape.

He just has Vaseline on it now. I couldn’t resist getting him some extra special plasters but generally I wouldn’t overcomplicate things with healing unless you know the product really well ie. you’ve used it on yourself! Plus do check your medical supplies aren’t all 10 years out of date!

One last thing before I go, for all our IH subscribers in Buckinghamshire!

On the 29th of November Intelligent Horsemanship Trainers Sandra Williams and Mel Nagele are hosting an 'Intelligent Agility' Clinic at Chequers End Equestrian, Buckinghamshire, HP14 3PQ. A brilliant chance to get genuinely hands-on: build feel, focus, and fluid movement with your horse as you are guided through fun, supportive in-hand and ridden sessions — plus a friendly introduction to Horse Agility with real obstacles, real learning, and rosettes for everyone.

For Full details view here

Lots of Love

Kelly x

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