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Joey is a little mix breed horse we "rescued" in February 2008. He was living on a dairy farm where my husband worked. He saw Joey every day and had taken care of him for almost 5 years. He kept telling Joey's owners he shouldn't be getting haylage with the heifers that he could die from it, but they didn't seem to understand.

The summer of 2007 we noticed that Joey was laying down a lot in the pasture they had put him in for the summer. I told my husband Joey probably foundered. Finally during the winter of 2007 to 2008 they said they would sell Joey to us.

By February 2008 my husband couldn't stand the fact that Joey was still standing in cow manure all day on cement and eating haylage, and he decided we needed to get him home right then and there. He got another stall built when the weather was below zero and one weekend when it was done said we are getting Joey home. Joey of course wouldn't go into a trailer so he decided to walk him home. Where he lived was 4 miles away. My husband didn't care. And we had a blizzard start right when they left the dairy farm! I followed him the entire way with my truck.

Joey was home here only 3 days when I knew something was wrong. He has Cushings and has foundered more than just last summer. He is on Chaste Berry for the Cushings which has helped a lot! We kept him off of grass all summer but in late September he still foundered on us. We go the vet right away and he is doing great now a month later.

I talked to a farrier that is an advocate of your boots and with her encouragement and a gentleman from Canada and I ordered your Epic boots for him. He went for his first walk with them on Sunday and wasn't lame at all! He will only wear them when we do something with him since he isn't showing lameness in his pen anymore. The vet said he'll never be able to pull his cart or be ridden ever again. I was pretty broken up about it, but then the farrier said he can certainly pull the cart next summer with his boots on.

Just wanted to send a couple of pictures along of our Joey with his new boots on. Sometimes you just have to help an animal have a better life.

When Joey foundered again we thought he was a goner. No one likes to see an animal suffer! Then we found out about your boots. Now he has another chance to be our bud!

~Judith Michels- Fond du Lac, WI