The large William

I haven't blogged much about Bill, who arrived here in April.

To be honest its because he was not really able to do much but potter about the farm for the first 3 months that he was here. He was very lame on his left front, and although he had been diagnosed with navicular, digital X-rays showed quite extensive sidebone as well as a weak back of the foot and thin sole.

When I get the chance to update his page I will put lots more info up about him, but he is a very big lad, dwarfing all the other horses here and standing at least 17hh, propbably nearer 17.2. Of course when I ride him out I look ever so slightly over-horsed, but fortunately for me he is a perfect gentleman ;-)

Photos show his hooves on the day he arrived and after 4 months. His left front was in fact worse, and I will post pictures of that in the next day or so.

Unlike Hector, who had only been unsound a short time and who had mainly soft tissue damage, Bill's lameness had involved not only soft tissue but also bony changes which were always going to take much longer to improve.

He is now consistently landing heelfirst, and is happy on nearly all ground, apart from very uneven stones. I would certainly not trot him on hard surfaces just yet, but he is more than up for it on the fields...in view of his size I am definitely lining up Andy or my very tall neighbour to ride him on a more permanent basis!