Friday 11 May 2012

Eva's photo updates

I posted on Monday about Eva but I didn't have up-to-date photos of her feet to compare against her original pictures.  I've now rectified that, and these are her comparison shots.  
I'm focussing on her RF because this is the foot she is lamest on (a severe DDFT split was evident on MRI), and its also the foot on which she is still struggling to land properly.  You can't see much from the photo with the bar shoe, but below is the same foot a few days later. 
Now you can see that the foot isn't evenly loaded - there is some distorted bar on the lateral side and her heels are under-run (the heel buttresses are well in front of the widest point of the frog).  You can also see from this angle that she has a split in her central sulcus and this is undoubtedly contributing to her reluctance to land heel first.  
This is the same foot today and although she has a way to go she is making some good changes.  The frog is much more robust, despite that stubborn central sulcus split, the heels are beginning to be less under-run, the sole is much healthier and the sole is starting to load more symmetrically. 
For interest, here is the same foot from the caudal view. Look at the difference in the lateral and medial walls, and imagine how the weight of the horse is transmitted - you can begin to see why there is unlevel loading evident in the solar view above.
This is the caudal shot a few days out of shoes - long hoof wall, weak frog and that annoying split(!).
The same foot today.  Despite her reluctance to land heel first on a hard surface, she is clearly putting in the work on the track because the frog is improving and her heels are better too.  Obviously, I haven't trimmed her, so these are the changes she has made as a result of good surfaces and being out of shoes. Still, though, that annoying central sulcus split...

More on Eva soon, of course!

2 comments:

Amy Hughes said...

I think I have finally worked out how to comment on the blog! Thank you for these - it is great to see the changes. I am glad she has been doing her homework on the track (she always was a bit of a geek despite her efforts to maintain a well 'ard reputation).

Nic Barker said...

Well done on the commenting :-)