Too soon?

I know Candy's owner, Hannah, is waiting with bated breath for an update, so here it is - though at only just over 2 weeks its a bit early to be showing dramatic improvements :-) Still, I seem to be getting into the habit of 2-3 week updates so here we go!

Candy is an elegant little mare who now has her feet firmly under the table and is taking no nonsense from anyone, despite being the smallest horse here. She has quite a magnetic personality and has most of the boys dancing attendance on her - though M is her most faithful admirer. 

From a foot point of view she has a good range of issues, as I reported when she first arrived, including DDFT splits, impar ligament damage and navicular bone cysts. We've also scanned her on ultrasound since she arrived here, which confirmed the damage on those scans. 

So here are here feet - this is the worst - LF - on the day she arrived (above) and today (below).  Apart from the black areas which are most likely historic sole damage, the areas which jump out are the crushed, folded over heels and distorted frog, which are starting to improve in the lower photo. 

From the lateral aspect, its interesting to see that her toe is already shortening (again, on arrival in the first photo and today in the lower one).

I find with rehab horses that trimming their toe - or "backing it up"  - is counter-productive as it tends to overload the palmar hoof before they are ready, but when horses do it in their own time its fantastically effective and a sign that the weak areas of the hoof are getting stronger. 

There are the beginnings of improvements but clearly lots to do over the next few weeks - still, where Candy leads, the boys will follow!