Rolie and the bar shoes

Our latest arrival is Rolie, a big Irish sports horse who has come all the way from Yorkshire. 

He was diagnosed on MRI with collateral ligament damage to his LF in 2010 and more recently had an MRI in June which showed navicular bone damage, coffin bone arthritis, impar ligament damage and old collateral ligament damage. 

His lameness has been caught at a relatively early stage and so I am hoping that we will be able to see some quick changes with him. Its interesting looking at his RF on the day he arrived...

...and compare it today (thats only 48 hours difference). What has happened very quickly is that the long, weak hoof wall has chipped away. 

I am always amazed when farriers or trimmers suggest its a good idea to "leave the hoof wall a bit longer" - they may think its a good idea but horses definitely don't agree. Rolie hasn't been trimmed, of course, and all he has done is meander around on the tracks and in the field but even so that long hoof wall is too weak to support him and its rapidly disappearing. 

He was due for shoeing (as I always prefer horses to have had shoes on for 4-6 weeks before they are taken off) but there are clearly issues with this (his worse) foot as the hoof capsule and the shoe are migrating in different directions. 

Even at this early stage its fascinating to see how hooves react to coming out of shoes.

Think about how hooves load. Here is Rolie's hoof in his bar shoe and its pretty clear what connects with the ground. The load is taken entirely on the bar shoe.

Out of the shoe the hoof capsule is still shaped by it (the change in colour is only because he had been lunged in the sand school!)

This is the same foot today - only 2 days after his shoes came off. There are lots of interesting things about this photo but the key factors are the change in the frog and the fact that the dead sole and long hoof wall have simply abraded away. He hasn't been trimmed at all but already his frog is responding to being asked to work. More on Rolie soon!