These feet belong to Wally, a KWPN dressage horse who arrived earlier in the week. Wally is interesting because although - like most horses who come here - he has been lame for some time in his case the lameness does not block to his feet but to his check ligament.
This is exactly the problem that our own horse, Charlie, had before he came here and in his case it seems clear that the strain on his check ligaments was related to his medio-lateral balance, even though the lameness did not present in his feet (there is more about him in this link).
In Wally's case, he had been remedially shod with bar shoes even though there was no apparent issue with his feet but that and a course of conventional treatment has not improved his lameness so his owner, vet and trainer have decided to try rehab from the feet up in the hope of helping reduce the strain on his ligaments.
Its certainly clear from the photos that his feet could do with improvement although there is already lots to like in the good frog and strong hoof wall.
Interestingly his right foot looks more twisted from the sole view, his left looks more crooked when viewed from in front. Its his left which he is lamer on so it will be fascinating to see how his feet and his stance change over the next few weeks.
Big thanks to Em, Thomas Two's owner, who spotted Wally's feet and first put his owner in touch with us. I hope he will do you proud, Em!
2 comments:
Fascinating how different those two feet are... the first one seems to be more concave, while the second one looks quite flat, even bulging at the toe. Is that a trick of the lighting or are his feet really that different? Also interesting how the twisted one (when seen from head-on) is straight on the solar view, but the straight one is twisted on the solar view. I wonder if the right one will end up looking a bit toed-in (from the front angle) to match the left, but will end up straight underneath? Definitely a fascinating set of hooves! I hope Wally improves quickly!
I know what you mean, Jen, and they really are that different - its fascinating and I am keeping everything crossed for him!
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