Wednesday 7 January 2015

Bruno's 6 week update

Bruno arrived at the end of November and its time for his 6 week update. He is a TB who has had many years in shoes although he was already out of shoes when he first came here (above). 
 Today his feet are still weak - this is his worst foot - but there are signs of improvement in the better frog, stronger bars and less under-run heels.
However these changes have not yet been enough to allow him to land heel first on hard surfaces so we are still working him only on supportive ground until his palmar hoof is stronger. 

 
His toe is shorter and there is more depth to his digital cushion if you compare the hairlines from day one till today.

His RF is his better foot but he is landing toe first on this limb as well. Again, there are encouraging signs - a more business-like frog, sole and heels  - but there is no doubt that his feet have a way to go.

It will be really interesting to see how he changes over the next few weeks. 

Its nice to see the shorter toe and better angle of new growth but as with his LF we need a much stronger palmar hoof in order for him to land comfortably. I am hoping to be able to post that in his next update...



2 comments:

Unknown said...

Phew! I was dreading calling as I had assumed you'd been putting off the bad news. Thankfully even I can see improvement (especially in the white foot which is clearly more concave)and both feet look more 'businesslike' as you say.

I suspect he's taking his time because you're undoing years of damage Nic and god knows how long he's really been lame (but not limping because the poor souls been equally uncomfortable on both limbs).

I'm just hoping that the soft tissue damage can/will heal given time. Can you see any improvement in stride length when he does land correctly in the school?

Nic Barker said...

He's still short striding relative to how I suspect he really can move but I will get you some footage for you to compare.

Although there is a lot for him to do, feet are amazingly good at strengthening given half a chance!