More hooves over 4 weeks

Several horses arrived in the same week last month, hence the glut of updates but its interesting that they are all slightly different. 

These are Ginger's hooves and, like the other horses, he arrived already out of shoes which I often think gives horses a head-start in rehab. All 4 of the horses were able to start work within the first week and all have developed a good landing and havehoes.

All 4 of the horses were able to start work within the first week and all have developed a good landing and have already progressed to roadwork; this is typically faster progress than horses who come here in shoes.

Ginger had one of the better sets of hooves, among the 4 new arrivals, but he had a rather pinched frog, which had suffered from a central sulcus infection during the recent wet winter.

This is the best angle for that view, and as you can see there was a deep cleft and rather long hoof wall. Ginger's owner had already substantially improved his frogs so we needed to carry on that good work. 

Today things are looking better, with the cleft getting broader and shallower, his frog working harder and shorter hoof wall.

Apologies for a not terribly comparative shot - the loading is different in the 2 photos so you can't really compare the toes and heels but there is nevertheless a better hairline in the lower photo. 

The main change here is the lower hoof wall and shorter toe but this was already a fairly tidy foot. Again, being out of shoes for some months before his arrival has allowed his foot to strengthen and this should make our job easier. 

More work to be done here before that central sulcus split is gone; as with the sole shot, no dramatic changes but a visible improvement in the digital cushion.