Monday 17 April 2017

Truth, consequences, regenerating feet and happy endings

I posted before Christmas about a horse whose feet had started to fail due to too much stabling, too much grass, not enough minerals and not enough exercise. It was proposed to shoe her to solve the problem but fortunately her owner disagreed and brought her back here. 
It has taken several months to get her feet back on track and even now it will be another 4 months, I reckon, before she has truly healthy feet again but I am pleased to say that instead of being shod and lame she is barefoot and sound and is making great progress. 

The top photo was taken the day she arrived back here. Not only had her toe become long but her heels had under-run quite dramatically and if you look at the back of her foot it had also weakened in the few months she was away. She had gone from having a strong heel first landing to having a flat landing and was even lame from the pain in the back of her foot at one point. 
She is a horse who grows hoof capsule more slowly than some so it has taken 4 months for the new growth to reach halfway down her hoof capsule but you can see how much better her foot will be once it has grown in completely. 

She now has enough good foot to be back to her old self, happily hunting at the end of this season and back in consistent work which is allowing her feet to fully recover. She's a good example of a horse who thrives when her feet are taken care of but deteriorates quickly if you take your eye off the ball. 

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