12 weeks later - Cassie's update

Cassie is going home at the weekend so this is her 12 week update. She arrived with flared hoof wall and under-run heels along with her weak palmar hoof. She was landing toe first, no surprise, and had been shod fairly recently, as you can see from the nail-holes but arrived out of shoes.

We knew her feet were due for some fairly dramatic changes and in the current photo below you can see the new growth if you look at the dorsal wall and the change in angle about half way down. This is the new, stronger hoof wall she has grown over the last 12 weeks. 

She also has a more supportive palmar hoof - the hairline and heels show its much less under-run. 

 Her foot is also more balanced now and her digital cushion has developed.

The long, flared hoof wall is clear to see in her original sole shot and of course it broke off readily as it grew down since it was so weak. 

 As she has only grown in half a new hoof capsule the hoof wall at ground level is still the old, flared wall. However this is much weaker than the new growth and it will simply grow out without in any way damaging the new wall. For now its providing some protection and there is no benefit in aggressive removal.

As with her other foot, there is much stronger new hoof wall growing down and she is stronger at the back of the foot, although this foot was not as compromised as her right foot.

This is a messy photo I am afraid - I brushed her feet off but they are still a bit hard to make out. She still has old flare at ground level, as on the other foot and although many people would trim it off (which would certainly make for a more photogenic hoof) this would overload the back of her foot, which is only just gaining strength and needs more time before it is as strong as it will be.  

In addition you can see that her feet are flat still and the hoof wall is providing some protection for that. As her feet improve the long wall will wear away and by that stage her sole and palmar hoof will be stronger too. 

The bulge in her digital cushion is something you often see in an under-run foot as its not supported properly by the heels. Now (below) the whole foot is more balanced.