Home time and holidays

I'm posting a quick update as DB is off home tomorrow and I wanted Gill to have updates as she can't get down to collect him herself. As ever, the original photo is at the top and the most recent one below. 

DB came with a fairly severe RF lameness. Like Harvey, who left last week, he pointed his RF almost all the time and was reluctant to properly load it. He has been slower to improve, partly I suspect because he is a bigger horse and doesn't have the useful chunk of pony toughness which Harvey had.  Nevertheless he has made good progress although there is still a lot more to do. 

His frog is improving and therefore his palmar hoof is becoming stronger. Over time this should continue to get better but for now he is landing heel first and so more mileage once he is home should allow his progress to continue. 

HIs feet are also becoming less flat. This is a work in progress which will take at least another 3-4 months since he has to grow in a full new hoof capsule. 

Its hard to see changes from this angle and his digital cushion is still not as strong as it should be but this is a more balanced foot and better able to support him. 

You can see that this is a foot undergoing change. In fact the back of his foot has changed faster and until the growth of the whole hoof capsule catches up I think his hairline will continue to look odd. Its encouraging though to see a more robust palmar hoof and that his toe is shortening as his heels become less under-run.

 The changes to his LF are less marked as he was not as lame on this foot but his landing has also improved on this foot and its looking much stronger.

DB's footage over his time with us is up here: https://vimeo.com/356229721

We've now got a short intermission before the next group of rehab horses arrive so blog posts will be resumed with the new arrivals. Happy hols in the meantime!

With apologies for the delay...

Sorry for the lack of blog posts over the last few days - I was laid low with a stomach bug and I am afraid at such times blog posts are the first casualties as they are expendable when lots of other jobs are not!

These are comparison shots for Harvey who has been here nearly 9 weeks. He has gone from being severely lame on his RF (unlevel in walk and unwilling even to stand on it for the other foot to be picked up) to, now, being back in work and able to go out on the roads.

Of course over such a short time frame, less than 2 shoeing cycles, you cannot take a horse back to full work so its a case of building up steadily and allowing previously injured soft tissue to heal and strengthen. This is a slow, long term process since, as any physio will tell you, tendon and ligament damage is some of the slowest to full heal. For Harvey his weak, atrophied palmar hoof is stronger and he has made excellent progress but it will be some months yet before he is as sound as he can be .

 I hope you can see from this shot that his foot today, the lower image, is much more balanced and better able to support his limb compared to the narrow, boxier foot he had before. His frog is much healthier too and now that he is happy to load this foot properly he can really start to recover.

Harvey's comparison footage is here: https://vimeo.com/352637819

I am going to combine posts today and add DB's footage too, as the posts are delayed but as with Harvey I am going to focus on his lamer foot, coincidentally also the RF.

So here is DB, again clearly lame on his RF when he arrived and pointing it while standing, although he was not as bad as Harvey. You can see the back of his foot is slowly building up; he has a long way to go but there is better structure and bulk to his palmar hoof now, as you can see when you compare how underpin his heels were on arrival (above). 

This is still a flat, weak foot and as with Harvey it will take further months of good hoof growth before his feet are fully strengthened but he is heading the right way. 

 His frog is the main difference in these photos as its less contracted today but as his feet are still weak there is lots more improvement to expect in the future.

DB's footage is here: https://vimeo.com/352130247