Best foot forward

Deluxe has been here for 2 weeks and as always we have taken new photos and footage for comparison. 

Clearly in such a short period the changes are not going to be dramatic but as Deluxe arrived in shoes its always interesting to see how feet start to adapt to a different way of loading. 

In any shoe, the hoof loads round the edge - commonly known as peripheral loading. The bodyweight of the horse is transferred to the hoof wall and the frog has limited function. 

Once the shoe is off, the focus is very much on the frog and palmar hoof. The hoof wall is not intended to take the primary load and reverts back to a protective, rather than mechanical, function. 

This is particularly important for the horses who come here for rehab as rebuilding palmar hoof strength is critical, and the best way to do that is by stimulating the frog and digital cushion and prompting them to strengthen. 

Interestingly, supporting the palmar hoof is one of the main reasons given for using remedial shoes but, as you can see if you compare Deluxe in and out of shoes, his frog and digital cushion have more support from the ground out of shoes than from the shoes themselves. 

Again, a nice contrast between the load taken by the hoof wall, in shoes, and the load taken by frog and palmar hoof, out of shoes. 

Its early days for Deluxe and as he was landing toe first I would not expect him to have moved to a heel first landing already, but his landing is improving, on his RF at least, as you can see in his updated footage: https://vimeo.com/431375330

Best foot forward!