Joey's 4 week update

 

I like the change in Joey's stance and the fact that his toe is shortening, apologies for the mud on his feet as I took the recent photo, below, just after we got back from exercising...

The back of his foot was very weak when he arrived and that is starting to strengthen which is good to see.

Interestingly, his foot is already starting to rebalance - his medio-lateral balance is changing quite rapidly.

It is not the easiest angle to see, but his frog is more robust and his hoof wall is much shorter than it was. As ever, this has not needed trimming in order to achieve it. 

Again, the focus is the back of the foot which is where he needed to become stronger. Over the next few weeks we should see further improvements as his heels become less under-run and his toes shorten. 

As with the left foot, the most interesting change is that the medio-lateral balance is improving.

Apologies again for the post-exercise mud, but it is nice to see a more robust frog and stronger digital cushion. 

Joey's footage is here - there is no significant change to see in his landing in this footage but ironically when he is properly walking out up the lane his landing is a lot better - which is frustrating from the point of view of the blog but good news for Joey: https://vimeo.com/551523090 

Tate's 4 week update

Today is time for Tate's update. She had been out of shoes a lot longer than Dante and is correspondingly more competent on tough surfaces than he is at the moment. 

Nevertheless her feet are already showing signs of changes, albeit more subtle than the ones we could see yesterday.  

Her frog is beginning to develop but we would want to see it get a lot stronger over the next few weeks. 

As with Dante, it is good to see a better hairline, signs that the digital cushion is starting to develop. 

There is also a change in the hairline from this angle, with it more level than it was previously. Again this is encouraging because it shows the foot is loading more evenly. 

Tate's landing is a more confident than it was when she arrived but these feet are only just beginning to change so we would expect to see more development as her work level increases. 

This was already a decent foot but it is nice to see it becoming stronger - more to come I hope!

Tate's footage is here: https://vimeo.com/549790563

 

Rehab updates - 4 weeks in...

I can't quite believe that it is already 4 weeks since the current rehab horses arrived but here we are, and as ever it is time for updates. 

Of course, 4 weeks is a mere blip in the life cycle of a horse's hoof and at best, it can only be the beginning of the growth of better hooves...But still, traditionally, this is the time when I look for measurable changes, initial improvements which give us a hint that the horse is beginning to make progress. 

These are Dante's hooves, he was already out of shoes but had only been unshod for a short time and had been on box rest so had not been moving on his feet out of shoes. As a result, he is only just getting used to moving on feet which are loading centrally, rather than peripherally, which is a big change for any horse, particularly a horse with small feet relative to body size.  

There are no dramatic changes to see from this angle, but what is encouraging is that his feet are starting to look more of a pair (contrast the photo of his left foot below, which was much more boxy when he arrived). 

His frogs are showing lots of alterations, typical of a foot which has just begun loading centrally. Frogs look much tidier when you take a knife to them and carve them into shape but they tend to be healthier when you allow them to grow!

I like this angle, because you can see a positive change in the hairline as the digital cushion starts to rebuild. 

I am not attaching much importance to the fact that his stance is slightly better, as that is very dynamic at this stage, but I am encouraged, as I said above, by the fact that his feet are becoming more of a pair. This is not in itself something to aim for but is often a sign of more even loading between the limbs.

Again, there is no doubt that his frogs would look more conventional if someone took a hoof knife to them, but these are feet which need to grow. 

As with the right foot, there is a healthier hairline which hints at a digital cushion which is bulking up. 

Dante's footage is here: https://vimeo.com/549585910