Joey's 12 week update

 It is update time again, with the current rehab horses due to go home at the weekend. 

Joey probably had the worse landing of all of them when he arrived, clearly toe first and with under-run heels and long toes. As usual, the original photos are at the top and the most recent are the lower photos each time. 

Today the new growth can be seen quite obviously in his hooves. It will take another few months before the new hoof capsule has completely grown in but this is already a stronger palmar hoof, less under-run and with more stability and strength. 

His frogs were also quite weak when he arrived and there was a medio-lateral imbalance as well. 

He should continue to build stronger hooves and a more robust frog over the coming weeks but you can see the shorter toe and bulkier frog already and his foot is also more balanced. As usual, this has been achieved without trimming the feet.  

A nice improvement in strength and depth of the digital cushion - now a harder-working foot which can start to make real progress. 

You can see that the foot today is weighted more towards the back, indicating better palmar hoof strength and more support for the limb. 

Its very interesting from this angle how the weakness at the lateral heel has been compensated today by the medial deviation at the toe. I would not be surprised if that also grew out once the foot is totally stable, but we will see. 

Today the foot is stronger and more capable of hard work which is what we want to see. 

Again, a much bulkier digital cushion, translating into a more comfortable horse. Lots still to do, and footage to follow...