Useful things: Hot shower

Last week I posted about the new love of my life - straw pellets (the details for the company are on that post for those wanting to order or enquire).   This week, I've got what I think is another really useful piece of kit to recommend to you - a hot shower for the yard. 

We put hot water in the barn  - via a bog-standard electric shower - a few years ago but although it was a big improvement on no hot water it had a few drawbacks.  The water pressure wasn't great and because it had a standard shower fitting it was quite vulnerable to horses treading on it or being dropped(!)...

I'd been keeping an eye out for a replacement and saw this on Facebook over the summer.  It runs off gas, instead of electricity, and hooks straight into the existing water supply so there is better pressure.

There are some glitches.  The gas ignition is via 2 D batteries which is fine in principle but it eats battery power so you need to remember to switch it off after every time you use it or you have a lot of (expensive) dead batteries.   It also comes with a lack of good instructions so you need to work out pretty much on your own how everything fits together which is probably easier for some people than for me... Finally, because it costs the best part of £200, you need enough horses to justify the expense.

On the plus side, its fantastically useful to have readily available hot water, the hose is heavy duty and long enough to reach most bits of a horse without difficulty and the spray supplied has several different settings so you can have a single jet, a fine mist or anything in between.

Its proved to be great for washing off cuts or scrapes and marvellous when you have wet, muddy horses to clean off after hunting.   Even horses who hate being washed off (like Dexter and Bailey) stand under the hose with a blissful expression when they realise its warm, and its got to be a lot better for tired muscles too.

This is the video the company have made - and the shower pretty much does exactly as it appears to do here.  If anyone is interested in acquiring one, the company's Facebook page is here and they are very helpful.

Hooves changing quickly - for good or bad

We had a "rehab return" last week - Paul, who was here in November 2009, has come back to Rockley for a short winter break ;-)  When I first met him he had been lame for a long time, with persistent problems in his LF .  He went home in Feb 2010 back in full work (he had  a day's hunting as his last day!) and has had a busy time since then.

As with every horse, there have been ups and downs but Paul's life has been active and he and his owner Clare have achieved a lot.

Paul came back this September, for the RRR, and at that stage he was landing and moving well (despite a nutritional blip over the summer) but for some reason (and we may never know exactly what the trigger was) he became lame in October.

Paul's hooves changed radically over the time he was here in 2009 and Clare is now extremely well versed in what makes a hoof healthy - or unhealthy. She had already spotted a few weeks ago that his caudal hoof had weakened and that he had lost his good heel first landing.  Its probably worth adding that he has been trimmed regularly all the way through, so its not a lack of trimming that has caused the change(!).

Here is his LF when he arrived a week ago and sure enough, as Clare suspected, his frog has become weaker and is no longer playing a primary function, particularly on a hard surface.  His overall hoof balance is still good though, and importantly his digital cushion is extremely robust - 2 years of hard work barefoot are still paying off!

Look how much stronger his foot is when he returned last week (above) and at the hoof pastern axis, which is radically better today than when he arrived in wedged shoes in 2009 (below)!  The sort of strong base he has now makes it so much quicker to improve hooves.

Both Clare and I were sure it wouldn't take long to get Paul back on track, especially as he has such a fantastic attitude and is such a determined little horse. 

We don't know exactly what Paul has done but its possible he has re-injured the same area that was originally a problem.  We know that most horses with his original problem in fact have soft tissue damage within the hoof and its true that horses who have previously suffered a tendon or ligament injury are prone to the same area being re-injured.  

This is because once an area has been damaged, scar tissue forms which is less elastic.  Clearly, if a hoof like this starts to land incorrectly again, damage will happen more quickly as scar tissue is less able to sustain incorrect stresses (such as a toe first landing) than undamaged tendons or ligaments.   

However, if we look at Paul's changes over just the last week its clear that - with a healthy hoof structure already in place - he is already starting to bounce back, and much more quickly than he did straight from shoes. 

The longest journey so far...

This handsome fellow is Mr Knightley, a new arrival who wins the "Rockley Air Miles" award for the most arduous trip to Exmoor.  He was in quarantine for a month then flew from Dubai to Heathrow, finally touching down here at 1am last Friday morning!   

I was a bit concerned that he would feel the cold but amazingly, having tucked him up in a stable rug, he was toasty-warm and hasn't been in the least bothered by the drop in temperature.  Its helped that we have had a lovely, dry few days with sunshine and a bit of warmth, so he's had quite a gentle introduction to the UK climate so far.  Of course he didn't have a turnout rug, so he's borrowed a spare of Charlie's until I can go shopping for him :-)

His feet are interesting - his heels are under-run and his hairline at the coronet is distorted on both, worse on the LF.  His front feet have a medio-lateral imbalance which is confirmed by x-ray and unfortunately he also has soft tissue damage to his hind feet.

His feet are proof that a desert climate in itself doesn't necessarily guarantee healthier hooves, especially - as his owner points out - if a horse spends more time in a box than moving around(!).  As you can see, he has quite a deep central sulcus infection and its one of the factors in his weak frogs.  

 Its a catch-22 - discomfort in the frog means the caudal hoof doesn't engage so over time it tends to become weaker and as you can see the frog is not touching the ground at all as the front hooves load on a concrete surface.   

The solar view just confirms what we've already seen from the top.  The foot is actually quite shallow but there is a build up of dead sole.  I won't touch that, as it will wear away on its own over the next few days along with the unbalanced hoof wall. 

For now, Mr Knightley is getting to grips with being turned out with a group of horses, which is a new experience for him, and much more freedom than he has been used to.  As with most horses who come here from box rest or restricted movement, the key is to allow him to move but on the most supportive surfaces, and as calmly and quietly as possible, with only gradual increases in the space he has access to.  

Just brilliant!

Massive thank you to Debbie, Paddy's owner, who came up to visit him today and brought me this fantastic polo shirt :-)  I LOVE IT!!!!

...and yes, I agree, clearly we will have to have polo shirts for the next Rehab Reunion ;-)

When horses go back home...

A few updates came in on former rehab horses while I was off line, and I wanted to cram other stuff onto the blog this week so they have been postponed, but I thought might be an ideal blog post for the weekend!

First off, a lovely email from Lady's family, with this gorgeous photo of Lauren and Lady.  Lynn emailed me in response to the "Rollercoaster" post last week, which I very much appreciated:

"I thought I would drop you a line to say that Lady is doing really well, she is now chilling in her field all week and enjoys light hacks at the weekend. We have had no problems with her for months now and limiting her access to grass has meant she has remained sound throughout! 

This is the first summer we have enjoyed her to the max and Lauren is now super confident.

They are a great team to watch charging all over Dartmoor!! We have stuck to the diet you gave Lady last year and all though we cannot get her out enough to self trim Jane was down last week and thinks she is doing great." 

Well done to the whole family, and of course to Jane Stevens, who is looking after Lady's feet.

Also good news about Oscar and Dilly, who continue to go from strength to strength.  Their feet are "overseen" by farrier James Nash and its been very helpful to chat to him about their progress.  They are doing so well that they are even inspiring others on their yard to consider going barefoot - leading by example is the way to go!

Fayley posted about Isha on the UKNHCP forum:

"I am now doing more with Isha barefoot than I ever did shod - hacking at least 4 times a week for at least 1 to 2 hours on varied surfaces, beach gallops, cantering pretty much wherever we fancy (starting to feel a bit like I did as a child on my tearaway pony - so many opportunities to whoop and say 'oooh we can squeeze a canter in here!') and Isha is happy to go 'off piste' and clamber banks, walls, down stream banks etc, something she would refuse to do when shod. I'm aiming to be showjumping again next year, just gotta get myself brave enough to do it  

Every now and then people make strange remarks about her being barefoot and ask why I'm doing it, and I find myself starting our story with  'well she was diagnosed with navicular syndrome' without a second thought about it, its only when I see their shocked faces that I remember the stigma attached to the word, I've forgotten that its something to worry about"

Bailey and Lainey are now combining dressage with hunting - latest news is that Bailey is fully clipped and also working on medium canter :-)  Photos are required...

Frankie and Cristina are jumping XC - they have failed to get any photos - but its fantastic to hear about, even without illustrations!

Lucy is still amazing everyone with her ability to cover any terrain with her fab new feet - she has now grown a whole new hoof capsule and is apparently having a wonderful time up in Yorkshire. 

Finally a real blast from the past - Blue, who was here in 2008, and whose owner I lost touch with, is apparently doing marvellously.  I caught up on his news via an owner who knows him and is interested in sending her horse here - small world!

I've also got news about Paul, who first came here 2 years ago and has returned for a short break - but he will get a blog post of his own plus foot photos!

Useful things: Straw pellets

I'm going to start an occasional blog feature of "Useful things" - products which I've come across, or been recommended, which I've tried and tested and have found really useful.  If you've got recommendations of your own feel free to chip in too :-)
[FWIW, I'm not on the payroll for anything that I'm recommending, so this is all totally impartial!]

Today's product looks and sounds rather mundane, but it is rapidly becoming a huge favourite...Straw pellets!

It was Sez on the UKNHCP forum who first posted about them and I was intrigued.  Previously I've always used straw for bedding - I've had concerns for a while about shavings, given that we spread our muck-heaps on our own fields and shavings take forever to rot down properly - but straw has some drawbacks. 

Its awkward stuff to handle and gets everywhere, some horses will eat it (though not here, usually, as they have ad lib haylage) and its not terribly absorbent.  For one horse in a box its ok, but as I have lots of horses coming in and out of the barn, there is a tendency for straw to be spread everywhere.

Up till now, the only alternatives seemed to be miscanthus or hemp  - better and safer than shavings in terms of the muck heap but too expensive for the numbers of horses I have here.  

And then I found out about straw pellets...I ordered a tonne from this horse bedding supplier, who are extremely helpful, and the pellets have now been down a week.  They are fantastically easy to handle and create very little mess (a LOT less sweeping is now required - hurray!) but form a solid, warm bed which the horses seem very comfortable with (they look knobbly here, but break down quite easily). 

Even with several horses coming and going in, the bed stays intact, with no holes or bare patches and the horses don't seem to take it out with them when they move about either.  

Mucking out takes a fraction of the time as there is no need to rummage in piles of straw and its so much more absorbent that there is no longer the tedious daily chore of taking out all the straw and having to sweep out wet - you can see exactly where the wet patches are and just lift them out. 

One other nice aspect is that the pellets smell gorgeous - good enough to eat - but although I wondered if the horses would find them tempting they seem totally uninterested, despite the fact that most would nibble the odd piece of straw. 

I am now trying to be very disciplined and use up my remaining stock of straw but am longing for the day when I have no bedding but pellets! I highly recommend them :-)  

For an initial "set-up" in one of our big boxes (which are 15ft x 15ft) I used about 15 bags but I've been pleasantly surprised by how little I've had to take out over the first week, and I would expect I would only use one bag a week for a top-up - maybe less if I was on a more traditional one-horse-per-box system. 

The only drawback for a smaller yard is that you need to order at least half a tonne (just over 30 bags) at a time but if you can justify it, a tonne is more cost effective.  

The anatomy of heel first and toe first landing

As promised, a post I've been meaning to put up for ages but haven't got round to previously...It gets a bit technical, but I hope you will find it interesting :-)  It comes from a paper I wrote as part of my studies with Mary Bromiley and I really enjoyed doing it!

Here are photos comparing a heel first and toe first landing.  They were taken from video stills at the moment the foot touched the ground at walk on a concrete surface.  

In the heel first landing, the the latissumus dorsi, pectoral and trapezius muscles start to retract the limb momentarily before the hoof impacts on the ground.  

The carpus and distal limb, including the distal interphalangeal joint (coffin joint), are extended in preparation for impact.

Interestingly, according to Prof Denoix, for full extension of the distal interphalangeal joint, the action of the deep digital flexor tendon is critical.  The line of the DDFT is shown in red. 

In addition, the deep digital flexor and superficial digital flexor have an essential role in stabilising the limb and digit and absorbing energy.  The limb impacts heel first to allow for this, and to enhance shock absorption.

Following normal impact, as the limb begins to load during the stance phase, the bodyweight of the horse starts to move over the limb.  

The deep and superficial digital flexors and suspensory ligaments work in opposition to the common  and lateral digital extensors  to stabilise the whole distal limb as the  metacarpophalangeal joint and distal phalanx are loaded. 

These structures are under maximum tension as the limb is fully loaded at mid-stance, storing recoil energy which is fed back as the limb unloads. When functioning correctly, this is an immensely strong system which is not only capable of absorbing enormous impact forces but of storing and releasing the energy generated by each stride.

The deep digital flexor tendon, in particular, should be tightened by rotation of the metacarpophalangeal joint as it loads, and slackened by the rotation of the distal interphalangeal joint as it breaks over (per James R Rooney “The Lame Horse” 1998).

If the hoof lands toe-first, the distal interphalangeal joint is not fully extended at impact.  As with a normal landing, the latissimus dorsi, pectorals and trapezius muscles are retracting the limb, stabilised by the cervical ventral serrate muscles.  

Stress on DDFT and ligaments

However the lack of extension of the distal interphalangeal joint indicates that the deep digital flexor is not tightened in preparation for impact, as it should be. So, instead of loading being steadily increased on a smoothly tightened tendon, the deep digital flexor tendon is subjected to a sudden tightening and release as the metacarpophalangeal joint impacts with the ground while partially flexed,  and further tightening as the hoof capsule loads “back-to-front”  - dorsal to palmar instead of palmar to dorsal.  

This sudden “snap” tightening, when repeated stride after stride, leads to damage to the deep digital flexor tendon itself, as is evident on MRI of affected horses. 

Furthermore, the normal storage and release of recoil energy offered by the suspensory and digital flexor tendons cannot function as efficiently, since the tendon is not smoothly tightening and relaxing, and this requires the horse to use more active energy to achieve the same stride. 

Poor shock absorption

Finally, instead of effective shock-absorption being available through the structures of the caudal hoof capsule, the impact is taken by the dorsal hoof wall and distal phalanx.  

The distal phalanx should be an effective energy damper, but anatomically this is contingent on the efficiency of shock absorbing structures in the back and sole of the hoof (solar corium, digital cushion and venous plexus).  

These structures are not available to shock absorb in a toe first landing, when impact is taken by the dorsal wall. This area is not designed primarily to shock absorb, and so much of the energy of impact is likely to pass beyond the hoof and into the proximal tendons and ligaments. 

Clearly, in a toe first landing, the more concussive the surface and the higher the speed - the greater the stress on the deep digital flexor tendon and the more damage is likely to be done.