Introducing Arnold

Arnold, like Reine, arrived last week. Its a bit back to front: usually I organise for horses to go home before new horses touch down but because of the RRR (which is THIS WEEKEND!) I wanted the new horses to have a full week here, settling in, with no other comings and goings. 

So Arnold whizzed down from Cheshire last Friday and had lots to deal with. Not only had he just come out of shoes but he had also been on box-rest, which is difficult for any horse and particularly for an active young show-jumper.

Arnold had been competing till very recently but has now been diagnosed with a lamenesss which blocks to the navicular bursa. His landing was distinctly toe first and to me his medio-lateral balance is clearly off, especially on his RF.  

Although he is out of shoes he has lots of dead sole and his feet are relatively long. That's ok, as he is already dealing with dramatic changes to the way his feet are loading and it will not help Arnold to make these changes even faster or more abrupt. The dead sole will be gone within a few days but it will be a more gradual and gentle change. 

The good news is that Arnold's hairline is balanced and though he has long toes his heel is not really under-run. The toe first landing is most likely due to his rather narrow frog but it will be interesting to see how his hooves develop over the next few weeks. 

A similar story on his LF though it appears on the face of things to have better medio-lateral balance. 

Not such a good hairline, however, compared to the RF and again the proof of the pudding will be in how his feet alter over the coming weeks.  

Meanwhile, the good old welcoming committee of Charlie and Felix have done their job as perfectly as ever and Arnold is beginning to enjoy his new hippie liefstyle...

New girl Reine - belated but finally here...

Poor Reine has not only been on the waiting list to come here for the longest time, she has also had to wait almost a week for her photos to hit the blog so, with apologies overdue to her and her owner Julie, here they finally are...

Reine came out of shoes in 2011  - these are her feet the day she arrived and there is lots to like, not least the new angle of growth at the top of the foot which looks strong and healthy. 

However despite feet which look ok, she is landing toe first. This has been the case since she came out of shoes and was also the case when she was shod, so this is what we need to change while she is here.  

There are still asymmetries in her feet, of course, but on the whole they look better than when she first came out of shoes. 

Luckily Julie has sent me a fascinating timeline for both front feet which gives some interesting background since October 2011...

More on Reine as she progresses...!

Blowing away the cobwebs

Time for an update on our own horses, who have started hunting again, albeit a month later than normal due to circumstances beyond our control (ie: an unfortunate outbreak of kennel cough).

Still, all four (Felix, Charlie, Dexter and Bailey) have now got a few days under their belts and on Saturday I had the chance to try out a new head cam and I thought I'd post some clips here to cheer up everyone's Monday morning. Its in HD so if its slow to load just click the blue "HD" to put it in lower res.

Its going to be a very busy week, starting later today when vet student Freya arrives for a 2 week placement and building up to the start of the Rehabs' Reunion on Thursday.

There are four horses going home, and 2 new arrivals (whose photos are already overdue), so I may be blogging several times a day to fit everything in...stand by... 

Thomas the Third's 14 week update

Thomas the Third has now been here for 14 weeks - he is staying a bit longer than normal which is always nice for me because I get to post more updates of his feet at later stages than I'd normally be able to.

Thomas arrived in shoes but with a fairly long term history of off and on lameness which was worse in his RF when he came here. Although he had fairly typical long toes and under-run heels he also had poor medio-lateral balance and this seemed likely to be the biggest issue for him, as he particularly struggled on camber and on turns.

14 weeks later and things are looking a lot more comfortable.  He has a shorter toe and more supportive heel and is growing in his hoof capsule at the usual steeper angle, which indicates that the new growth is better connected and healthier.

These comparison shots of his LF show clearly how much change has been happening in the orientation of his feet. There is a much stronger frog now and though his medio-lateral balance is still improving the new hoof growth should result in a much more balanced hoof, overall.

Most importantly, he is much sounder and more comfortable on his feet and no longer stands like this!

There will of course be more on Thomas before he goes home. 

Mina's 12 week update

Late blog again, apologies, because Mina went home on Monday and its only now that I've managed to  upload her photos and video - sorry Mina and Helen!

Mina arrived in reverse shoes and having had a prolonged period of box-rest and on bute. Her feet have changed a lot and are still changing -  as with most rehab horses she has gone home with several months of hoof changes still to go. 

Here are her comparison photos from the day she arrived til the day she went home. 

This was her lamest foot and from the photos the biggest change is in her shorter toe. In shoes this was achieved by heavily rasping her toe but now the angle of her new hoof is bringing her toe back more effectively.

Mina was already landing heel first but her biggest issue was medio-lateral balance. Here is a still from her footage on the day she arrived. She was landing laterally on both feet but her RF was worst.

 Compare that with the still from 12 weeks later...

The full footage is below for those who want to have a detailed look.

Aleska's 12 week update

Aleska went home at the weekend and has already been out and about on her home ground. So far, so good: Kerry says: "Fantastic, feels so different - it used to feel like I was riding a jelly horse but she feels so steady now!"

 Perhaps its not surprising she used to feel like a jelly as her feet were longer than she wanted and not very supportive. Compare the difference in the length of her toe and heel; her foot just looks more business-like and capable now and even though she has another 3 months or so before she completely grows in her hoof capsule you can clearly see in the lower photo the new angle of growth.

These sole shots are interesting because the orientation of her frog has changed quite significantly. One of Aleska's issues was poor medio-lateral balance and a change like this, coupled with improved soundness, is a good sign that things are heading in the right direction. 

 Clearly lots more still needs to change but her toe will shorten as the new growth comes in and although her foot s still asymmetric from this angle the palmar hoof is much more balanced.

 From this angle you can see why there are still lots of changes to come and why the palmar hoof is further on. You can I hope also see that the imbalances in her sole will be much better once the new growth is fully down.

Footage now added below...

The best summer for 7 years...

September already, but we can't complain - its been the best summer since 2006, certainly up here, and its been fantastic to have weeks of sunshine, warm weather and dry ground. 

The horses have loved it and so have I, and we've also been able to make masses of superb haylage, which will make whatever the winter throws at us that much more bearable.  

Meanwhile, look who came to see Dexter at the weekend...Yvonne and Kelly came to catch up and had a good bonding session with their special boy... 

..they even managed not to get lost!

There is news of the rehab horses too, as Remi went out competing this weekend - which I think must be his first competition since returning home. 

Congrats to him, Pip and Kimberley and the rest of "Team Remi" as he looks fantastic and scored very respectably in both Novice and Elementary classes. 

There is lots to tell you, as its a real "back to school" week with horses going home and arriving, so more tomorrow!