Becca's 5 week update

As Becca arrived at the same time as Zan its also time for her update. Her feet are, as you can see, undergoing some quite dramatic changes.  

 Her palmar hoof was very weak but it is slowly getting stronger, particularly the digital cushion. 

Her feet are naturally still flat and under-run but they are starting to get back to normal proportions. 

If you look at the top of her hoof capsule you can see the new growth which is coming in at a steeper angle. 

The new growth, which is much better, is at the top and of course it will be several months before there is good growth at the bottom.  

The change in the hoof capsule orientation can already be seen but this is definitely a work in progress. 

Zan's 5 week update

 Zan has been back here for 5 weeks so its time for his update.

 He arrived with fairly good feet and had maintained a heel first landing but what is  interesting is how much his frog and digital cushion have strengthened even so.

 His toe is also shortening and his foot is more supportive than it was on arrival as well.

 Zan came back here because he had developed a lameness in his RF which had not improved with shoeing. Although the upper photo is rather dark you can still see that his palmar foot is more developed now.

 ...which is confirmed from this angle as well.

Even in 5 weeks the nail holes are gone and he is well on the way to regrowing a better foot and, more importantly, he is much sounder than he was when he arrived and so far is improving week by week.

Best day of the year...

Yesterday was the best day of the year as far as I am concerned - 114 bales of haylage made in glorious sunshine and a drying breeze and safely wrapped just as it clouded over.

The forecast gave me a scare as soon after we cut on Saturday they started forecasting rain for Wednesday morning but fortunately as the high pressure took hold the threat disappeared and we had fantastic weather.

Now back to normal, with a huge sigh of relief!

This week's theme is grey eventers...

Following on from yesterday's update featuring Alfie, eventing 2 years down the line from rehab, today's blog shows a horse at the very beginning of his barefoot journey.

These feet belong to Deutz, a promising eventer who has been diagnosed with deep flexor tendon damage.

He has been shod until just before his arrival here, including in wedges and its up to us to try something different

Although Deutz's feet need to improve, as is clear from the distorted hairline and weak hoof wall, there is also lots to like about his feet.

He has reasonably good frogs and his digital cushion is better developed than many horses who come here.  On video he actually has a slight heel first landing already but is landing laterally on both front feet.

More on Deutz soon, and lets hope he does as well as the other grey eventers who have been here for rehab.

Hooves after rehab

I had a great update about Alfie, who arrived here in 2014, which I blogged about a month ago in this post: http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/reverse-engineering-barefoot-revolution.html. 

I've now been sent the photos so here is the proof :-)

Hooves without heart-bars

Caymen is on his way home today so its time for his 12 week photos. He arrived in heart-bars, as regular blog readers will remember, and caused quite a sensation with his initial photos. 

Today its good to report that his feet are strengthening and developing well. You can see the angle of the new growth quite clearly in the top half of the hoof and his palmar hoof is much more supportive than it was in shoes. 

From this angle you can see how the palmar hoof has developed; this is how he has been able to go from a toe first to heel first landing. Ironically his foot has become much stronger without the "support" of the shoe.  

His foot is rebalancing and re-orientating and this process will continue as the  new, more balanced hoof grows down. 

Caymen is a great illustration of how feet can provide their own, much needed support, if only they are given the chance to improve.