Red's first 4 weeks

Red arrived nearly 4 weeks ago so I thought an update was in order especially as her owner is coming to see her at the weekend. 

You can already see the new angle her hoof capsule is growing at which  will result in a shorter toe and her nail holes are growing out well too. 

This foot looks a little strange at the moment as the toe is still long but that will shorten, as we could see in the previous photo, and her heels will also become stronger. 

A better palmar hoof with the hairline less distorted and the start of a better digital cushion. Red is not yet landing heel first on hard surfaces but I am hopeful this will develop shortly. 

As with the other foot, the long toe will shorten as her new hoof capsule grows in. 

This is a foot which is just beginning to change again but she is improving in the right places. 

As always, there will be more on Red soon.

Lenny's update

Lenny has been here for 4 weeks now. Although he has made progress he is not yet landing heel first, which is not particularly unusual but is a little frustrating.

I am including comparison shots from his arrival, 2 weeks and 4 weeks to give a clearer idea of what is happening to his feet. 

You can see that his foot is shortening and becoming stronger at the back but its not yet quite enough to give him that good landing.

His heels and frog are developing and he is using his palmar hoof more but we aren't quite there yet and his foot is still unbalanced. 

As with the other foot, this is an improving palmar hoof  - less under-run and more stable but just not quite supportive enough at the moment. 

Better heels, better frog...so near and yet not quite...

However when you look from this angle you can see how weak and unbalanced his feet were to start with and you can also see how many changes he is already making so perhaps we shouldn't be too surprised that he isn't quite there yet. 

Jake's update

Its hard to believe that Jake has already been here nearly 4 weeks. He arrived diagnosed on MRI with "severe and active" navicular bone changes and pathological changes to his fetlocks, worse on the LF, and had been given a "guarded" prognosis for return to athletic soundness.

His feet actually had lots of good structure and although he was initially landing toe first he quite quickly developed a better landing. 

His frogs were already reasonably strong so apart from his toe shortening and some healthier sole appearing there are no dramatic changes here. 

 There are more significant improvements to his digital cushion, with the more even hairline showing the foot becoming more balanced.

Jake's feet are growing quite quickly - the nail holes are already nearly gone despite the short time he has been out of shoes. 

Apologies for the angle - Jake is not always the most patient horse when it comes to standing for photos!

Some clear changes in hoof balance which have come about as Jake has been able to work consistently over the last few weeks. 

Despite his diagnosis his feet and his landing have only improved with regular work on the right surfaces and as you can see from the footage below, although he still has a long way to go, he is already landing much more confidently. This indicates how much more comfortable he is - a toe first landing is always a good indicator of palmar foot pain so a better landing is a great sign that he is on the mend.

Jake from Nic Barker on Vimeo.

The link to the footage is here if you want to view it on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/190526786

Reviewing Red

These feet belong to Red who arrived late last week. She has previously been barefoot and went back into shoes but is now trying barefoot again as a way of improving her lameness.

There is not a lot to say for now except that Red's palmar hoof has room for improvement, although its far from the worst I've seen.

 Nevertheless I expect to see some significant differences in her feet when I next post her photos.

Lenny's 2 week update

Lenny has been here just over 2 weeks and so here are his updated photos. Its very common for hoof wall to chip around the old nail holes so although the lower edge of his hoof looks untidy its not a cause for concern.

Out of shoes it is clear that this is a hoof whose balance will change considerably. His heels need to move further back to become more supportive of his limb and his whole hoof capsule needs to develop more structure medially. You can also see that his toe will shorten when he  has grown in enough new hoof capsule to have a better breakover.

Again, from this angle the lack of medial support is clear. I would expect to see the angles of the hoof wall straighten over the next few weeks as his foot strengthens.

Again there is some chipping here but its not an issue for Lenny. I am pleased that his hairline is already straighter and no longer collapsing towards the back of his foot - an encouraging sign that out of shoes his palmar hoof is more, not less supported. 

This is his more under-run foot so there are correspndingly bigger changes which Lenny needs to make. As well as more supportive heels he should develop better concavity over the next few weeks.

From this angle too some signs that his digital cushion is improving but lots more will need to change before Lenny's feet are as good as he can make them.