What feet can tell you

Though Dave arrived here last week and has featured on the blog already, its only today that I've managed to fit in his hoof pics. As you can see, the sheer size of Dave's feet means I've had to take photos further away than normal just to fit him in...I've posted these because even just looking at the sole shots together gives interesting clues to what has been happening in his feet.

If you were asked to guess which foot had been lamest, you'd be safe putting money on the RF (upper photo) for several reasons. By comparison with his LF, the frog is weaker and the medial side of frog, heels and sole look less developed than the lateral side. His foot also looks as if its twisted on the end of the limb whereas the LF looks straighter. 

Most of us would immediately point to the lower photo (LF) being the healthier foot. Its more symmetrical, has a more evenly loaded frog and looks straighter on the limb.  Sure enough, Dave has been lame on his RF but not his LF and when filmed is landing on the lateral edge of his RF. 

Interestingly, on MRI many of the apparent problems were found to be bilateral (collateral and impar ligament damage, pedal osteitis, sidebone) even though he wasn't lame on his LF. However there was bruising and a possible fracture of the medial palmar process of the coffin bone on the RF which would fit with what we can still see in the photos.

Hooves rarely lie and are incredibly adaptive. They aren't static but are responding, remodelling and developing (or not) in response to the stimulus they receive and the load they are being required to transmit. There is always a reason for asymmetry and imbalanced loading and its very often apparent from the outside of the hoof.    

Buddy - week two

Buddy has only been here just under 2 weeks but I took advantage of some better weather yesterday to grab some interesting comparison photos. 

Buddy had pulled off his remedial shoes before travelling down here but here are his feet on day one. You can see the contraction at the heels and the pinched frog and his heels are also under-run. What's harder to see from this angle is that his feet are also very flat, with shallow collateral grooves and a sole which has no concavity whatsoever.

Here is the same foot today and its already beginning to re-shape. This is his "sound" foot and the one he was landing better on when he arrived, so its no surprise that his frog is healthier and his heels - though still under-run - are more functional and starting to de-contract. His feet are still flat but are slowly developing a healthier shape.

Here is his worse foot  - the RF - on day one. A similar story to the LF but more extreme - a worse frog and even weaker heels and sole - and very flat.  He was landing toe first on this foot and it shows.

The same foot 10 days later. As is often the case, the frog is the first to start to change, which is encouraging as it shows us that he is becoming more able to engage the palmar hoof - fewer toe first landings. This is the first step to growing a healthier, better balanced hoof and although its early days its nice to have some encouragement that Buddy is heading in the right direction.

Quick lateral shot for comparison (tip: look at the hairlines). Like many horses, Buddy thought he hated having his legs washed until he realised the water was warm(!)...so at least clean hoof pics are now an option!

Pics of Big Dave tomorrow...

Brief respite...

Well after a pretty wild few days and nights, we've got a brief respite today before the next bout of pants weather hits us. Of course, I'm not complaining because being high means at least we are in no danger of flooding, unlike many (I've seen the Facebook pics!). It is totally sodden, however, and even the tracks are wet in places - thank goodness we can use the tracks, though, because the fields wouldn't stand up to the horses on them at the moment.

Sometimes I think the horses here are like a gang of ne'er-do-wells loitering on a street corner - they've even got hoodies on...Big Dave has settled in well and seems to enjoy hanging out with his new pals.

Buddy proves that even though Dave is tallest, he hasn't got the biggest ears...

Tom and Rocky spot the camera and pose appropriately...

...but Rocky wants a close up...

and Alfie wants one to himself...

Rocky - charting a changing hoof

Rocky has now been here nearly 8 weeks and has been changing the medio-lateral balance of his hooves in a big way. On MRI he was diagnosed as having damage to his DDFT and impar ligament, navicular fibrocartilage and bursa. 

As always, I find the best place to assess hoof balance is the sole view. The first photo is Rocky the day he arrived, having just pulled off his remedial shoes. As you can see, he has a pretty healthy frog but his foot is not symmetrical from this view, which hints that he is overloading the lateral side. His heels are also under-run - further forward than the widest point of the frog. 

 A few weeks later and his frog is shedding, his heels are moving back and his foot is starting to look more balanced and symmetrical. 

As of yesterday, this is how the same foot looks. The heels are still a bit under-run but are in a better place and a line drawn through his frog would leave the medial and lateral sides looking much more symmetrical than on day one. 

From the lateral view, lots of growth and at a tighter, healthier angle with the nail holes almost gone. 

From this angle the areas to focus on are the length of the walls (the lateral side is much longer in the photo from day one, but more even today) and the outline of the digital cushion. The angles of the shots are slightly different but again the 2 halves are more symmetrical and even than they were on arrival.

As you know, I never worry about symmetry from the top or the front as long as I have it where it counts - where the foot meets the ground :-) As with all the horses here these changes aren't a result of trimming but of the hoof being allowed to function more healthily. Form always follows function!

Alfie's (nearly) 6 week update

I meant to put Alfie the Morgan's update on the blog yesterday but was short of photos that were actually visible in the Stygian gloom that was Rockley over the last few days. Yesterday things improved and I managed to take some more useful photos.

Here is Alfie's LF the day he arrived and below, after 6 weeks. 

As so often happens, its only when I put the photos up here that I realise how dramatic the changes have been - and its something I never get tired of seeing. The proportions of his foot are completely different out of shoes and its a pleasure to see him stomping about on his tough little feet. 

As well as the shorter toe look how much more level the hairline has become - and his foot getting to be properly underneath him again as well as beefing up behind.

Alfie already had a good frog and digital cushion but look at the difference in how it works out of shoes. He hasn't been trimmed and this is simply how his foot should load if he is landing correctly.

I know its late...but its BIG!

It was worth waiting to take my photos because look - it stopped raining and the SUN came out - yes really! But the most interesting thing about the photo below is not the sunshine but the horses. For those of you who are old hands to the blog, there are Felix and Charlie doing their usual fab job of meeting and greeting a new arrival...

The new arrival is on the left, Felix is in the middle, Charlie is on the right. BTW, Charlie is 16.1hh...

Alfie reckons if he stands on the top of the hill, he can fool new boy Dave into thinking they are the same height...

Dave thinks Buddy could be a mate...

Rocky is a bit concerned that with such a big new arrival we may run out of food and forage...

There will be a blog today...

...but only after I've managed to take new pics as the ones I took yesterday were so dark its hard to tell whether it was hooves or just the night that I was photographing...Off to try again but torrential rain isn't helping...!