Trooper's 4 week update

Trooper will have been here 4 weeks tomorrow and its time for his update. He is a tough little pony who has made good progress in the short time he has spent with us.

His footage is below and you can see that his landing was heel first when he arrived - in bar shoes -  and that has been maintained now that he is working out of shoes.

That does of course beg the question of what the bar shoes were intended to do. They are usually cited as offering more "support" to the back of the foot but I've never been convinced and it seems clear that certainly in Trooper's case his own feet are more than capable of providing all the support he needs. 

The more interesting contrast is between his medio-lateral balance on the day he arrived and today. Stupidly I forgot to get footage of him in his shoes but he was tipping laterally and was still doing so when we filmed him a few days out of shoes (above), worse on his LF. 

Today he can load his foot more evenly - apologies for the poor still shot but my new camera, though admirable in many ways, hates low light conditions and so filming at 4pm on a murky November day was asking a lot. I am investing in floodlights :-)

His hoof pics will follow once the fog clears...

Monday madness

Not the horses this time, but sadly my faithful old Canon camcorder is on its last legs and I had to bite the bullet and buy a new camera.

I tried it out yesterday and couldn't resist this footage - it made me smile and that's probably what most of us need on a Monday morning - hope you enjoy it :-)

Bad weather for blogging

Has anyone else had one of those weeks? Its rained here every day apart from Monday and every day apart from Monday I've spent most of my time out in it and it feels as if everything takes twice as long as is twice as tiring! 

To make matters worse, poor Dylan and O'Neil have each had a bruised hind foot which has made them both feel very sorry for themselves, although I'm glad to say they both seem to be on the mend now.

Added to that horrible dark evenings and mornings which seem to be drawing in more quickly than ever all in all November is certainly not turning out to be a favourite month. 

Still, I am relying on Indy to bring a bit of Friday cheer to the blog. I am aware I am behind in posting footage on several other horses but the weather has made it very difficult to get any filming done though I am aiming to catch up as soon as I can.

 These stills show Indy in September (above), October (below) and November (at the bottom). They are not unfortunately all from the same angle but I hope you can see that there have been some nice changes.

 By October he is less hollow and is stepping under better with his hind legs. At this stage he had just started landing better but by November his landing (as I posted on Monday) is much more established and as a result his stride length and suspension are improving as well.

Look who's back...

 Yes, its dear Knightley, known to us originally as Mr-Knightley-from-Dubai who first came here exactly 2 years ago with a DDFT injury. He was supposed to rejoin his owner Debbie after his rehab but she was sent from Dubai to South Africa instead of the UK.

Knightley didn't fancy the trip, understandably, so remained in the UK and went to live in Hertfordshire for a year. He's now back (though I'm glad to say he no longer has feet problems and is stomping around better than ever!) and settled straight in.

I would love to say that the lovely weather in these photos is representative of Exmoor this autumn but sadly that would be a lie. Its now wet, windy and rather bleak...Still, one day of sun is better than nothing...

Isla's (nearly) 7 week update

I'm putting up Isla's photos today because she is interestingly very similar to Indy whom I posted about yesterday. 

This view shows you her better palmar hoof developing although her new angle change isn't quite as dramatic as Indy's.

Like Indy, her frog doesn't look as impressive as it will because she's shed a layer but you can see that its working more than it did when she arrived and again like Indy her landing has improved (footage to follow for her).

More development at the back of her foot and it should become less under-run too as her new hoof capsule grows in. 

Indy's 7 week update

Indy, the 17.1hh eventer who came back with us from the RRR, has now been here for 7 weeks and has made good progress. The still from his landing footage on arrival is above and the comparison still, from yesterday, is below. A big improvement in landing - the full footage is at the bottom of today's post.

  You can see from the lateral photos that the back of his foot is considerably deeper and stronger today (below) than it was when he arrived. In addition his nail holes are now gone and his whole foot is less under-run - the useful line at his quarter gives a good indication of how this is changing. 

Its the same story with his RF and you can also see clearly here the new growth in the top inch of his dorsal wall which is growing in. 

One of Indy's problems when he arrived were weak frogs which had developed a deep central sulcus split (a sheared heel) while he was in bar shoes. 

Luckily this has not stopped him from developing and strengthening his palmar hoof but you can see from today's photo that his frogs are looking tatty at the moment as the old, weak layer has mostly shed off. There is a clear difference in the width of his heels and once his frog has rebuilt he should have a much stronger foot. 

Again, don't be deceived by the fact that his frog looks untidy today. In fact it will grow in to be much wider than it was but at the moment he is missing a lot of frog as the old, infected top layer visible above has shed. I'll post new photos in a few weeks and by then he should be looking a lot more respectable.

One belated, one early...

Fryday went home a couple of weeks ago but my camera was playing up when he left and then I got so behind that he's had to wait til now for his final photos. 

He came in bar shoes and the place to focus is - as always - the back of the foot. You can see that despite the "support" of the bar shoe his foot is collapsing at the heel and curling under itself - this is what causes under-run heels. 

When he went home his foot looked like this. The line which was at the coronet when he arrived has moved to be two-thirds down his foot - the sort of growth rate I expect in most rehab horses - and his heel is very much stronger. Despite the hair, its clear that the heel is much stronger and there is less deviation at the hairline. 

 

Here are Fryday's sole shots over the time he was here. 

These are the most interesting. Although there is lots of distracting bar its clear how far his heels are moving back if you look at the position of his heels on his last day compared with earlier. 

Great frogs and better balance, as you can see, and feet which should be awesome in a few more months. 

And the most important shot - a much stronger heel and digital cushion  - look at the depth from the frog compared to day one. Love it!

Next up, an early update for Trooper who has been here just 2 weeks. He also arrived in bar shoes. 

After 2 weeks the nail holes are growing down and his hairline is stabilising though he still has a long toe.

The sole shots are interesting - not much visible in the bar shoe though you can just about see his frog. 

Straight out of his shoes, there is a lot to like (apart from the black thrushy areas under the shoe) but if you compare with the more recent photos I think you'll agree its a healthier picture with a frog which is desperately trying to function properly again.