Solar power

The latest horse to arrive at Rockley is Solar, who made the trip from Berkshire with his owner Sarah last Sunday.  Sarah has known him for several years and recalls that he has had periodic lameness, usually when the ground is hard, but it was only once she owned him that she was in a position to do something about it. 

As you can see, there is a pretty clear issue with his medio-lateral balance especially on this - his worst - foot.  There are also lots of growth rings and evidence of times when fairly dramatic shifts in his hoof loading have occurred.  

He is reluctant to load his RF and Sarah correctly assumed that this was because of ongoing discomfort even when some people were telling her is was just habit or that he was being awkward.  As always, you rarely go wrong if you listen to your horse(!).

 Solar's farrier was well aware of the balance issues and the fact that he was loading incorrectly and was doing his best to correct it, as you can see by the fact that he has left the medial wall on both hooves much higher.  However it does seem to be extremely difficult to rebalance feet this way, whereas if you aim to centrally load the foot through the frog, the hoof capsule usually has a better chance or adjusting.

Despite the balance issues, there is a lot to like about Solar's hooves, and he has a fantastic frog and a pretty good digital cushion, so I am very hopeful that he will be much more comfortable soon.   Footage to follow...!