Thomas has now been here for a month - a month which has shot by but has seen him change from toe first to a heel first landing and to start working properly again. He has now been in work for just over 2 weeks and so far all is going well.
Thomas' feet looked pretty good when he arrived but if you compare the same foot today you can see that already he has a shorter toe and I am sure this is one of the factors that has helped to improve his landing.
You can also see on the more recent photo above that he is beginning to grow in a better hoof capsule. I've got to get some better sole shots as the ones I've taken are too dark to see anything (well thats Exmoor in winter for you) but I'll get those up as soon as I can.
Meanwhile Tom is very happy to be out and about again and although we are building his work up slowly, as he has been a very long time out of work, he is making good progress so far.
The last month has also, as you know, been a very eventful one for Paddy, who had his colic surgery 5 weeks ago. He has made a fantastic recovery and has coped with his ongoing box rest extremely happily. His opinion seems to be that - since box rest consists of ad lib haylage, no exercise and numerous opportunities to graze on the front lawn in hand - why is there anything to complain about?
It has made his recovery much less stressful for all of us and when his vet came to see him yesterday she was delighted with how well he had done. He now has the all clear to come back into very gentle work and can come off box rest next week - well done Paddy!
"You didn't mention work did you?! I'm an invalid..."
Thomas' feet look great, and I'm so glad to hear that Paddy is doing so well! As for going back to "work"... you DO know that's a four-letter word, right? ;)
ReplyDeletePads agrees with you - as far as he is concerned, going out in hand is just a snacking opportunity :-)
ReplyDeleteGood to see that Paddy is much better, he seems such a sweet, laid back chap (polar opposite of Thomas). Tom's feet DO look good =) Nic I assume from the fact that you are still blogging that you have survived the experience of riding my little darling, hahaha!
ReplyDeleteGood to hear that Paddy is back on form. He's seems such a sweet, chilled out chap. It's a good job it's not Thomas on box rest or you'd have a pony sized hole in the side of your barn by now =D. His feet look great by the way!
ReplyDeleteSophie, can you imagine?! Thomas would last - ooh...let me see...15 minutes on box rest?! The original Duracell bunny - thank goodness its Paddy who quite enjoys it :-)
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