Its a cob thing...

Masses going on today, Nico going home and new boy Dom (below) arriving, plus all the usual work with the other horses and a visit from the Exmoor National Park bods to talk about the coming year...Nico's final pics will go up soon, along with updates on Bailey G and Buster, but for now, meet Dom...

New boy Dom is pictured standing on the muck-heap, where he decided he would locate himself once turned out, as there appeared to be lots of haylage there.  The fact that it was old, damp haylage, which had been thrown out and spurned by me and all the other horses didn't deter him.

In fact he spent some time and energy making sure neither Felix, Charlie or Bailey Griffiths could steal it from him - though they preferred the nice, fresh, succulent haylage from the feeders...(!)

Here are Dom's feet, before he was released to commence his search for haylage.  Nothing too scary, but a long toe, contracted frog, slightly under-run heel and some growth rings at the top which hint at uneven loading.

This is corroborated by his MRI, which shows collateral ligament damage on both front feet, along with mild navicular changes and pedal osteitis.

Sometimes Domino stands beautifully square but once I started fiddling around and doing things like taking hind shoes off, he reverted to pointing his RF, which according to his vet and his owner, Nikki, is characteristic.

For the record, here is an on-the-floor caudal shot of his RF. I'd hope that his frog starts to work a lot harder than this over the next few weeks.