Millie - a new girl and a study in hoof balance

New girl Millie has arrived and for once we have a horse here who hasn't travelled halfway across the country; she is a local girl and lives just down the road near Bideford.  She has been shod for the last 4 years but had her shoes removed for x-rays, which confirmed the vets' diagnosis of navicular syndrome.

Straight out of shoes, her feet are obviously weak and vulnerable and there are untidy edges where her long hoof wall has chipped away. Another clue to hooves out of balance is the bulge in the hairline at her coronet but there is also lots to like about her  hooves. Her heels aren't too badly under-run, she doesn't have ripples or growth rings in her hoof wall and although her frog is weak and her heels are a little high I think they will come back quite quickly.  

Here is where I think the biggest changes will happen - in her medio-lateral balance. At the moment there is a dramatic difference in hoof wall between the medial and lateral sides and if you were to draw a line through the middle of her foot the difference in size between the two sides would be clear. 

I have high hopes for Millie - and not just because she is a thoroughbred :-) More on her soon.