Beanie's final update

Beanie went home at the weekend and I'm late putting his final pics up but hope Julie and Beanie will forgive me! First things first, I am pleased to say his landing has improved dramatically from the toe first landing with a short stride which he arrived with.

Comparing the two stills from his footage you can see that he is now landing heel first and has much better extension. This will improve still further as his improved hoof capsule continues to grow down.

Another thing that immediately caught my eye when Beanie arrived was his uncomfortable stance - pointing his RF and twisting both feet out. 

On the day he left he was much happier to load both limbs and was also standing straighter. He is a good example of a horse who needs to compensate through his feet and be allowed to develop asymmetries if he requires them, as otherwise his limbs take the strain. 

Here is Beanie's LF the day he arrived. The 2 biggest changes are in the heel, which is now much less under-run and has much better development, and the toe. The red line projects the angle of new growth (which is currently roughly halfway down the hoof capsule) and once this has fully grown down it will not only make his toe shorter but bring back his breakover. 

 The sole view confirms what we can see laterally. There is a much healthier frog and he is also developing better concavity although this will not be fully evident until his hoof capsule has completely grown down. 

The sole view today shows much better depth at the back of the foot through the collateral grooves and a clear line where his "new" breakover will be. Of course at the moment the hoof capsule at ground level (ie on this view) is still the old, stretched hoof. 

The red line shows where his breakover will be - as on the lateral photo - and the red shading is old, stretched growth that is likely to wear away as his new growth reaches the ground. For the usual reasons I would personally not be trimming this off now. Its doing no harm and removing it all now is likely to destabilise the foot and result in too sudden a shift in load. 

The same new growth can be seen through his RF and again Beanie now has better development at the back of the foot. 

Not the best photos but you can at least see that the frog is much healthier and the heels less under-run. As with his LF, this foot will be a tighter, neater shape and have better concavity once the new hoof capsule is fully grown in. 

Finally, Beanie's footage over the 15 weeks that he was here. Lets hope he continues to go from strength to strength.