One belated, one early...

Fryday went home a couple of weeks ago but my camera was playing up when he left and then I got so behind that he's had to wait til now for his final photos. 

He came in bar shoes and the place to focus is - as always - the back of the foot. You can see that despite the "support" of the bar shoe his foot is collapsing at the heel and curling under itself - this is what causes under-run heels. 

When he went home his foot looked like this. The line which was at the coronet when he arrived has moved to be two-thirds down his foot - the sort of growth rate I expect in most rehab horses - and his heel is very much stronger. Despite the hair, its clear that the heel is much stronger and there is less deviation at the hairline. 

 

Here are Fryday's sole shots over the time he was here. 

These are the most interesting. Although there is lots of distracting bar its clear how far his heels are moving back if you look at the position of his heels on his last day compared with earlier. 

Great frogs and better balance, as you can see, and feet which should be awesome in a few more months. 

And the most important shot - a much stronger heel and digital cushion  - look at the depth from the frog compared to day one. Love it!

Next up, an early update for Trooper who has been here just 2 weeks. He also arrived in bar shoes. 

After 2 weeks the nail holes are growing down and his hairline is stabilising though he still has a long toe.

The sole shots are interesting - not much visible in the bar shoe though you can just about see his frog. 

Straight out of his shoes, there is a lot to like (apart from the black thrushy areas under the shoe) but if you compare with the more recent photos I think you'll agree its a healthier picture with a frog which is desperately trying to function properly again. 

Reine's update

Reine has been here 8 weeks and its time for another update. She had been barefoot for quite some time before she came here and it has definitely meant she made faster progress.

However, when she arrived her foot balance wasn't right for her as you can tell by the photos I took of her stance on day one.

 It was fairly typical for her not to stand square and I have various shots of her front legs on day one but I'm glad to say that her normal stance now is as she is below.

Her toe has shortened considerably but she has only really begun to start building the back of her foot - that should continue over the next few weeks. 

The other thing which is changing is her medio-lateral balance - not the easiest thing to see in these photos but she was overloading the lateral side of this foot and you can see that her frog was more developed on the lateral (RH) side. 

In the recent photo there is a slightly more symmetrical foot and her hoof wall and heels are functioning better as well now that she is landing less toe first and more consistently flat or heel first.  

Again, a shorter toe and the beginnings of a deeper palmar hoof and digital cushion. This has also improved her hoof/pastern axis.

Better symmetry in the foot and a heel and frog which are starting to function. 

Fantastic updates - 3 for the price of 1!

Amanda sent me these lovely photos of her and Itsy having their first days' hunting last week. Itsy went home in the summer and Amanda has been working really hard with her and this is their reward :-)

Itsy behaved beautifully and loved watching hounds work, which after all is what its all about, and came bouncing out the next day equally sound and happy, so here's hoping they will have many more happy days. 

Itsy's soundness has really consolidated now that she has grown in a full hoof capsule - for a clip of how she used to look, check this out: http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/foot-balance-shoes-and-lameness-itsys.html

Brilliant news too from Rolie, who was here a year ago. He has been competing successfully all summer in dressage and here is Kate's latest update.

"Rolie is superb, no signs of any lameness even though I've been away for a couple of weeks so he has had a bit of time off. 

He's going from strength to strength and today we competed Elementary Freestyle to Music  - he just felt fabulous and we got 2nd and qualified for the Regionals at this level which is a huge step up for us and something I never thought would be possible. His feet are strong with good frogs and super wall thickness and concavity and I'm so pleased! "

And finally Krista and Buddy, who were also out this weekend:

"Le donks was such a good boy today, my first time going solo at a comp and he was a star. Both tests were a bit bleurgh.. Super trot work but he broke in canter. No frillies but definitely finished in the top 10 or so out of 30 in the first class which I'm pleased with. Had lots of compliments on how smart he is so a super day all round — feeling awesome."

I think we all share that feeling - well done everyone!

Arnold's 7 week update

Since I was AWOL for part of last week I am now way behind with updates...I promise I will get to everyone  - without fail - but first up is Arnold who has now been here for 7 weeks. 

So here are his feet on the day he arrived, with the most recent photo below. I much prefer the balance of his hooves as they are today - better frogs, the beginnings of a decent heel and a much better proportion at the toe - the widest part of his foot is now much further back than it was, which is a healthy sign. 

Of course Arnold has a long way to go. Although his frog and heels are improving they are not yet good enough for him to have an established heel first landing. 

You can see from this angle that though his toe is a lot shorter (and his nail holes are all but gone) his heels are still under-run compared to where they need to be. 

Here is his LF - not the lamest foot but the one which looked the worse (another good example of the tricks photos can play!). 

A dramatically better frog and heels which are clearly beginning to work...but...his movement (as on his RF) has yet to catch up properly, though it should come. 

Here is his footage over the last 7 weeks for you to have a look at, and you'll see what I mean. 

Comparison x-rays and a happy Friday update!

Thanks to Krista and her vet Chris Tufnell for sending me these comparison x-rays of the shots they took of Buddy's feet, a year apart.

Buddy came here in November last year and the initial x-rays were taken in September with the new ones 11 months later. 

The top ones show his navicular bone and the older one is on the left.

These show his pedal bone - he had been diagnosed with pedal osteitis in addition to the navicular bone damage, again with the older one on the left. 

Interesting, isn't it?! And more importantly, Buddy and Krista have been having a heap of fun since then, not least at the RRR...

Its all on Buddy's blog and its a really fantastic read for a dark, grey Friday - I suddenly feel as if the sun has come out :-)

http://buddysbarefootadventure.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/no-news-is-good-news-huge-update.html

O'Neil's 12 week update

O'Neil has been here for 12 weeks and he has made progress but its been slow rather than spectacular. 

His photos look pretty good - from this contracted and skewed frog on day one to this (below) after a few weeks. 

The place to look here are his heels which were still incredibly weak. O'Neil was not surprisingly still landing toe first at this stage.  

A few weeks later and his heels are moving back and becoming more supportive. He is now landing heel first on this foot but his other front foot is still lagging behind.

The caudal shots are encouraging because its clear how much his feet are improving - again this is his better foot from day one to 12 weeks later.

The same story with his most troublesome foot. Good changes but not enough in the first few weeks for him to change his landing. 

As with his RF the heels are moving back and becoming more supportive but he's still not comfortable in his movement even though he's better than he used to be.  

A much better caudal shot - now he just needs to use it!

As a reminder, here are his lateral shots over 12 weeks. 

Better, I'm sure you agree, but still a way to go. 

New achievements for old rehabs

I am absolutely thrilled to be able to post updates on 2 horses who were rehabs here earlier in the year. Both of them have had some serious ups and downs to contend with so although I am not posting about them being placed or winning rosettes, their achievements are equally if not more impressive. 

Many of you will remember Paddy who went home following his foot rehab here and straight away went off to have his kissing spine operated on.

Well, Friday was a momentous day as - after months and months of in-hand work building him up - Emma finally got back on board, nearly a year after she last rode him(!). She sent me this fab pic (which also shows his stunning heel first landing - big improvement on last year when his vet wanted to de-nerve him!) and this great clip - Emma is the one grinning from ear to ear!

Well done both of you and onwards and upwards :-)

Meanwhile, Chester has only been home for just over a month but has been going from strength to strength. He had started to land heel first while he was here but he still wasn't as confident on his LF especially on circles - but look at him today! 

Now Louise is finding that his landing is really consistent and it was fantastic to hear that his vet is also much more optimistic about his future, having assessed him last week. 

As always, once horses go home its only the beginning - kudos to Louise and Emma, who've both worked so hard to bring Paddy and Chester back into work - can't wait for your next updates!

And there is one more update - this time on Patsy who went home in 2011 and this time it IS an update with a rosette 'cos they went out competing and came 4th :-)

Huge congratulations everyone :-)