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Tuesday, 2 September 2014

Ruby and the 8 week update

I'm posting this now even though I haven't got her feet pics yet - I will add those later today if I get the chance. 
Ruby has been here for 8 weeks and has made great progress, changing from a flat to heel first landing and that has been the signal for other improvements. These stills from her video footage are interesting because they show the difference in stride length and movement.

In the top shot she had been here about 10 days. She wasn't overtly unlevel on a circle but she was short-striding. She couldn't step through fully from behind because she couldn't fully extend in front - the consequence of not being able to land heel first - and this also made her tense in her neck and shoulders.
The same stride phase at 8 weeks, with half a good foot and a much better landing, shows better hind limb reach as well as a longer stride in front.

For the hoof nerds, her full footage is below and pics will follow as soon as I can!
Ruby M from Nic Barker on Vimeo.
Right - hoof pics at last...
LF 8 weeks ago and today, below. Still not perfect medio-lateral balance and it will be interesting to see if that changes as we go through the last 4 weeks.

 The heel first landing she now has has led to improvements in her digital cushion.

Not as much to see from the lateral view though she has a new hoof capsule growing down which will result in a  shorter toe.

 A much tidier RF today, particularly the palmar hoof. 

As with the LF a better digital cushion and more balanced hoof - the shorter and straighter hoof walls are a good indication of this. 



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4 comments:

  1. Tim3 September 2014 at 13:47

    Think I'm a footfall nerd more than a hoof nerd :). It's interesting how much more elevated Ruby is now, almost like she is floating over the ground compared to the older video.
    I've been trying to analyse it in more depth, but the frame rate is too slow. Any chance of doing some slow mo video of a horse on the circle? That could be very informative and satisfy my nerdishness

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  2. Nic Barker3 September 2014 at 16:20

    Yes, Tim its one of the things we want to do at the RRR when we have the FS700 - fingers crossed!

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  3. Tim3 September 2014 at 18:16

    Sounds good :) . Is the change in colour of the bulbs just down to them being cleaner or is it a sign of better circulation in that area ? I've noticed it on several of the horses photo sequences now.

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  4. Nic Barker4 September 2014 at 08:19

    Hmm... hard to tell for sure - though soles always look cleaner when they are working hard and you get a change in hoof capsule colour in hooves too - the new growth is often slightly deeper in colour - you can see it on Ruby's hooves where the old growth is pale yellow and the new growth more golden.

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