He came out of front shoes a couple of weeks ago when he had his MRI and as you can see his feet aren't disastrous at all. However, they are under-run and the frog and digital cushion are relatively weak (the sloping down hairline in the top photo is a giveaway, as with a healthy DC it would be more level).
Still, lots to like and as his lameness is mild (1/10) and has been caught early I hope he will strengthen his feet in double-quick time.
On MRI he has some navicular bone oedema and damage to the navicular suspensory and impar ligaments on both front feet. His worse foot (RF) also has a small DDFT lesion.
This foot is not helped by the fact that he has a central sulcus split which you can see in the centre of the frog and more clearly in the caudal shot below. These types of splits are very prone to infection and can in themselves make horses sore enough to avoid landing heel first.
Fortunately Ernie is made of sterner stuff and is able to land heel first despite this but with a split of this kind its important to keep it as clean as possible and regularly disinfect it with a mild antibacterial and anti-fungal treatment. A good landing and plenty of movement should then allow the frog and digital cushion to become stronger which gives the best chance of getting rid of the split.
More on Ernie soon, of course.
2 comments:
Flossing! My favourite approach to these sulci!Tesco baby wipes work well. But watch, sometimes it is sooooo good to be flossed up there they will fall on you! :-)
Why did those vertical "grooves" form on the LF?
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