These feet belong to new horse Becca who arrived here yesterday. She was put into remedial shoes and wedged pads following a navicular diagnosis and was also given Tildren.
The shoes mean her frog receives no direct stimulus and most of the load is taken on the rim of the foot, where the shoe sits.
Out of the shoes and pads its a weak foot but it should soon be looking a lot healthier.
By contrast, our objective over the next few weeks will be to rebuild the frog, digital cushion and heels as mush as possible and if we are successful with this then she should regain a better, heel first landing which will be a more long-lasting solution.
3 comments:
That pad seems huge! The first pic gives the impression that all the force is going to be going/transferred downwards towards the toe, with little weight taken by the heel. I am essentially thinking of me in high heels.... rather than the whole round of the foot taking the weight. Do you think it is actually doing that in real life or just how the photo is perceived?
Raising the heel actually increases blood flow to the toe but decreases flow to the heel. Which is why there is slower growth in the heel and it ends up being crushed. Wedging often feels good to a navicular horse, but it is never a longterm solution because of these impaired dynamics.
I agree with you both :-) The next set of photos will be interesting, I hope.
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