Jake's update

Its hard to believe that Jake has already been here nearly 4 weeks. He arrived diagnosed on MRI with "severe and active" navicular bone changes and pathological changes to his fetlocks, worse on the LF, and had been given a "guarded" prognosis for return to athletic soundness.

His feet actually had lots of good structure and although he was initially landing toe first he quite quickly developed a better landing. 

His frogs were already reasonably strong so apart from his toe shortening and some healthier sole appearing there are no dramatic changes here. 

 There are more significant improvements to his digital cushion, with the more even hairline showing the foot becoming more balanced.

Jake's feet are growing quite quickly - the nail holes are already nearly gone despite the short time he has been out of shoes. 

Apologies for the angle - Jake is not always the most patient horse when it comes to standing for photos!

Some clear changes in hoof balance which have come about as Jake has been able to work consistently over the last few weeks. 

Despite his diagnosis his feet and his landing have only improved with regular work on the right surfaces and as you can see from the footage below, although he still has a long way to go, he is already landing much more confidently. This indicates how much more comfortable he is - a toe first landing is always a good indicator of palmar foot pain so a better landing is a great sign that he is on the mend.

Jake from Nic Barker on Vimeo.

The link to the footage is here if you want to view it on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/190526786