New boy Dash

Dash arrived after a very long but smooth journey all the way from Scotland at the weekend. He has been in shoes until a couple of weeks ago, as you can see from the photos, and he has a lameness which blocks to the palmar hoof but has not had an MRI.  

From the outside his feet certainly look rather weak, with under-run heels and not much development of frog or digital cushion, so that means he has lots in common with the majority of horses who come here

I will be expecting a lot of change in these feet over the next few weeks as we try to improve his landing from toe first, as he is currently, to heel first.

This foot looks more balanced  but his frog has certainly not been getting the stimulus it wanted so again this is an area where I will be expecting significant improvement.     

 Dash has settled in well an will be spending the next few days getting to know the other horses while he makes a start on growing better feet.

Updates - part 4 (Ted M)

Fourth but not least is Ted M. He has been here a few days less than the others but like Jigsaw he arrived with feet that were already several months out of shoes and becoming more capable. 

This means he was able to work almost from day one and it shows in the good changes he has made since then. His foot is shorter, stronger and more capable and nearly 8 weeks of work has made a difference. 

There was lots to like about his feet in any case but they really look as if they can do the job now, which is certainly the case. 

A really strong, tough little foot - well done Ted!

He already had some good new growth coming in and once this is all the way down his feet will be even more robust. You can just about see in the current photo that the band of growth which was at the top third of his hoof when he arrived is now nearly at ground level.  

Now quite a business-like foot which is capable of working on all sorts of terrain. 

Well done Ted, and keep on growing those feet!

Updates - part 3 (Jigsaw)

Jigsaw is the next update, again at 8 weeks. I am not sure how the dint you can see in the lower photo came about - it clearly happened at about the time he arrived with us as its not apparent in his arrival photo so it may have been a knock while travelling. 

Whatever the cause it does not bother him in the slightest and is purely cosmetic. It is quite a useful marker though to show how fast his hoof is growing; you can also just about see the line of the new hoof capsule level with the bottom of the dint.

Jigsaw already had quite nice feet when he arrived and had a heel first landing so he has made rapid progress compared with some of the horses who come here.  Nevertheless his feet are still improving and his heels in particular are less under-run and are providing much more support than when he arrived. 

No dramatic changes to this angle as he was already landing heel first, which is what I would expect. 

Its a shame his stance hasn't improved - although maybe I just got him at a bad moment, again(!)... 

Subtle improvements which have come about with increasing levels of work and a variety of different surfaces. 

Again, a foot which is working a bit better but was already on a pathway to better soundness. 

Updates - part 2 (Teddy G)

This is Teddy's update; he has been here 8 weeks and is a lot less hairy than when he arrived, I am glad to say!

He had weak frogs which had most likely played a part in his lameness so its good to see that they are now much stronger than when he arrived. 

This has led to better development in the palmar hoof, as you can see from these shots. 

This is is worse foot but its growing quite quickly as you can see from comparing the change in angle in the dorsal wall. The stretched old toe is now completely gone. 

Teddy was landing toe first on this foot and is now heel first and has a much healthier foot. 

 He does however still have a stubborn central sulcus split on this foot which is slowly healing and which we are treating with derma-gel (thats the stuff you can see in the lower photo). 

 

On the whole though Teddy has done very well to improve his feet so much in such a relatively short space of time and I am hopeful he will have feet to be proud of very soon. 

Updates - part 1 (Zac)

Glorious weather for photos and footage for the last few days and far too nice to be in front of the computer but today its almost too hot, for me at least, so here goes. 

Zac arrived at the start of May so this is his 8 week update. He had a reasonable palmar hoof when he arrived but its considerably stronger now as I hope you can see.  

The most significant change in Zac's feet has been the short from straight hoof, wonky leg to straight leg but turned in toe. This is clear from the photos and you can also see the way his heels are now less under-run (check where the bars ended when he arrived and compare today).  

Of course ideally we would like straight legs, straight feet, but thats not possible for Zac. He is sounder when he is allowed to compensate in his feet, rather than his limbs, so we have to accept that.  

His hoof pastern axis is improving, a reflection of the stronger palmar hoof, but he still has a way to go and because of his conformation may always find standing straight on a hard surface tricky. 

Again, compare where the bars end and you can see how the base of support has moved back. The twist in his foot, resulting in the turned in toe, is also evident here but is less dramatic.

Palmar hoof looking much better now that he is working more consistently. 

Finally his footage, for reference, on a hard surface:  https://vimeo.com/219084541 and on a circle: https://vimeo.com/219084150