Best foot forward

I want to use this post to look at just one foot on one horse because its a great illustration of how feet change and why its important that they improve.

 This foot belongs to Rose who has now been here for just over 6 weeks. She arrived with one foot - this one - much worse than the other and this was the foot she was lamer on.

Its clear to see why, as anyone who is familiar with the comparison shots I post here will already be able to see. The back of the foot in the upper photo, taken the day she arrived, is weak and under-run, providing little support.

After 6 weeks there is an improvement in the frog, the heels are less under-run and the whole foot is stronger. Her other foot has improved as well but the changes are more dramatic in this foot because it was worse to begin with. 

This shot is a good illustration of the fact that high heels are not very useful to a horse with palmar hoof pain. They force loading onto the walls which as a result under-run even further; they also reduce stimulus to the frog and digital cushion which means less capacity to shock-aborb in the palmar hoof.

This is not the best photo but you can still see that its a stronger, more developed palmar hoof today.  

Finally, compare the stance and the heels between these 2 photos and consider which is the more stable limb. Rose still lands worse on this foot than her left foot but it is catching up rapidly and I hope that in a few more weeks she will be much more balanced.