As regular blog readers will know, most of the horses who come here stay for 12 weeks, as that's the length of time it typically takes to get a better landing on feet and to establish horses at a level of work which they can carry on safely at home.
Occasionally, though, a horse needs to stay longer, usually because they have a more severe or long term lameness which is taking more time to improve. This has only happened a handful of times in all the years we have had rehab horses but Sisco is one of those horses.
As you can see from his photos, his feet have improved a lot over the time he has been here but he had very weak, contracted hooves on arrival with extremely under-run heels and long toes.
The upper photo in each case is his foot on arrival; the lower photo is him today.
The factor that has held Sisco up has been his reluctance to land heel first. His soundness is hugely improved and his feet are stronger but at the moment he does not land as confidently as I would like. This is a surprise when you look at how much his feet have improved.
He is certainly landing better than he was (footage is below) and his palmar hoof is much better developed but the landing is lagging behind. This means he is more limited in the surfaces and distance he can work on than would normally be the case for a horse who has been here for this long. However he has been in consistent work and sound over his most recent weeks here which is good news.
Sisco will be going home soon to continue developing and strengthening his feet so we are hoping for ongoing positive changes.
Sisco's footage is here: https://vimeo.com/341989509
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