Goldy's first 4 weeks

Time for an update on Goldy, who arrived from the Netherlands 4 weeks ago today. 

Unlike Casey, he arrived in shoes and pads (he had been shod about 5 weeks perviously) and so, as you would expect, he is at a relatively earlier stage of his rehab than Casey, despite them both being here for similar amounts of time. 

Goldy's feet have a long way to go but I am already happier with the hairline today, which is more balanced, and the whole hoof looks less crushed.

This is his LF straight out of shoes, and with the pads removed. 

It is a credit to his vet and farrier that his frog was still relatively strong but of course it is a huge change for his feet to start to load more centrally and his feet are receiving a tremendous amount of stimulus compared with when he had the pads.  

This is a pretty funky looking foot at the moment, with overlaid bars and a frog which is not yet loading evenly, but that is to be expected at this stage and Goldy has actually coped very well during his first 4 weeks. 

Its good to see his heels and palmar hoof building (you can see that the loading point at his heel buttress has moved further back) and I would expect to see the overlaid bars disappearing over the next few weeks.

Similar changes to this foot and a good rate of growth - his nail holes are almost grown out.  Goldy is landing better now and is capable of gentle roadwork. That, plus time on the tracks, is a great way to encourage his hooves to develop and grow.

Here is his RF in shoes and pads, newly out of shoes and (below) today after 4 weeks. 

There are some encouraging signs but the improvement in his landing is the most important aspect, for me, as it confirms that he is now more willing to load his palmar hoof.

I've got 2 different clips which I am going to post on Instagram as they are just too big for this post!

Casey's 4 week update

 I am going to go back to posting updates on the blog as using Instagram is just too constrained! I will share posts on there as well but if you are interested in the nitty gritty then this will be the place to get it. 

As usual I have put Casey's original photos above and his 4 week update is below.  Casey had been out of shoes for several months so his feet will not show such dramatic changes as a horse who arrived in shoes. 

He was also already landing heel first on this foot so again I would expect subtle changes rather than huge shifts.

This foot is looking a bit more balanced and he is developing better sole depth but I'd like to see his feet more balanced still in another month. 

This is his worse foot - he was landing flat and on the lateral edge and you can see this is not yet a balanced hoof. Still, his landing has improved and he is working very cheerfully so I am looking forward to seeing how he progresses in another month. 

His video footage is here for comparison.