The importance of frog contact

I wanted to put up some new photos of Ella, who arrived last week, as I have had a lot of comments on that post.

First off, I should mention that although she has only been out of shoes a week and although she is not yet comfortable on a tough surface like concrete she is fine walking about on our tracks and of course turned out in the field.

She is also loving being with a group of friendly boys 24/7 and is proving herself to be an extremely sociable mare which is lovely to see.

So, back to her feet, and here they are on day 1 in her shoes (I'm only posting sole shots on this blog as they at this stage show the clearest changes).

These are her feet the next day and at least you can see them properly. Although the frog has already opened out in just 24 hours you can see a contracted heel and a long toe with a fairly weak frog and bars.  

This is her a week later. One of her farrier's concerns was that her frog was lacking stimulus in shoes and its nice to see how quickly it is responding to movement our tracks. This is a foot which should undergo rapid change over the next few weeks.

Again, a sole shot from her arrival in shoes and pads, this time of her LF...

...and next day out of shoes, with a weak frog, contracted heels and bars sloughing off.

A week later there are some nice signs of improvement, particularly as her frog is coming back into work. The long hoof wall at her toe is chipping off which is quite normal and not bothering her at all. 

More on Ella soon, and meanwhile back to the party...Ella, meet Merlin....

They just don't stop!

Big congratulations to lots of the ex-rehab horses and their owners after another busy weekend!

The Blinged-Up Bullet Dodgers had another Team Quest outing and produced another brilliant performance - 2nd place and only 0.02 off first place. Well done Lucy and Fryday (above), Krista and Buddy and Emily and Indy - couldn't be more proud of you! 

Krista and Em also went XC schooling so I've borrowed this great shot of Em and Indy because its just too nice not to share. 

Sophie and Felix also had a pretty great time showjumping by the look of things...Eventing is next on the agenda for them too. 

And a final thumbs-up for Becca who took both Isla and Mango XC (while the rest of us were just sitting on our backsides watching Badminton). What's more she and Mango (who is not technically a rehab though Isla is!) have qualified for the regional finals for both British Dressage and British Eventing. The only question now is whether they will have time to fit in the rehabs' reunion as well?!

New girl Ella

Apologies for the lack of blog posts so far this week - I've mislaid my small camera (which is perfect for hoof pics though not a lot else) and so haven't got updates to post.

However with a new horse, Ella, arriving today something had to be done so I improvised and used the big camera (which is normally just my video camera) to take stills as well.

Ella is a German warmblood who is bred for dressage. She is normally a big-moving horse but her front limb issues have led to restricted movement with a tight back and neck and shortened stride all round.

Unlike many horses who come here her feet are boxy and upright rather than long and under-run but this has still led to a weak frog and digital cushion and a flat rather than heel first landing. 

I'll post photos of her feet out of shoes tomorrow but even with pads in its clear her heels are contracted.

 A shot from behind makes it clear how little stimulus the frog and palmar hoof are receiving - this was a particular concern of Ella's farrier and its something we will need to address now she is out of shoes.

 To me this is also an unbalanced foot medio-laterally - whether that's just the result of the long, boxy hoof capsule should be something we will discover over the next few weeks.

Lovely young horse - great opportunity for someone...

A departure from the norm today as I am blogging on behalf of our friend Peter. He has to find a new home for his gorgeous young horse, Noah, due to circumstances beyond his control and I said I'd help out if I could.

Noah's details are here (click on the photo to enlarge it) along with Peter's contact details so do get in touch with him if you are looking for a totally genuine, unspoilt youngster who is an absolute sweetheart. Noah is for sale but I know Peter would consider a loan if it was exactly the right home. 

Nice outweighs the nitwits...

...with a lovely conversation yesterday with a very enthusiastic and switched-on vet who was not only delighted to refer a horse here because he'd heard such good things about us but had also been planning to read up on rehab even before he'd spoken to me and was looking forward to following the horse he referred and learning more - brilliant!

Not only that but I have had 2 more requests this week to help with veterinary research, which I am only too happy to oblige. Its so encouraging that more and more vet students (and their supervisors) are motivated to find out more about barefoot rehabilitation and how hooves function. 

This interest from the next generation of vets (as well as increasing numbers of the current generation of vets) is incredibly exciting and should make an enormous difference to horses and their owners in the next few years.

Positives like this make it easy to put in perspective the (inevitably still common) comments which abound when barefoot is mentioned. Today's classic (which is one of those "if I had a pound for every time..." clangers) was the priceless and time-honoured triple-whammy of misconception: "My vet isn't against barefoot but just feels good feet have been bred out of today's horses and anyway my horse can't go barefoot because he is so sore when he loses a shoe."

Thank goodness "her" ill-informed vet is increasingly in the minority.

A quick "congratulations"...

...a bit late, I am afraid, but better late than never...

A huge well done to Kate and Rolie, who was here in 2012, who have been going from strength to strength over the last year or so.

Last week they not only came first in their Elementary music but were also placed second in Elementary, with 69% and 64 % respectively. A brilliant result and we are so proud of them!

Lad's first fortnight

Lad has been here 2 weeks, after arriving in remedial shoes. Time for an update as his feet are already changing. 

As you can see, on this foot the toe is already shorter and it will only be a couple more weeks at most before he has grown out the nail holes. His palmar hoof needs to strengthen and build up but he is landing better than when he arrived so that should happen naturally. 

These photos show his LF in (above)...  

...and immediately out of shoes. The photo below is the same foot today. As you can see, lots of the old, weak hoof wall has chipped off, which is fine as it wasn't capable of loading anyway. 

In addition his frog is beginning to develop which is the first step towards a stronger palmar hoof. 

 Again, these photos show him in and immediately out of shoes.

The photo below is the same foot 2 weeks later and although it is similar if you compare the frog and digital cushion you can see the start of a strengthening hoof. 

This was his worse foot and its still got a long toe, as you can see. Its beginning to look less under-run though of course the back of his foot is still weak. 

 However on this foot the sole shots show a much more significant difference between his feet on the day he arrived (above and below)...

 ...and today, when his frog has developed tremendously.

Its obvious from this angle that the long toe is not going to be an issue for long and also that he is developing much greater sole depth. 

Not an enormous change to show from the caudal shots but a hint of a tougher frog and digital cushion. 

 More on Lad soon, of course.