Why "barefoot" isn't always the whole story

George arrived on Monday and it was great to finally meet him.  He's a horse I've known about for a while but never seen in the flesh - in fact he is the cover-horse for "Feet First" - that's George jumping on the front although he is much more handsome in person!

He has been barefoot for some years - in fact I am not sure he has ever been shod, apart from a set of shoes after he went lame recently - and his feet have been described by a reputable remedial farrier as "excellent".

So what's the problem?  Well, George is lame and of course thats why he is here.  He has been diagnosed with various issues including collateral ligament damage, DDFT damage and bone damage on MRI.  Looking more closely at his feet (and especially his LF, which is his lamer foot), you can start to see why he has had problems.

Its not all bad, of course - there is lots to like about his feet, which have healthy frogs, decent digital cushions and good quality hoof wall, bars and sole.  However, the red dots below show the height of his heels above his frogs and the red circles are areas of long hoof wall. 

Why are these interesting? Because how this hoof loads is critical. Because George has healthy hoof wall, thanks to his good nutrition, he is able to load his weight directly onto it without it chipping or cracking.

The problem is that loading the periphery of the hoof in this way weakens the frog and caudal hoof and also makes correct medio-lateral balance more problematic.   I've only seen George over the last couple of days of course but it seems likely that the way his hoof is loading has caused or contributed to his lameness.

Roughly, the areas he loads are shown in red - does that look familiar at all?  This isn't anyone's fault, of course, but it just goes to show that caudal hoof problems can occur in barefoot just as in shod horses.  Its less common, but caudal hoof pain is not simply the preserve of a shod hoof.  

George from Nic Barker on Vimeo.

Its not surprising therefore that George is landing toe first on his LF and flat/toe first on his RF.  George has been barefoot and on a good diet for a long time and so he is fairly comfortable on hard, uneven surfaces but of course those sorts of surfaces are precisely what he doesn't need at the moment because that would further stress his DDFT and collateral ligaments.

What I am hoping though is that if we can help him start landing and loading more correctly, he will have a head start when it comes to going back into "proper" work.  He certainly has the right attitude and will no doubt continue to consult with Pocholo about the best way to improve toe first landings!

But the next time that someone tells you "I tried barefoot but it didn't help my navicular horse", tell them about how George's hooves were loading and landing.

It may be Tuesday but the big weekend isn't over yet

Too much news to fit onto yesterday's blog, so I am carrying on with it today - told you it was a busy weekend! 

Strictly speaking Bailey W's news was from just before the weekend, but hey, he's so gorgeous he gets in any day of the week.  He and Lainey went to their first dressage test - literally the day after his "Bare-day" anniversary - and he was a star and they were placed 5th :-)

Harvey went home on Saturday and was on great form when Kate came to ride - the best yet, I think, and despite her worries loaded absolutely immaculately, due to some brilliant handling by her which was a pleasure to watch.  I have some updates on his feet which I will put up when I get the chance but I hope he will go from strength to strength now.

On the home front, Felix and I went commando again for the first time in a while - I've either not been working him due to there being so many others to do, or riding and leading on the roads, where I feel obliged to put a bridle on him (even if I don't use it!) - so I was delighted that he hasn't forgotten anything.  He was also exercised by Nicky and Annette (not both at the same time) so he is getting a bit of work.

While Annette was here, she dug out some older photos of Pocholo's feet to compare with the ones from when he arrived at Rockley - if you think that his RF looks like its on stilts now, have a look at how both front feet used to be when he lived in Spain - bless him...but sadly all too common.

Yet more changes on Monday with Saffy going home as well.  She also loaded beautifully and I know will be welcomed back home by a very excited Kate :-)  

Although she has a lot of new foot still to grow, her hooves have become much more competent and hard-working (below) than were when she arrived (above).  As with many horses, dietary considerations will be a big factor in how she gets on but I have every confidence that Kate will be on the case!

Finally, the last big news of the day was the arrival of George. There will be lots more about him and his feet over the next few days but I know his fan club are already wanting photos...

...so here he is...You'll have to wait for his hoof shots, but I'll get them up as soon as I can!

"Exactly what am I supposed to do with this pea gravel?"

A busy weekend, a brilliant weekend

Lots has been happening over the weekend - and in fact the various departures and arrivals are not over till later on today.  But although its been very busy its also been very satisfying - definitely one of the better ones!

The gorgeous photos above though are not of any of the horses here - instead its dear old Ginger, who went home in February, wild and woolly, and who went out and won a double first prize at the weekend - the first time he has been showing since being "written off" last year :-)

He had improved significantly while he was here, but has come on in leaps and bounds in the few months since then, despite the odd setback.  Now he is looking a million dollars and is an absolute credit to Danielle (gotta love that fabulous landing!).

Meanwhile, back on Exmoor, Aileen came to see Lenny, who has come on phenomenally over the last 6 weeks.   When he arrived, he came straight from box rest (albeit having been on a horsewalker for an hour a day) and had a tendency to try and barge out of his box and make for the hills.   He was also in bar shoes and landing toe first, and these were the first things that I tried to help him improve.

As well as having feet which are rapidly regaining health, leading to him being sounder and more balanced, he is also now a much more relaxed character.  Instead of trying to tank off and then buck under saddle, he now behaves - as Aileen says  - like the old Lenny, happy to be out and with charming manners.

Dillon, who has been here 3 weeks, has also had a good weekend.   He is not able to do lots of roadwork yet but was more than happy to go out with Nicky round the farm and is very happy on the fields (as long as we under no circumstances expect him to cross water...which is a bit of a challenge on Exmoor after  week of rain!).  

Stupidly I hadn't told Nicky we might be doing this but she managed to dig out a hat and some boots from her car and, after being doused in flyspray, Dillon behaved perfectly so we were all pleased.

Lenny and Dillon are actually both very good examples of what I was trying to talk about last week.  Both had been on box rest with no - or very restricted  - access to other horses before they arrived.  Both were handfuls initially - Dillon (who had been on complete box rest) relaxed almost as soon as he had a bit of room to mooch about and some chilled out companions.

Lenny was also happier as soon as he had contact with other horses but also seemed enormously relieved once he was back in a "proper" work schedule, and in fact the more regularly he works the happier and more satisfied he seems to become. 

All in all, a very happy weekend :-)  Hope yours was as good, and lets hope it augurs well for the week ahead!

Easy like Sunday morning (if you're a horse...)

Kingsley's Spanish cousin

Kingsley has an Andalusian cousin, Pocholo, who is very smart and arrived here on Wednesday.  Fortunately he hasn't come straight from Spain but has been in  Berkshire, sort of acclimatising to the British weather, but even so I think Exmoor is a bit of a shock because it hasn't stopped raining yet(!)

This is his worse foot (RF) but as the internet is SOOOO SLOOOOW today I won't put up the rest of his photos just yet.

His footage is here, though, and as you'd expect he is landing toe first, which was the reason Wiola and Annette, his owner, wanted him to come down here.  He came out of shoes a few weeks ago but the toe first landing was also a bugbear when he was shod so I am hoping we will be able to help him change that.

I had an interesting conversation with his vet, who had noticed the toe first landing when he assessed his lameness and confirmed that following a nerve block to the caudal hoof he became sounder and landed flatter as well.

Pocholo from Nic Barker on Vimeo.

PS: Kingsley is recovering well from his azoturia, I'm glad to hear, so onwards and upwards for him, I hope!

Dillon - 3 week update

Dillon has now been here for 3 weeks and its time for an update.  You'll probably recall that he came here in bar shoes and wedges but rapidly adjusted to life out of shoes.

He had an exaggerated heel first landing in shoes but on a circle he was unlevel and short striding, particularly on the left rein.

Left rein 21st June

Right rein 21st June

He had also been on box rest so was generally a bit weak and wobbly on a circle.  

Left rein 6th July

He still takes bad steps and frequently hollows and bends incorrectly but I think he is now generally freer and looking more comfortable.

Right rein 6th  July

Obviously its still very early days for Dillon, but what is encouraging is that increased movement, both free movement on the tracks or turnout in the fields and more structured exercise in hand and under saddle, is now beneficial and is making him sounder rather than lamer.


Dillon on a circle from Nic Barker on Vimeo.

He currently has thin soles and rather weak hooves and won't be able to cope with hard, uneven ground for a while but he has a fantastic attitude and seems eager to plough on as fast as he can.  In fact in some ways the problem is not to encourage him to work but to stop him overdoing it(!).

I've got a barefoot angel!

Its Bailey Whitworth's first anniversary tomorow! Thats the first anniversary of him coming to Rockley, having his shoes off and starting his recovery from his collateral ligament damage.  I was reminded because I got an angel through the post :-)

Lainey, who is seriously talented and creative (check out her FB page), sent me this fabulous barefoot-horse-angel, the spitting image of Bailey (even to the halo!) as consolation that I no longer have the boy himself here, because he is off jumping xc, hunting, doing dressage and having lots of other fun :-)

To be fair, I think Lainey did all the hard work, but Bailey definitely contributed his hair (not sure how willingly...)

I'm thrilled to bits - like the real thing, "my" Bailey has gorgeous bare feet with proper frogs - so now its the Rockley guardian angel and Andy and I now have a barefoot angel for our Christmas tree as well!  Bailey's back is almost as lovely as his front...

I can't top that, but I will add a couple of gorgeous shots of Bailey, and a wish that he and every other ex-rehab has many, many happy years of FUN STUFF ahead of them, with countless barefoot angels along the way.

Here's the stunningly glamorous shot that Sam Beckett took of him while he was here...

...and here he is in her opening meet shot for 2010, on his last day, up for big galloping :-)  Go Bailey, and all the other rehab boys and girls - and see you in September!

ETA: Quick Solomon update from Lucie (who has just got a First in her law exams!) came in last night:

"I was in Spain last week and a couple of the girls worked Soli for me and said how fab he was!! One hadnt ridden him for 2 years and said how well he went and the other lunged him for me and couldnt believe how sound he was, she said he looked fantastic on a circle, he was clearly pleased with himself as she said he spent half the time bucking and bronking!!"

ETA: Lainey said the Stanley Harrison quote reminded her of Rockley, but given the weather today I thought I'd amend it:

"Somewhere up near Exmoor's plain
there stands a farm in pouring rain.
The streams run fast, the trees grow tall,
the sun is hardly seen at all,
but when horses' feet are free from pain
back home they go to ride again."

:-)