Beano's 5 week update

Beano is a trakehner who arrived here in December already long term barefoot but with a weak palmar hoof and a history of sensitivity to hard ground. 

As you can see, there was already a lot to like about his feet - good concavity, healthy frogs and fairly even loading - and he was therefore able to do more at an earlier stage than some horses who come here.

Changes and improvements in already good feet do still occur but of course are less dramatic. Still its nice to see that his frog and palmar hoof are becoming stronger and are developing better structure.

The main difference from the lateral shot is the shorter toe - there is a difference in angle as he was standing on a slope in the lower photo (too dark in the barn!) which is a bit misleading. I'll try and get his next update on a brighter day! 

Your Horse article!

I had a call back in November from a writer who was doing an article on barefoot for Your Horse magazine and its in the current issue :-)

They have featured gorgeous Bailey, a rehab from over 2 years ago - and as always huge thanks to Lainey, who agreed to tell his story yet again to the journalist. He makes a very fitting pin-up!

I've been involved in a quite a few articles for horsey magazines over the years but I think this is definitely one of the clearest and most informative.

I hope it will not only encourage lots of owners but also give them the tools to make an informed choice about whether to go barefoot or whether to stay shod - after all, as all of you know all too well, its not simply a case of whipping shoes off and hoping for the best!

Three weeks

Remi has been here for 3 weeks now.  He is a Dutch warmblood who - like a number of horses recently - has arrived already barefoot but with improvements needing to be made to his feet. 

Here he is on day one and below the same foot today for comparison.

Remi has a relatively weak palmar hoof and underrun heels and also has a medio-lateral imbalance which you can more clearly see from the sole shots. 

There are obvious changes in the frog and the sole and the foot is becoming straighter on the limb. 

Even in 3 weeks you  can already see the direction this foot is heading in - nice work Remi. 

Dexter and the floods

Dexter has been living in Oxfordshire for the last few months; I had sent him off to live with Emma promising him that it was much, much drier there than it is in Devon...

Oops...sorry Dex...

...if its any consolation it was worse here...

Still at least there is a lovely flood-lit school

- and he is obviously enjoying jumping again -

and I think Emma is as well :-)

The legend continues...

Blog readers from 2012 will remember Legend - he of the bizarre "flipper" feet who arrived with a host of issues including navicular and laminitis and long-standing lameness.

He was always a real charmer but everyone - including me - thought his prognosis for a full recovery was guarded when we saw his feet on arrival and how uncomfortable he was. 

As we saw his feet changing radically (the photo below was taken a couple of months after the top photo) we became gradually more optimistic but it was still clear it would be a long haul before Legend's feet were as good as they could be. 

Fast forward to Christmas 2012 and Legend was clearly back on form and having a whale of a time. But as well as festive partying, he has been working brilliantly - which of course is the key to maintaining and improving bare hooves - and Lucy and Hannah have been tireless in ensuring he has the best possible diet on his new yard.

He is even showing off his new, improved hooves (grown, not trimmed, of course!) - which now take him over everything - a far cry from the footsore chap who could barely turn on our concrete barn floor when he first arrived. 

What a smart boy - and I can hardly wait to see how he gets on in 2013!

New Year, new hooves

Back to normal blogging - the first hoof update for 2013! I have lots to blog about but thought I'd start as I mean to go on, with more changing hooves.

These belong to Rocky, who went home between Christmas and New Year, in the teeth of pouring rain, flooding and some truly horrible weather that had dogged us for most of the month. The top photo shows him on arrival when he had just pulled off his remedial shoes. 

Here he is 4 weeks later and the lower photo is how he looked on his last day - a shorter toe, a more robust heel and less deviation in the hairline. 

But its from the sole that you see what is really happening with his medio-lateral balance. When he arrived he  - like many horses - was overloading the lateral side and had little medial support. His sole was asymmetric and it was that which needed to change. 

By the time he goes home the foot is starting to become more balanced even though he has another 3 months when he should continue to improve. If you look up his limb its also becoming less twisted - all with no trimming, but lots of mileage - interesting, eh?

2012 and 2013 - what a contrast!

Last day of 2012 - torrential rain, gales and all the rivers in spate or flooded...

 Felix says:"We must be mad!"

SB is undaunted - he is used to Exmoor and hunting continues in all weathers!

2012 saw over 90 inches of rain fall on us but - THANK GOODNESS - 2013 has dawned with blue skies, sunshine and a lovely calm bright day. Let's hope its an omen for the rest of the year!