Wally's 8 week update - hoof growth and balance

Racing on through the horses who are due updates this week, its time for Wally who has also been here for 8 weeks. Regular blog readers may recall that he was unusual because his lameness blocked to the check ligament rather than the hoof but nevertheless his landing on his worst (LF) foot was unbalanced and he landed medially and toe first.

You can see that over 8 weeks this foot has started to change. The nail holes chart how fast his hoof is growing, as does the new angle of growth at the coronet which is much steeper than his old hoof capsule.

You can see that he is developing a stronger palmar hoof and despite his lameness not blocking here, I am hopeful that better foot balance and loading will lead to sounder movement. 

Interestingly, although his heels on the lateral shot are less under-run there isn't so dramatic a change on the sole shots - possibly because his toe is still long. The sole is healthier but not enough change yet in his frogs, which is likely to be partly due to his split central sulcus which we are still struggling with. 

I like to think, however, that his landing on this foot has begun to change even though he still has a lot of challenges to face. Let me know whether I am imagining things!

Beanie's 8 week update (or Stance, stride length and all 4 legs)

This is a slightly belated Beanie update but better late than never. I thought it would be interesting to start off with some comparison shots of him standing, as he was particularly wonky on day 1. The left hand photo is then; the right hand photo is today. Not perfect by any any means, but improving, which is the important thing!

Beanie arrived having been lame for a long time - a matter of years rather than months. His feet had begun to improve after he came out of shoes 6 months before he came here and it was our job to continue the improvements and try and bring him back into work. 

 Here are the comparison shots of his LF from day one til 8 weeks later.

Clearly the biggest change is in the strength of his palmar hoof but there is also a fairly steep new angle growing in which will bring his toe much further back - easier to see where I've marked it in red. You can see that his hoof/pastern axis will also be more correct once this new hoof capsule is in place.

There is an argument for trimming his dorsal wall back to where the "new" breakover wants to be and many hoofcare practitioners would do this. It would certainly make the hoof look prettier and since its where his breakover will be in future, what would be the harm in that? 

Probably nothing in a horse with a robust palmar hoof but for Beanie - like most of our rehabs - palmar hoof pain was one of his main problems and backing up a toe will automatically put more weight onto the palmar hoof. That's fine for some horses, but for Beanie it would be too much too soon and would almost certainly make him lamer, not sounder.

On arrival (above) Beanie had weak, thin soles which were quite prone to bruising, and he had needed hoof boots to keep him comfortable on hard ground.

Now I am glad to say he has begun to build a much more concave foot (as you can see from the new collateral groove depth). His frog is much more substantial at the back but the shorter toe (drawn in on the dorsal wall above) is not yet evident from a solar view - although he has already begun to break over in line with where his toe will be when the new hoof has grown in. 

He has made great progress in strengthening his heels, frog and digital cushion already and its important to be patient and let him continue to improve at his own pace without setting him back by changing his foot balance faster than he can cope with. 

His movement is already improving, even on a hard surface, and you can see from these stills that the better stride length is not just in front but behind as well. An interesting illustration of how lameness usually has an effect on all four limbs. 

Ruby - more stills footage

More stills, this time of Ruby who has been here 5 weeks. Her owner, Sarah, is down this weekend and it will be really helpful to have her feedback on how Ruby's movement is changing. 

She does seem to have better stride length in front but the key thing with Ruby is her medio-lateral balance, which was causing her to land on the lateral edge of both front feet when she arrived.

There are lots of changes going on in her feet, of course; her feather makes it hard to see the angle changes but you can certainly feel them. 

You can see from the sole shots that her heels are becoming less underrun, particularly on the lateral side, her frog is more engaged and she is developing better concavity.  From these photos you would also say that her foot is becoming straighter, relative to the limb.

This photo isn't terribly clear but she is already beginning to break over at the point where her new, shorter toe will be once the better connected hoof capsule has grown in. 

Red's 8 week update (or How feet affect the back and neck)

Finally our school has defrosted, after a good 2-3 weeks of being frozen solid and even harder than usual. Yesterday was really the first day it was useable and luckily SB agreed to act as my camera-man which was a huge help. 

 These photos of Red, taken out of the footage we have of her on day one and yesterday are a good illustration I think of how foot balance affects the whole body. 

She didn't actually look too lame on day one but she was landing toe first. This meant she couldn't fully extend in front and she tended to brace through her neck and shoulder and be hollow through her back. She is a very active horse and so this was the best way - for her - of keeping moving with less than perfect feet. 

Red started landing much better within a fairly short time and her stride length began to increase as a result and its from that stage that she began to discover that there were more comfortable, more efficient and better ways of moving. 

Its not established or consistent yet, of course, and like most rehab horses, Red still has several months more of ongoing work before she has grown in a new hoof capsule but both her feet and her movement should continue to improve. 

These photos - I hope - help illustrate that feet have to be working correctly in order for horses to be moving to the best of their ability. 

Here are her feet over 8 weeks...

...a shorter toe, more robust heel...

Palmar shots also show a stronger digital cushion which should continue to improve. 

Updates on the others to follow during the week as fast as I can get them up - please be patient!

Happy boy

Charlie out with Andy - doing what he does best and very happy to be doing so :-)

SB's hunting photos!

SB had his camera out hunting yesterday  - first day out for ages for us and our horses - and got these great shots :-)

Charlie on a mission...

..hounds on a mission...

 Charlie and Felix in pursuit...

More updates - spring must be in the air!

Well, we've had much warmer weather here for the last couple of days so lets hope that spring is finally on its way. There is certainly no shortage of updates on the ex-rehabs, who have obviously all been busy over Easter.  

First off, a gorgeous photo of Ginger, who was here just over 2 years ago. He had a diagnosis of navicular and arthritis but has been the most fantastic poster boy for rehab - at the age of 20! As Danielle puts it: "My 20 year old poor pony with Arthritis and Navicular. But thanks to Nic he's still here and still loves ragging my arms out to get to the jump! " Not to mention cleaning up when he goes out showing!

And inspired by photos of his best friend at Rockley, Bryan, Buster has also emailed me some photos of himself looking rather marvellous one year on :-) Better still, he's sent me a video of himself going REALLY fast! Can't wait to see him and Bryan run into each other's arms at the RRR later this year :-)