Cordless Grinder best xmas present :D

Last post for 2013

Ozito Cordless Grinder to do Horse's Feet Now

NOW I CAN GET THROUGH THOSE HARD FEET!

Very nice little machine. It took me about 4 seconds to get used to handling it.
I can lock the switch ON & move the machine around into either hand or hold it at all sorts of angles & do a nice job.

Here's a couple of photos of the finished work on Sonny's feet.

There is no way I could have done these feet by hand as they are so hard just now from extreme dry conditions & dry paddocks. But after a little knife work trimming tags, I used the grinder to trim away overlaid bar & define them. Too easy!! No aching arms after a heap of rasping or slashed wrists or torn shorts from the knife slipping on the extra hard hoof.

I found I can be very precise with where I touch the hoof & because this machine doesn't rev at 10000-15000 like tradies tools do, I have far better control of it. And of course much less noise.

I'm experimenting with leaving a bit of heel as that is supposed to aid building of thicker soles. Now that I have the toes much shorter I felt I could test this theory without fear of the toe running forward so fast.

My rocker has turned into a bevel of just the wall because I think I have to toe back as far as it can be just now. Maybe after the heel stands up more I can bring the toe back a bit more then.

I haven't ridden him again yet. He is a bit tender on the RF since the test ride but I will try again in the next week after this trim settles. Possibility of taking him to the beach which should work a treat.

Happy New Year to everyone who reads my blog.
I'm excited about the coming year as things are really turning around for me.

Short Test Ride on Sonny

Yesterday I went for a short ride on Sonny along the old highway.

Here's a short video of the event.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4eKy4VhQgg

I met the new neighbour down the road who has horses too. I wanted Sonny to have something to want to go 'out' for. He's become a bit of a lazy bones home body. Previously he was always telling me he wanted to go riding or to go 'out'. I would say "want to go out Sonny?" He knew that mean going for a ride & he would beat me to the gate!

But now it's like 'do I have to?'  So I figured if he knew there were more horses down the road he would want to go meet them again & be happy to go 'out' until it becomes more exciting for him again.

This evening I checked his feet for heat but there isn't any as yet. I think his back is a bit sore from carrying this big lump of weight around! lol  I used to be 25kg lighter last time I rode him any distance. (:-/

Looking Good Now :)

Well it's all good this month.

I've learned exactly where the live sole & corium is in Sonny's feet, the frog apexes never moved back at all this month meaning they have reached their correct location, I got the heels down to what I think is the final height & I think I have found his individual dorsal wall angle.

The biggest improvement this last month has been that on the softer back paddock he is not displaying any soreness. woohoo!!

So next weekend I plan to put his boots on him & take him to the front gate & see if he wants to be ridden out down the road. It's his call.

The bars are beginning to have a much better shape with the cracks beginning to fill in which means the stretching of the foot has almost been completely reversed. The bar stay lumps are getting smaller now too.

The first half of this month was very dry so Sonny's feet were rock hard. Then we had some good rain & his feet went nice & soft & there was exfoliatable sole which is such an improvement. Then the weather dried out again & so did Sonny's feet. But a few days ago we had some rain & his feet softened again so I got in & was able to do a full trim on all 4 feet for first time in probably 2yrs.

Here is the link to a short video I made showing Sonny's collateral cartilages & digital cushions that I have been assessing plus some of Sonny trotting without lameness on the hillside.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQLeNdbH1Hw

Here are some photos with a lot more at this link:-

http://s340.photobucket.com/user/claireT_2008/library/2013%20%20all%20photos/2013%20November%20Sonnys%20Feet

 



 



 

I have even started fixing his hind feet now too.

 

 

 



 



Sonny is feeling much better now too. His feet aren't hot anymore & he seems to have little or no lameness. It certainly must be a huge relief for him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I've Got His Feet Back On Track Now

As per previous post I have done his feet again a week later to get the last of the long toe off.

They look a heap better now & he is walking better too although still a tiny bit sore if turning sharply to right.


Buck'n Farts
Yesterday we did a play session where I got him fired up doing a barrels pattern around some small trees in his paddock. He bristled with enthusiasm! :D His eyes went blue & opened wide with excitement. He dug his back toes into the ground & used his HQ rather than fall over his front end all the time. Then he did a heap of buck'n'farts & canter circles around me. It was good to see him excited again. I have been feeding energy into him because I think he has gotten too lazy from having sore feet, he now expects his feet to be sore so won't try. It took me a while to get him going but his was fine once he got in the spirit of the game. I'll do that every afternoon this week I think unless his feet get sore. Maybe after that I can start sitting on his back a few minutes again.

Here are some photos from this most recent trim with the rest to be found at the link at bottom of page.

 

Grumble, gripe, grrrr!

It's got me stuffed why these stupid photos won't sit side by side! Afterall, there's plenty of room. It's just really annoying particularly when they are the same size as others that are sitting beside each other. Plus this typing won't even come out up between the 2 offending photos like I wanted it too. There's got to be some sort of hidden formatting blocking the positioning of the photos. I'm not having a good day. Microsoft/windows keeps auto reloading software I have uninstalled so many times it has become bloody irritating. phit!

Heels looking steeper

Anyway you can see that his feet are looking good now. That weak part on medial side of RF seems to be growing down stronger now with steeper & stronger heels. LF toe is beginning to stand up steeper. Hopefully steeper heels will follow soon.

 

Digital Cushion

I palpated to find the digital cushions but it seems quite hollow inside the back of the hoof between the cartilages. His Trail easyboots are too big now so I may end up having to buy a new pair of smaller sized boots for riding & work wear if no DC grows back.

 

P2-P3 Joint has moved higher

There should be some sole building up now too. I have got the P2-P3 joint pretty much level with the coronet band now which is where it is supposed to be. However, he does leave the foot on the ground until the last gasp of breakover at slow walk or graze speed which is supposed to indicate a ground parallel CB so maybe there is still more wall height to take away particularly on the LF.

 

Heels lowered

I have lowered his heels by a good 1/2inch (12mm) over the last month since removing the casts. Each time I take a little height off the heels I have to take same height off the toe callous or I might end up with a negative angle CB. To my eyes the LF looks like it is negative palmer angle now anyway. But I'm reluctant to remove more toe sole cos there may not be much there to begin with. Hopefully this new angle growing down from the coronet band will keep tight so it should push the CB back plus up a bit at it's back. Both frogs still look like they are a bit stretched so there must still be toe shortening to do.

 

This is the link to the remaining photos of which there are several good shots, including a series of photos showing the breakover of his LF during grazing.

 

http://s340.photobucket.com/user/claireT_2008/library/2013%20%20all%20photos/2013%20October%201%20Sonnys%20feet/2013%20October%204%20Sonnys%20feet?sort=4&page=1

 

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Sonny's 16th Birthday

20th October was Sonny's 16th birthday.

To celebrate it I took a few photos of him in the setting sun. He was standing so nicely & the sun was outlining his body with gold.

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Got That Toe Shorter Again

While the casts were on the toe ran forward again. I was so disheartened.
 
Anyway I waited a few days then took a heap off the toe again. There was some fresh blood from the stretching but hopefully the toe will respond faster now.
 
I also took a tiny bit off the heels as an experiment to see what is the right height for Sonny.
 
Here are 2 shots for comparison between how his toe was after the casts & then a few days ago after taking the long toe off again.





 



I didn't get a photo of the finished feet. There was some sort of upset happen among the horses right at that moment & I let Sonny go forgetting to take the final photo. Anyway I rasped off all the unevenness & made the rocker a lot more sloped taking it back under the toe.

Here is one with the foot held up.

 

 

See how upright he is standing right after I nippered off that long toe. Compare this photo to the one in the previous post where he is all slumped down in the front end. Admittedly he was still sick from colic, but it's amazing how easy it is to get him standing much better.












A lot more photos are here at this link:-  http://s340.photobucket.com/user/claireT_2008/library/2013%20%20all%20photos/2013%20October%201%20Sonnys%20feet/2013%20October%203%20Sonnys%20feet

It's a week since I did this trim & I will be doing them again in next day or 2 focusing on the heels.

 

Toe Callous

Quite a sizable toe callous developed between removing the casts & this latest trim from last week. When I rasped the toe for the above trim, I rasped back to only halfway through that toe callous. Having it seems to help settle down the soreness but it tilts the foot up at the toe & makes P3 almost ground parallel which seems to not be to Sonny's liking. He seems to need or prefer about 6-7degrees so that is what I am working towards but at the same time I know I need to shorten the heels a little. Getting the heels more upright will solve that problem & it is happening slowing.

 

The way the frog seems to be sucked up into the heel is a dead giveaway to the fact that things are not yet correct inside the hoof.

 

 

New Supplement Growth

One thing that is now noticeable is the paler new hoof growth coming down from the coronet band since changing to the Dr Kohnke's mineral supplement. That new growth should hit the ground right about when the rain starts again & that is what I planned for. I want to see how that hoof stands up to the wet season. The horn that is now on the ground was formed with no help from a supplement. It seems to be quite good quality with good wall thickness & the horn itself is reasonably supple even with the yellow serum deposits on the sole.

 

Exercise

Currently I'm feeding some extra energy into Sonny in readiness to start exercising him again. Currently he is dead slow & reluctant to move even though his feet are quite cool & don't seem to be sore. I could flog him around the round pen but that will only make him resistant & sullen. I think he has gotten so used to not doing anything he is now quite lazy.

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Colic After Casts & Changing Heel Height

I removed the casts last Friday. I didn't realise Sonny was a sick as he turned out to be. Within an hour of me doing it he coliced & just after dark I had to call the vet. He still isn't 100% 5days later, although a new horse that arrived to go on agistment on Thursday is keeping him well exercised. This photo below that I took after trimming his feet yesterday shows he is still well off colour.

Lowering The Heels a Tad

Yesterday I began changing the sole plane angle of Sonny's front feet. Changing the sole plane changes other angles & functions of the horse's legs too. It tightens the tension on the DDFT which affects the stay mechanism of the horse's front legs. So the horse has to stand a bit differently to equalize the tension on the front & back tendons in his legs. If the sole plane angle is changed too much or too rapidly it can cause soreness in the legs tendons as well as his body.

I had hoped the new heel bud would be close enough to the ground for me to bevel the heel to it, but it's still a little way off because his feet aren't growing quite as fast as I thought.  So there won't be too much change today, but during the next week I will take a little off every second day. Hopefully he won't be too sore after. This is to shorten the heels a little. I have mentioned before that the current heel height is purely for his comfort as each time I took the heels down he got very sore & sometimes abscessed. But it's not good to leave the heels this high indefinitely so because a new more perpendicular heel is growing down, this is a good opportunity to lower them a tiny bit. Again, only by small increments each time.

The other thing to look at when the sole plane angle is changed is whether it causes the whole sole to become longer & create leverage again to the toe. In Sonny's case, yes it has made his hoof longer so I have to modify the toe somewhat although I don't want to work on both toe & heel in same trim. This can cause too much soreness for him. Better to wait a few days inbetween. But I can't leave the hoof unbalanced to allow leverage & undo previously successful work. So I rockered the toe a little but again I wanted to preserve the toe callous as that is giving him height off the ground. I wouldn't normally rocker the toe as it removes a little thickness under & infront of tip of P3. However due to having casts on for over a week he has developed this sizable toe callous so I feel I have a tiny bit to work with.

 

New Steeper Dorsal Wall Growing Down

There is a much tighter dorsal wall angle growing in now & soon I hope to see the upward ground forces being properly negated by the correct wall angle which naturally prevents the toe running forward. I'm still trying to figure out why he is still tender footed even on soft ground. He is reluctant to trot & when I make him trot or turn corners he is obviously sore. I'm thinking sole corium is still not regrowing.

 However yesterday & today he has been chasing the new agistment horse over the fence without apparent soreness which is a good sign.

I don't think I'll put casts on again just yet. It's an excellent time with all this dry weather but the toe ran out a bit during the 8days he wore them & undid some good progress. The new heel bud was almost lost too. I think his walls need to be steeper for casts to work for the job I want them to do which is to help thicken the sole.

 I took  complete set because I wanted to document completely what the feet looked like after casting. Another thing to note is how the general heel height including bulbs is getting taller again. Hopefully that appearance will change when the heels are lowered a bit.

 

Here are the photos I took yesterday.

These first 2 show his feet before I trimmed. See how the RF has run forward but luckily there seems to be good connection to the halfway down point. The old sole is still adhering but in some places it is just beginning to come away. 

 

 I took these photos in the morning sun & it was too strong so some shots are washed out.

 The right foot shows that it ran forward quite a bit during the 8days the casts were on which is disappointing because it takes a full growth cycle to get the steeper dorsal wall again. Now I'm not sure if I should go ahead & lower the heels if I already have a toe that's too sloping.


The rest of yesterdays photos can be found here :-
http://s340.photobucket.com/user/claireT_2008/library/2013%20%20all%20photos/2013%20October%201%20Sonnys%20feet/2013%20October%202%20Sonnys%20feet

In this next shot I have drawn a line that follows the tubule growth on the heel to show where the new heel bud is. Last week before I applied the casts it was a lot more pronounced that it shows here. I'm a bit disappointed to loose it with the heels obviously running forward while the casts were on. I will still try to reset the sole plane down to this new heel height but I'm very concerned about making Sonny sore again. His feet have been nice & cool for a few weeks now & it would be a pity to make them hot again. However I think it's important to try to get the heels down a bit again because the periople & heel bulb parts are growing tall again for some reason. Anyway I'll do it a tiny bit every few days.

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Bright Yellow Casts!

9October 2013
just editing to add that it's been 7days & Sonny is doing really well in his casts which now are the same colour as the dam.....grey brown! lol There is soil caught under one foot, can't remember which....I think the RF. Only problem he is finding is that the casts have rounded off the edges of his feet removing his grip on the dry slopes covered in slippery dead grass. So he is reluctant to cavort or even trot beside me. The first time he did it he almost slipped over & that was enough for him.... no more trotting or cavorting!


3Oct2013
Yesterday was the day. I have worked towards it for several weeks. The weather had to be right, the trim had to be right & the medical condition of the feet had to be right.

It all came together yesterday. If the casts stay on, all should be good for a few weeks. After tidying the soles & frogs, I applied Thrushbuster in all the crevices then coated the soles in a copper wax tea tree oil mix prior to wrapping the casting tape on.

Then it will be time to trim again & reapply the casts if they worked well enough.

Today I rode Sonny for a few minutes on one occasion as a demo during a lesson I was giving. He didn't seem sore although he was not interested in trotting or moving fast. After he got the casts on we were playing in the back paddock which is a bit steep & covered in short slippery lawn grass & Sonny soon found his new feet slipped & slid all over the place which seemed off putting for him.

Tonight he is still slow but not lame or limping. He is walking freely even across the gravel driveway.  

While I was doing the casts I took some video which I haven't processed yet but here are a few before & after photos.
 
 
I'm really excited to see the new heel bud. I thought that phase might have passed but there it is so once it gets near the ground I will rasp to it & bring the toe back the same distance.

 

 

It concerns me that this bit of weak hoof is not repairing well enough so I cut away at least half the height of wall & dug out a lot of black stuff until Sonny was flinching a bit. I put several drops of thrushbuster in plus packed it out with copper wax.

I was advised to keep the cast low at the heels. I hope this is low enough.  I pressed around quite firmly & he is not sore in the bulbs tonight but I'll keep a good eye on that part.

 

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Is It Time Yet? or Are We There Yet?

The time has come to start leaving a tiny bit of wall as a trial to see if it will help develop sole thickness.

 

Cresentric Sole Shape

Previously I have had to take off all the wall thickness plus more around the toe to get rid of the long toe.

However now that it seems I have achieved the desired result to steepen the dorsal wall, I now turn my attention to thickening the sole.

This is how I see the way the sole thickens:-

The sole is contained within a boundary created by the wall. As Linda Harris explained it in one her videos, the sole forms a cresentric shape where it connects to the wall. The sole pushes up against the wall & because the wall is strong enough & steep enough, it resists the forward push, instead forcing the wall to buckle a little where it connects to the wall. That buckling becomes the “Sole Stay” cresentric shape.

 Here are 2 old photos of Sonny’s feet from 2009 showing the cresentric shape at the sole/wall connection. Ignore the other pathologies. We are just looking at the ridge around the inside at the wall/sole connection.

 

 

 

 

Now with the benefit of 20/20 hindvision & a very sharp learning J-curve I see I had several opportunities to correct his feet all those years ago. Unfortunately without the right information that I was asking for those opportunities were lost.

 I’ll talk about those lost opportunities in future posts.

 So back to the current trim.

Once the dorsal wall is steep enough, it can withstand the forward push of the sole & heels which is driven by every step. The heels still have to join in the steepening but I can see the tubules are beginning to change direction although it maynot be all that clear in the latest photos.

 Here are 2 photos from latest trim to show the tiny bit of wall height I have left this time to see if it can withstand the forward push or whether it will yield & bend forward (in which case it will have to be removed). So it’s just a trial. If it works I’ll see if I can leave a bit more next trim.

   

 

 

This next photo shows the slowly changing tubule angles as new grows comes down from the coronet band.

I’m really excited about this positive improvement.

 

 

Toe Groove

 

 

The other thing I want to show is how I make the groove around the toe that removes the sole that grows over the wall which is driven by forward push of sole at every step. People become confused by this excess sole & think it shows the whiteline so they don’t want to trim inside it. However it is only excess sole & the whiteline is way inside that place. This excess sole grows across the lower surface of the wall when the wall is trimmed back to the level of the sole in an attempt to stop leverage causing the toe to run forward.

Unfortunately there is only 1 way to get the long toe off & that is to take it right back to the proper breakover & keep it there until the dorsal wall grows down steeper. During that process the sole can escape from under the hoof because there is no longer any wall to contain it. Because the heels are also run under as part of the total process of the whole hoof running forward, it applies a lot of forward pressure to the sole & wall. This forward pressure pushes sole forward out from under the wall & covers the lower edge of the wall. So every 2^nd trim I have to remove it. Slowly over time with diligence I have encouraged the dorsal wall to come under control & a new correct angle has grown down.

Now that the correct dorsal angle has been achieved I can begin leaving some wall height again to contain the sole. Only time will tell if it is the right time to start this next process or if it is premature.

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 



 

Sonny is still not standing properly but hopefully his feet are generally heading in the right direction. He’s still slumping in his forequarters which I take to mean there is still pain.

 

See all the latest photos in this album:-

http://s340.photobucket.com/user/claireT_2008/library/2013%20%20all%20photos/2013%20September%20Sonnys%20Feet/2013%20September%202nd%20Sonnys%20Feet

I’m sorry to say the “organize” feature does not work in Photobucket anymore (it used to work really well before they changed the format & updated the software!) so now the photos no longer stay in the correct order. I hate that. It’s important to be able to see the pretrim shots in order then the progression through the trim & also to see all the right fronts & all the left fronts together in order, not scattered all over the place.  }:^/

 

 

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