Fixing Sonny's feet, From Foundered to Fixed



Fixing Sonny's Feet, From Foundered to Fixed



Monday, November 4, 2013

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.
 
 
....