Fixing Sonny's feet, From Foundered to Fixed



Fixing Sonny's Feet, From Foundered to Fixed



Friday, December 5, 2014

Catch up of the last 10 months. It's still all good!

I have stopped doing Linda's trim since I discovered that making a large bevel all around the hoof now helps to keep the sole flat.

I experimented with leaving some wall height above the sole & am getting good results. You can see those results in previous posts & the photos in the right hand column beside this post.

We have been in drought with almost no rain all year so his feet are rock hard although they are growing well enough but no crumbly soles.

Currently his feet are going through some angle changes since a little concavity has been consolidated during the year. If I leave the trim more than 4wks, the toe runs forward a bit so I still have to keep onto them.

I make a toe bevel but rarely go inside the whiteline now & keep it between the pillars. Sorry no photos this month, too busy.

But I have a good solid angle change/tighter growth half grown down & holding well.

Sonny has had no soreness for many months although I do think his digital cushions are almost nil so he is not capable of weight bearing such as a rider. He is happy to gallop around the paddocks & cavort which is wonderful to see. But still a bit gimpy on the gravel driveway & road.

Saturday, February 15, 2014

YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED DURING THIS LAST MONTH!



Just check out this photo





Look at that lovely big toe callous (or is it a sole ridge?) that has worked it's way pretty much right around the whole hoof now. Also note the big thick frog rather than the thin squished flat frog he has had for years now. Oh & not to forget the extra length of heel platform that's developing too.
 
I have worked so hard to get that to appear & work it's magic :p


It is helping the walls to lift the sole right off the ground & relieve the sole of the ground forces. That will enable the sole tubules to begin growing straight down rather than horizontal. Now there should be some sole thickening occur. Apparently the sole renews every 4-6wks so if thickening is to occur I should see it happen fairly soon. Already I can see depth to the collateral groove adjacent to the tip of the frog.

I like the way the sole is exfoliating even in these extremely dry conditions. There hasn't been a drop of rain for weeks & the whole wet season has gone AWOL!
I had planned to apply Epona shoes which have a reputation for helping to thicken soles rather quickly. But I'm not sure now it is necessary.
There is no heat nor soreness evident on Sonny's feet at all now.

I rode him 2wks ago without boots around my huge house yard. We cantered, trotted, walked, did a few little cavalette style jumps & ran across the gravel driveway several times without incident.
Because he is prone to getting sore or developing an abscess after a ride, I have been waiting 2wks to be sure he is ok again before another test ride.
I think everything is going well now & another ride (this time with boots) along the old highway for a few k's might be the order of the day. He is a lot more animated these days too & happy to canter up hill at feed time.

Here are a few other photos with more to be found at this link:-

http://s340.photobucket.com/user/claireT_2008/library/2014%20albums/2014%20February%20Sonnys%20Feet







 
 
IT'S ALL GOOD!! :)
 
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Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Trim time again!


 It is bone dry here, big drought, wet season gone awol, feet hardly growing.

It's been over 100*F / 38*C most days & yesterday morning it was 95*F by 8am so I did their feet in the shade rather than on the concrete so the standing photos are not perfect, sorry...sun just too hot.

The only riding I have done recently on him is a quick bareback & tackless demo.

Somewhere along the last several weeks Sonny's LF ran to a long toe & the heel seems to have collapsed. I think it was when I was experimenting with leaving a bit more heel to aid in sole development. Obviously that process only works if the capsule is in good shape first.

So there is lots of blood in the whiteline again. I am bevelling or rockering depending on whether I think he is sore or not. Bevel if he is sore otherwise rocker. These toes & heels have a mind of their own & are playing hard ball that's for sure.  Rolling Eyes

The weakness on the medial side of the RF has grown out quite well with reasonable horn now reaching the ground. His hinds are very slowly changing shape. They are not quite so triangular now as they were a few months ago. That is a good thing & shows the rocker/bevel is working. There is still some flaring caused by collapsed heels but I think as the general capsule shape changes there will be less pressure on the heels & they will stand up.

Here are a few photos with the rest at the link below. I only took photos of 1 hind. My camera went flat! 




 You can see in both the front below that the sole is again receding away from the flares so next trim I should be able to take those flared quarter walls away & have a tighter hoof. At least he has bars on both fronts again now even if they are still cracked. It is a huge improvement. I have left some of the lumpy sole that is exfoliating so he has as much sole thickness as possible.


In 4 days time I will take the heels down on the fronts a little bit more. Taking down both heels & toes at the same seems to make him very sore. There seems to be some good heel platform developing now too.

RIGHT FRONT 

 


 LEFT FRONT

 
 
 
 
 


In this pair above you can see how I have got the growth rings level again. Those toes ran wild very quickly. You can see the bottom rings are ok then the middle rings show the wavy pattern then the top rings are level again.



LEFT HIND
The slight purple colouration in these photos below is the camera going flat! Not some funny colour in his feet. If I was stronger I could lever out the bits of overgrown bar that remain after the grinder disc has taken what it can reach, but those remaining bits are well below ground contact level so I leave them to aid sole thickness. They will fall out soon anyway. 



This hind foot has heels that aren't too bad but the other has quite underrun heels again. They will get better over the next few trims.

 
 
 
Here is the link to the January album to see the remaining photos:-
 
 
 
The grinder is such a time saver & energy saver too, especially since both my shoulders have given up the ghost recently & rasping is just not something I can do anymore. Both my arms have become weakened with no shoulder strength. There is no way I could have done all my horse's feet yesterday if I had to do it manually. I wouldn't even have achieved one horse done, let alone all 3 horses done.
 
Yes the grinder is not perfect but for me in this time & place it is the saving grace. Once their feet are softened by moisture from rain I can get into them with the knife again & tidy them up.