Latest hoof trim shots

Yesterday morning I trimmed Sonny's feet again in fits & spurts fitted in between other stuff going on. So I never took any before shots & the after shots were only taken this morning. After trimming I applied hoof cream so they look a bit dirty already.

Anyway you will get the idea. It is easy to see the old hoof shell now poking out the front of the new growth. This trim has actually broken through the bottom of the old shell to reveal the separation under it which will soon reveal the new hoof. Also it means the toe is being pulled way back now.

Soon there will be a BIG change to the shape of the heel butresses too. New heels have been growing in a little at a time but the angle now between the heel & the sole shows the whole butresses are about to turn into horn. Also the feel of the butresses tells me flesh is turning into horn.

Sonny spends 4-8hrs each day barefoot now running on a short dry grass paddock. His feet are quite cold the last few days although the heels can be hot at times. If I let him out to go stand over the fence from the mares, that's exactly what they all do all day...stand in one place! So although it causes him to run around with exasperation & makes him scream his tits off all day, it is better that he be separated from the mares by enough distance that he can't always see them. He gets exercise, as do his feet! And so do my ear drums!

If I keep him in his pen he stands in one place too because he still finds the gravel far too sharp & it hurts his feet a lot. I find that his feet heat up if I keep him in his pen for the day. It could be from standing still or from walking on sharp stones. It's not a very nice surface. It's like really sharp bits of loose gravel sitting on top of concrete. No-one would like walking on that with flat feet!

So here are 2 shots from this morning & as usual you can find many more taken this morning at this link:-   http://s340.photobucket.com/albums/o358/claireT_2008/BBB/June%202012%20Sonnys%20Feet%20photos/

Also I have to add that Sonny wasn't standing in quite the best stance for these photos this morning. But I had to keep his feet in the sunny part so the photos would come out.

I'll leave it to Cas to decide how much more to take off the toes of both fronts. It's obvious some more needs to come off.  Within the next couple of weeks the old shells will break away too I think.

So now that his feet are reshaping, his boots are a little big already. So I put a foam insert around in the heels to stop the boots twisting around on his feet at night.