New Frogs

I asked Cas after the last trim about how much to remove from the toes which were beginning to look long again.

She reminded me of the 1/3  2/3 rule for hoof length. However the frogs have been elongating as the heels withdraw. Which means the frog tips haven't been moving back at the same rate as the heels.

So I was wondering how I was going to decide where the real frog tip was. Should I dig around or trim some off the tip & in any event would the real frog tip be all that obvious once I did slice some off? So I decided to not touch the frog or the toe for another week to see if any changes occured.

Well here they are today! It is clear to now see how the frog tips are reassembling themselves closer to the center of the hoof. However I am still unsure about removing the old frog tip. Maybe I should just leave it & it will wear away in it's own good time. I imagine sole will fill in as it wears away.

So I now have a new point of reference for the 1/3  2/3 measurement rule although I do't think I will be taking that much off the toe.

I have been leaving Sonny barefoot most of the day recently because there has been very light rain & I felt his feet needed to get more moisture. Because of the old abscess tracks it has been important to keep his feet dry so no rot developed again up the white lines etc. But now that most rot has grown out I think his feet need to bathe a bit. He always used to stand in the dam, most likely to cool his feet but also to moisturize them. He has been telling me lately that he wants to put his feet in his water bucket. That's a VERY bad habit as you can imagine! So instead I have taken his boots off & let him walk around on the wet grass all day.

The last couple of days I have let him out of his pen to move around the whole house yard barefooted. That means his has to negotiate the driveway & various terrain along the fences of the paddock where Jude & Cassie live. That's how he got the stone bruise on the right foot I think. It's not as pink today as it has been since I discovered it at the last trim. When he's barefooted he is still extremely ginger on his front feet although his back feet aren't quite so bad.


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