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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