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Shoes mask weaknesses, barefoot highlights strengths

Friday 19 August 2011

Navicular and 'metabolic' - 10 weeks 3 days

By kind and generous permission of the carer.

Vets have given a 'Navicular' diagnosis.  Horse on presentation has very thin soles, fronts are running forward, heels are collapsed, bulbs pointy rather than full, toe wall has been rasped out in places, frog is squishy (but not rotten, just unused), digital cushion is undeveloped (on palpation) and there is some red in the white line. 

Subsequent trial and error shows the horse is sensitive to grass, probably oats and haylage.  Does better on night time turnout with soaked hay in the day.  Horse is on/off footy depending on circumstances but is generally improving.  Progress would probably be faster if 24/7 turnout on a grass free track could be provided.  But this carer has chosen to learn how to manage a tricky case, at livery, because long term they want to know how to provide for this horse.  Even so, and even with some set backs they are making progress.

In the photo array the first picture (top left) was taken 30/05/11, the last (bottom right) 11/08/11.  Can you see the differences?





1 comment:

cheyenne jones said...

Good stuff! Learning each day!

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