Lottie's Foot Pics - Five Weeks into Transition

Left fore solar view. The purple hue is slight staining from anti-fungal spray.

Left Fore side view. The right fore is just in shot and is interesting from this angle too... Any more curl up and it might need a bell on the end! You can't see the angle change on the left fore here but I think there is a change in colour just about a third of the way down on each hoof? I think this may be the post-shoe growth.

Right fore solar at an angle.

Right fore solar view

Right fore from the side. The toes have grown quite considerably.

All nail holes have gone. It's not clear on these photos but there is a distinct change in angle about a third of the way down on each foot, which I think is where the shoes were taken off? If so there's been quite a good bit of growth.

Week Five - Taking it A Few Days Together

Tuesday 17th August evening - Called and texted the foot man. Lottie looked sore in the field without her boots when she walked up to greet us. Chris admitted she'd woken up in the night thinking about Lotties feet! We're both a bit worried now that she's been in some pain for some time now and it doesn't seem to be changing.

It rained pretty much all the rest of the week and we kept her boots on until the weekend when she was looking much better. Still tender in boots on very hard surfaces so we're wondering if that's a pressure thing, maybe infection related?! We gave her feet a good clean and spray and turned out without boots for the weekend as the ground is very muddy and slippy with boots.

Spoke to the Foot Man and he is coming at the beginning of September so not long to go now! He didn't seem too worried about where she's at when we spoke but I asked him to come as soon as he could as her feet have grown quite a bit/need a tidy.

Sunday 22nd August - A friend who knows a little about barefoot and has plenty of boots to let us try came up to the yard. Both Jazz and Lottie fitted the size 4 Old Mac G2's?! Lotties right fore was very tight squeeze but she's got quite a bit of toe on there and at least we know they could definitely be used for Jazz. She didn't have anything aprticularly shocking to say about their feet... Just that they didn't have much hoof but generally looked normal to her for this stage. Chris and I took photos of Lotties fores which I'll post. We also borrowed a couple of KC la Piere DVDs and have agreed there's no avoiding getting a good understanding of hooves work!

Week Four... Taking it Day by Day

Monday 9th August - Sunday 15th August

Both girls have quite a bit of chipping on their front hooves. We did have a go at them with some sand-paper last week but got pretty much no-where! More rain planned this week and as she looked ok on yard we put Lottie out without boots at the beginning of the week. Jazz is walking down to the field at the moment without hers on at all and is fairly good on them but still choosing the best path.

Both of them could do with a good tidy as they look a bit chipped and messy! However the solar view is looking increasingly 'normal foot' like in my limited opinion. The frogs are more clearly defined and there are a lot less flappy bits and crevices to keep clean than there were.

There's been some whispering at the yard but nothing we can't cope with... we walked back into the barn with Lottie one night (after trying her out barefoot on smooth, hard ground) to find a couple of horse-owners on the yard quickly ending a hushed conversation... Wonder what that was about? I shouldn't speculate, I know! :-)

Even though Lottie played some fancy and exhuberant games in the big field on Thursday night we put her boots back on for turnout towards the end of the week. We're a bit stuck/unsure now as she doesn't seem to be improving or deteriorating, and it could be that that's normal?! She still seems pretty sore on occasions, even on smooth ground, and we're not sure if the cause is just the usual transition barefoot stuff or if we're missing something more serious.

They finished the last of their Aloe Vera on Saturday. Holland and Barrett have dried up (the sale stuff at least which worked out at £1.50 per horse, per day) and the cheapest non-sale stuff works out at about £4 per horse per day! We're hoping we've given them a good start with the first four weeks and plan to buy more as soon as we can get some sale stuff!

The plan is to take some more photos this week and to get a date in for the girls next visit with the footman which should be fairly sooon, cross fingers!

Week Three... Taking it Day by Day

Sunday 1st August
I went up and gave the girls a carrot and a pat. Chris brought them in and had no major things to report about their feet... Just the same.

Monday 2nd August
We took both girls for a walk in the big field and put boots on both of them to get over the gravel on the way. Lottie is walking out in her boots and without in the turnout field. She only looked a littel uncomfortable over the first, rough part of the turnout field but she's very reluctant to leave us at turnout at the moment so it's hard to tell how much of it is that!

Tuesday 3rd August
We considered putting Lottie out in her boots for a rest but actually she's looking pretty good out there. Also the weather is so unpredictable and although the weather forecast says no rain is due, the sky is saying different! Just brought in for a bit of feed and turned them straight back out again.

Wednesday 4th August
I was so glad we didn't bother with boots as it's rained on-and off for the last 24 hours... Until we go to the yard! Lottie limped up after naked trotting up every other night this week. I put her boots on but she was still pretty reluctant on the walk from the field to the barn. Chris and I had a look together and it definitely looks like the right fore but possibly/probably a bit sore on both. We gave her feet a good clean and pressed and prodded but couldn't find a local source of the pain... She stood beautifully. We left her in her stable to rest for an hour or so and then when we turned her out in her boots again she was looking a little better.

We'll see how she is tomorrow :-(

Thursday 5th August
Lottie looked quite a bit better so we took her to the big field to graze and moved her around a bit. I only asked for walk but she was offering trot and looked ok. We took her on the yard to work on taking a couple of steps forward and then a couple back behind me and Chris noticed she looked a bit off again so I walked her forward and she looked really sore, again more significantly on the right fore but probably a bit so in both. We gave her some herbal bute replacement (Alphabute) in her dinner and turned her out... I think she looked the sorest I've seen her and she actually looked a bit depressed about it :-(

If we are honest I think Chris and I are pretty gutted... We knew it would take a while but she's looked so good prior to this that I think we were getting excited a little prematurely. Well I know I was!

Friday 6th August
Lottie looked better again today and was walking well barefoot on flat ground. She looked good enought that we put her out without boots as we are going to be back first thing for a play and rain is expected. She looks good walking around the turnout field again.

Saturday 7th August
I played with Lottie in the big field and she seemed pretty good. We had a 30 min session (boots on obviously) and then another one about an hour later and she stayed looking good. We turned her out in boots to be sure as I was hoping to do some other bits with her tomorrow.

Sunday 8th August
She looked better again today and I had planned to take her in the big field for a roam and graze but the YO was using it. We played on the yard and again she is fine with her boots on and even chose to go over stony ground at points but she looked to me like she could feel it and regretted it a little.

We gave her feet a clean and spray and turned her out with her boots on. Let's hope for a more consistently good week next week!

Really Sore on Right Fore!

The last two days Lottie has been sore on both front feet but particularly her right fore. Sufficient to say we're very sad about it, particularly as she was doing so well but 'what to do?' is the focus of this post. I might come back to the worry and angst on another post!

Ok so here's my best description of her lameness with boots on...

1) It's partly intermittent (you could think she'd just caught a stone) but seems to last when it comes on (20 mins+).
2) I think it might be worse on hard ground (rough or not) even with boots on
3) She's possibly a little toe-first in her footfall, although this is harder to see in boots

What could it be?

No 1 Suspect = An abcess brewing
No 2 Suspect = Soreness due to a long and unevenly chipped toe

It could be a number of other things and any suggestions would be gratefully appreciated!

What to do?

Assuming it's one of the above then we're trying the following. Firstly, we're giving a low dose of a herbal anti-inflammatory and going to sand-paper a bit of the toe back. If that doesn't work then I guess it's farrier/vet time. The farrier is great but obviously we'd rather not have to persuade him she's better off without shoes on, just at the moment!

Any advice or comments please!