Gilead
Before my 1st trim Feb 2010
After 1st trim
Last day of Spring 4 months after 1st trim
Middle of summer 7-16-2010
RF lateral view BEFORE
Some lameness due to grass or effects of rehab
July 16, 2010
RF bulb view BEFORE
RF bulb view AFTER
June 2010
RF bulb 7-14-2010 shows abscess exit
RF sole View BEFORE
RF sole AFTER 1st trim
June 2010
RF 7-14-2010
RF oblique view 7-16-2010 showing some concavity
20 year old draft cross with a history of founder when shod (now barefoot) and possible Cushings. Note the stance in the Before photo where the front legs are back behind the vertical and the butt is tucked to ease weight off heels. Then immediately After the 1st trim, the photo shows the shoulder with more slope, the legs perpendicular to the ground and a much more relaxed stance.The Spring photo was taken one week after his most recent trim and you can see he has been loosing that Cushings look ie. the cresty neck and fat look. I am trimming this horse regularly (every 4-5 weeks) for the last 5 months with much improvement.
I believe the main cause of this founder is due to contraction caused by shoeing. Owner bought the horse when he was in his early teens and to her knowledge, he had been shod all his life. When he first foundered, she sought the help of a farrier that believed the best thing was to leave him barefoot. He foundered approx. 3 years ago while in shoes and the owner remembers that he had high heels. He is more contracted in the right front and that is where I expect more abscessing to occur.
If you look at the horn, especially the frog and bulb, you can see that the black necrotic tissue is apparent similar to the frost bitten fingers on my Hoof Trimming page. As the spring photos show, these areas show much improvement in the quality of the tissue and progress in reversing contraction but due to his "feelin good" he jumped out of a 5 foot enclosure and probably tore some of the laminar connection. But during the next month he has regained some connection and is steadily impoving.
I believe the main cause of this founder is due to contraction caused by shoeing. Owner bought the horse when he was in his early teens and to her knowledge, he had been shod all his life. When he first foundered, she sought the help of a farrier that believed the best thing was to leave him barefoot. He foundered approx. 3 years ago while in shoes and the owner remembers that he had high heels. He is more contracted in the right front and that is where I expect more abscessing to occur.
If you look at the horn, especially the frog and bulb, you can see that the black necrotic tissue is apparent similar to the frost bitten fingers on my Hoof Trimming page. As the spring photos show, these areas show much improvement in the quality of the tissue and progress in reversing contraction but due to his "feelin good" he jumped out of a 5 foot enclosure and probably tore some of the laminar connection. But during the next month he has regained some connection and is steadily impoving.
LF lateral view BEFORE
LF lateral view AFTER 1st trim
photo unfortunately is distorted due to parallax
July 16, 2010
LF bulb view BEFORE
LF Bulb view AFTER 1st trim
Damaged bulb and frog becoming healthier
LFbulb 7-14-2010
LF sole view BEFORE
LF sole AFTER 1st trim
June 2010
Here in these June photos, you can see both fronts have taken on a pinkish/yellowish color. That is due to some amount of serum mixed with horn growth as the hooves are under reconstruction of tissues. They are also very flat which would indicate a slight drop in the coffin bone suspension, (probably due to jumping 5 ft fence!) The July photos show some concavity.
LF sol 7-14-2010
LF oblique 7-16-2010