Since it has been awhile since my last post, blogging greatness has come and gone again and again. Andrea at http://eventing-a-gogo.blogspot.com/ has come out several times to trim Kid and Rupert. We are getting ever closer to hooves of steel.Rupert has a club foot(LF)and is pigeon-toed which has meant his hooves have been an ongoing problem most of his life. He had always been shod in the front to either try to correct the problem or at least "make do". In the photo (still wearing shoes), it's obvious that his left foot in the clubbed one and it forces his left knee to be higher.
When I first contacted Andrea, she asked tons of questions about both Kid and Rupert, but Rupert especially. She came out the last weekend in August, just after we moved to the new barn. I was sooooo excited.
Kid's feet weren't bad, just really dry. Rupert's were awful. His hooves were narrow, frogs atrophied, and he looked like he was standing on his toes. She observed him walking and noted that instead of heel-toe, he walked toe-heel (not good). His front legs were also very stiff.
I had let Andrea know that Rupert tended to be very sore after shoeing so we had decided to put Equisocks on his front feet until they fell off or until he was trimmed again. They stayed on until Andrea returned.
With every trim his feet get better and better. The hooves are widening, frogs are healthier, AND Rupert is walking heel-toe now. The angles of his front legs are different and are more balanced. He seems to be happier when walking and running.We haven't taken him down in the creek yet but I did take Kid and he handled the rocks with no problems. Thank you Andrea!
