Sunday 1 May 2011

Harvey - Quarter Horses can do it too!

Harvey has only been here for a couple of weeks but already his hooves are starting to change.   Quarter Horses are an unusual breed in the UK but they are known for having stocky bodies on small legs and feet and certainly Harvey fits this description.

Harvey arrived with a diagnosis of collateral ligament and DDFT damage, as I posted here.  The evidence of this externally was his weak caudal hoof (above) which had given him a tendency to land toe first intermittently and made sharp turns uncomfortable for him.   Although he had been out of shoes for a while before he came to Rockley, he still had a long  toe and underrun heel and trimming hadn't solved the problem.
After a couple of weeks on conformable surfaces, his frogs are starting to strengthen and you can see that this is also having an impact on the whole digital cushion which is broadening and building.
Harvey from Nic Barker on Vimeo.

As a result, his landing is also starting to improve, particularly the LF which was weaker when he arrived.  Of course there is still a long way to go, but its good progress to be going on with.

2 comments:

Kate said...

All thanks to Nic :) Really amazed with the progress in such a short space of time. I witnessed more changes today in the space of 2 weeks than in the 3 months since I had Harvey's shoes taken off!

Nic Barker said...

Thanks Kate, but he has such a great attitude and is so inquisitive that he is doing most of it himself - clever boy :-) Hope to see you again very soon!