Nova (dbL)
May 2018 - set up trim. Movement, footing, diet, companionship, and frequent proper trim schedule in place.
1. The blue area is the only part of the live calloused sole that was already exposed from natural exfoliation. I didn't touch this area. 2. The green area was covered by retained sole but already starting to separate. This skimmed off easily with my knife. 3. The pink area was the tricky spot. This horse had been leaning on the medial side of the toe (left in photo). This was firmly attached from being compressed under the majority of the horse's weight allotment for that leg. Using a sharp knife, I maintained the plane of the already exposed blue and green areas and carefully separated the compressed retained layer from the live calloused layer. You can see that there is zero collateral groove depth at the tip of the frog. This is an indication that there is thin sole in that area. In spite of this, the underlying live sole (I say live sole but Its more like "less dead" sole) was still calloused and firm so I was comfortable removing the overlying compressed dead layer. This doesn't mean that it'll stay this way. It could get softer and thinner before true sole thickness builds. Dead sole is retained for a reason and shouldn't be removed unless the back of the foot is made comfortable enough for supporting the majority of the horse's weight. This requires lowering, leveling and properly shaping the heels bars and frog. The white lines show how I assess the migration of the caudal structures and restore as much symmetry as I can get away with for even load bearing across the heels. I will also assess the distribution of weight bearing in the future by paying attention to where the retained sole accumulates again. At each trim I expect the blue, green, and pink areas to become one shape of thick, calloused, live sole.
Here's the same diagram of the left front. The retained sole on this foot was more firmly attached which, in my experience, means it's needed until it's more ready to come off. This may be as soon as a week later. These are the kinds of decisions that keep a horse willing to move without sensitivity throughout a rehab and why I have more success trimming at 1-3 week intervals.
May 2018 - Second trim (1 week interval)
1 week progress on both fronts
May 2018 - 3rd trim (2 week interval)
June 2018 (5 week interval)
August 2018
Here's a chronological collage of random pre trim/post trims from the last 4 months. This should illustrate how my frog trimming improves the health and volume of the live frog.
September 2018
Top row - May 2018 | Bottom row - September 2018
October 2018
May 2018 (pre trim/post trim) - October 2018
It’s taken me about 6 months to get the heels and frog to conform. Any future (true) progress in shortening the toe and building a better heel will depend on maintaining this alignment.
6 random pre trim/post trim photos showing progress over about 12 months
18 months progress
January 2020
July 2020 - Pre trim / post trim
When we started ( 2 years ago) - under run recurved heels and converging horn tubules.
Most recent trim - heel bulbs and heel horn comes together in a simple curve and the horn tubules are almost parallel.
May 2018 - July 2020