The Racehorse Experiment

Trimmed today. Nothing of note. The good growth since moving here is about 1 inch from the ground.

Trimmed Zola today. The crack in her right front is nearly grown out, only about 5/8 inch from the ground. This shows how fast hooves can grow, and indicates that Zola is getting plenty of exercise.

Photo to follow.

Below are photos of Zola's feet showing the drastic changes in angle since leaving Paris. Since I am the trimmer and the trim hasn't changed, environment would seem to be responsible. Also visible is the cracking which began in Paris and which is now growing out.

Below is a photo of the abscess exit wound on Zola's right front, taken from the side and showing the angle change since moving to Harned.

Below is a photo of the abscess exit wound on Zola's right front.

Apparently I took no photos of Zola's feet in 2011, and only noted one trim, performed on May 20th. I do remember that she continually had flare and cracking, and now that her feet are improving I blame the grass in Paris.

Trimmed Zola. She needed quite a bit of trimming given that it's only been 18 days since her last trim. The crack at the toe has gone all the way up to the abscess exit wound. Her hind feet are looking good. The photo is not great as Zola was all over me when I bent over to take the pictures.

I took a sole shot, but for some reason I can't open it on my computer. Looks about the same as the one below from Aug 5th.

Trimmed Zola. Her feet are bigger finally. Was beginning to worry that she'd have tiny feet. The exit wound for the abscess in the LF is almost half grown out. Will get pictures when the rain lets up. Her frogs are looking great as well.

To the left is Zola's left front showing the flare and abscess exit wound. You can also see the flare on the right hind. (The tan item on the top right of the photo is a chicken.)

While I was in WA in May Zola developed a large abscess on her left front, and one on her left hind a week later. Because the "dry lot" wasn't up, she was out on lush grass 24/7 during the time I was gone, and developed quite a bit of flare. Both abscesses resolved themselves, but were huge. The one in the left front exited at the coronary band, right in the center, front. The one in the hind foot, exited under the frog. Quite a large exit wound - virtually the whole width of the frog.

Trimmed today. Nothing of note.

Trimmed loose in the field again.

Didn't take any photos this time either. Trimmed her loose in the field and didn't have my camera with me. Her feet look good - they can be seen in her photo gallery in the photo taken April 2nd. Her front feet continue to be the same (no high/low syndrome) and they are very nicely shaped. She has no issues. Something I don't see very often as a trimmer. Luckily she's young and has been barefoot her whole life.

Again, no photos, as it was snowy. Her feet are looking good, the toe has come back slightly and the flare is growing out. What I've noticed is that she doesn't have any high-low syndrome. Her front feet match and are both nice and round. One is white and one is black.

Second trim. Sorry, no photos,the weather turned lousy just before I finished trimming. Wind and rain, and it was already muddy. I felt lucky to get the trim done as it was cold and the wind picked up so much she barely stood still. But she did - she's a good girl. (I trim outside, tying the horse to my trailer.) Nothing of note, her feet are not bad, just slightly flared from before I got her, and very slightly forward.

Zola's feet were not in bad shape, not too long but flared. I forgot to take before and after pictures - I was just too excited! Below are photos taken today, October 30th. They were spur of the moment and her feet were muddy. There is a slight crack in the front, but the mud makes it look much worse than it is.

Looking at the bottom of the foot you can see she has a nice round foot that is symmetrical. The toe is a little forward at this point but nothing severe. It's apparent, since these photos are post-trim, that she wasn't getting great hoof care, but her feet are not in terrible shape.