Photos taken 22, February, 2005 ~6pm
It was quite muddy out and
these photos were taken in an attempt to diagnose Dar's lameness.
Dar will stand square and walk sound, however he frequently points his
right foot and is quite lame when trotting to the left. His hooves
are in excellent condition per the farrier and the visual problem remaining
is the scarring from the barb wire cut at his previous boarding facility.
However Dar showed lameness before the cut although it was not as severe
as now.
Here is the inside of Dar's
right foot and the previous crack is no longer visible.
All visible scaring is from
the barb wire cut. Dar is barefoot because of the winter snows.
Dar is still not being ridden and if I could have begun training with him before, he may not have been that restless in the paddock with the barbed wire (which was supposed to have been removed by the owner of the boarding facility before he put Dar in there)
Dar is now 17 years of age and has only been ridden a few times because of his lameness. The vet will be out the first part of March to do a further assessment and possible x-rays. I can only wonder why Susan Paulton, who claims to care for her horses, did not have this simple crack fixed when the foal was injured. Perhaps something else was the matter with the foot and maybe the x-rays will show that, I just don't know. What I do know is that I trusted a person I should not have trusted.
8, March, 2005
Yesterday I had an equine specialist assess Dar's foot and he took X-rays
Dar has high & low ringbone with ossification of the median (I think it's a ligament, it's where he's very ouchy if pressured.) with arthritus/ossification of the lower joints. It may take 6 months to a year for these joints to fuse. They can be operated on and fused, but that's not going to happen with my purse or Dar's age. We will take x-rays in July/August if Dar's not sound by then to tell how fast they are ossifying. Meanwhile Dar can go barefoot as shoes will not help and the severe quarter crack is healed.
I had a feeling Dar's lameness got worse in changing, damp and/or cold weather. This explains why. Meanwhile Dar cannot be ridden, of course. There is much scaring in this foot.
More here as I find it.