Tuesday, February 26, 2013

New & Improved

I got more and better photos of Ramsey's foot this afternoon.  As you can see, the foot is still a bit distorted, but so much closer to being a normal foot.  Most importantly, it is MUCH more functional.

The "hole" in the bottom of his foot turned out to be more of a pocket filled with the remains of the solidified abscess.  I have been worried that there was solidified abscess material stuck in the foot and impeding normal growth.  However, the sole actually grew back underneath this and the farrier was able to trim it away.  

The farrier did about half of this trim and then needed x-rays in order to finish it. 
 

From the outside, you can see where there is a fair amount of hoof wall separation.  The farrier trimmed the dead, disconnected wall back to where there is healthy growth.  With time and proper trimming, this should grown in.  


For comparison, this is the foot last week...

and today...

A full inch and a half shorter and and almost matching his good foot.
  

What Ramsey really needs now is to be able to move around freely and normally.  His gait is slightly off, but I do not think it is lameness.  Rather it is because his foot has been so abnormal and unbalanced for so long that normal movement was impossible.  Especially with the necessary, but very cumbersome, muck boot he has been wearing.  His muscles, tendons, ligaments and mind all have to remember how to function properly.

14 comments:

  1. What a difference in his hoof. I am so happy everything went well yesterday and I love the new header picture.

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  2. He's nearly as big as his Momma now!
    Thanks for the photos, very interesting to see it all through your camera. It must feel very weird for him so yeah, his slight gimpiness is probably just that, with a bit a tendon & ligament stretching thrown in for good measure

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  3. What an improvement! He must be so happy to be going bootless. Love the header shot.

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  4. The careers of promising show dogs has been cut short when they learned that they got extra attention when they LIMPED! Let's hope smart little Ramsey doesn't figure that out.

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  5. Oh, it looks so very much better!!! I'm sure his gait will get better as he gets used to walking around without the boot and bandages.

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  6. I love a happy ending! A couple more trims and he should be great.

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  7. Fantastic. I can't get over what you've done for him.

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  8. More good news, and a great new header :-)

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  9. Ramsey looks wonderful, and I'll copy the others and say that I love the new header! Better not show it to your horses, though.

    I had a beautiful and intelligent German Shepherd years ago who was hit by a VW and injured his leg. Vet fixed him up and Fritz limped while his leg healed; however, after a few days of special attention, he "forgot" which leg had been hurt and started limping on the other one, coming up to us for attention!

    Nancy in Iowa

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  10. Ramsey/and his foot look terrific. Your farrier is a very special person. I can well imagine they are worth everything to a person that has 4 footed animals that need attending. This really has been a long road for you and Ramsey and it looks like he is well on the road to recovery. High hoof!!! His gait will improve every day I'm sure.

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  11. Kris, I think they have done a remarkable job on top of YOUR tireless work on his hoof. It looks so good!

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  12. I found this while browsing. You may have to copy and paste, but it shows that a good donk can do anything he wants!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=xD6ghskNKa8

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