This is obviously Cammy's foundered left front hoof before trimming on
9/29/04. Next trim, this Friday 10/8/04, I will take down some of the
outer wall of the toe as well as get the heel down more. The rocker
that you see is the horse's natural wear trying to keep weight off the
toe. She was not trimmed that way. The heel is growing rapidly as is
the case with founder and Cammy will be getting weekly tweaks from now
on for the next couple of months.
This is the LF just after trim on 9/29/04.
This is the solar view of the same hoof after trim on 9/29/04.
10/8/04: Cammy is doing well. New hoof growth is coming in strong. I trimmed the heels way down so frog had passive & active ground contact. I suspect she'll be a bit sore from that for a few days. Her spirit is good. She is putting on some weight. There is a possibility that she is Cushings and will be started on Chaste Berry as per owner.
Before
trim
--
After trim
-
Side View
The sole has grown over the penetrated P3 and overall the weekly progress is encouraging.
Some good growth is evident in
the LF ... I am working on getting and keeping the heels down to
minimize
pressure on the toe and to get a ground parallel coffin bone. The
overall shape
of the hoof is rounding out as seen in the solar view. A bit of
concavity is
beginning to form right at the apex of the frog indicating the new hoof
is
growing in nicely and beginning to pull the P3 back up into place. I
suspect
that this month will be a real turning point for Cammy. 
Look at the
difference in the heels since Nov. 12th! (arrow) - Smoother,
rounder ...
also look at the brackets showing the increase of concavity (hard to
see with
the lack of perceptual dimensions of digital photo) letting me know
that the
coffin bone is getting pulled up even more into correct positioning.
Alot of
abscessing breaking through this hoof but that's always a good thing.
Don't want
the toxic, necrotic dead laminae staying in the hoof! The circle
at the
toe of the hoof shows where the apex of the frog is and the concavity
there is
greater than it was on the 12th by at least an 1/8th of an inch. Her
hoof wall,
itself, is a healthy, strong 3/8". The sole is recupping nicely with
just a
mere mention of the area where the P3 penetrated -- one can just see a
scar of
the break-through of the bone. 
Here the new grown is VERY
evident ... will continue to keep taking those heels down as much as
possible
without causing any further pain. The hairline still needs to get
closer to the
30* or so angle -- it's still high in the heels. But, healthier and
straighter
than earlier on in the month. The new hoof is growing in tight and
smooth. 
Almost new! Still needs frequent tweaking. Heels still need to
get down
considerably. They grow FAST! Concavity is looking good and heels are
widening
nicely. Doesn't help to be in the wet snow and then mud. We need some
dry
weather to harden the ground and this girl will be golden. 7 months! 
Here she is getting all
"beautified". 
These markings show the trimming
from April 9th to the April 12th photos. The purple lines
designate where
I trimmed. The green line shows the angulation of the pastern and hoof.
The
arrow on the left points out the amount of old hoof that I trimmed off.
The
arrow on the right shows the dirt in the founder lines that skew the
actual
depth of the rings from one photo to the next. 
This solar view shows
the concavity of the hoof with a nice sole callous formed and nice
concavity
around the apex of the frog.