Toe first/heel first - video update

[nicbarker]

Sorry to revive this, folks, but I posted before Xmas with some footage of a horse which had come to us for rehab, and said I would post more as he made progress.

He has now been with us just over a month and the new footage is up here:

http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.com/2010/01/paul-progress.html

[JB]

Link doesn't work :(

[nicbarker]

Now corrected - apologies - got carried away with the https....:eek:

[grayarabpony]

What a difference! Great video.

[JB]

Very cool! What a great setup you have to be able to capture that video. Same location, same camera angle, awesome.

So glad to see the progress he's making!

[caballus]

Excellent! Good work. :)

[nicbarker]

Thanks, he is a great little horse with a lovely owner, and she is thrilled too :) especially as the vet said he'd never be more than a pasture ornament(!) Here's a more frivolous clip of him out having fun :cool:

http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.com/2010/01/barefoot-in-snow.html

[hitchinmygetalong]

Very interesting. Well made video. I love the way the sound contorts in the slo-mo. :)

Thank you for posting this.

[Patty Stiller]

I hope everyone realizes it was not the shoes per se making him land toe first. It was the unbalanced feet that had far too tall heels, and improper breakover. I the heels are obviously shorter now, and therefore end farther back under the foot.That gives the horse something functional to land on, and the lower angles assist in breakover in time with the rest of his body, so his foot can get to the full reach of his stride better and land on the heel.
Very Nice job changing them. :yes:

[JB]

Yep, no pretenses here this is a shod vs barefoot "horror vs fix" :)

[nicbarker]

Indeed, Patty, its about biomechanics, not shoes per se. Problem is that even when shod with "ordinary" shoes and with a much better heel/breakover placement, the horse had still been lame for over a year.

Those nasty wedged shoes were prescribed by his vet and had only been on 2 weeks - they had immediately made matters worse, of course(!)

I suspect that he is one of those horses who needs a perfect hoof balance in order to be comfortable (if you look at the snow vid he has a definite twist landing on his LF) and so its just much easier to achieve that barefoot.