Hello from vacation!
Buttercup's farrier came out yesterday and the visit yielded positive results and positive comments. First off, these last four weeks were completely laminitic free under the vigilant eye of Bud's caretaker. Second, because of that all the growth we got was with healthy lamina and no detachment of lamina. Third, Buttercup's hooves seem to be trying to mold themselves into a healthier entity.
We have about three or four months before the rest of the separation grows out. Such good news!
Because the separation is so apparent in the front left and that's our problem hoof, I'm going to start with that:
The one unfortunate thing about Buttercup's station vacation is the lack of concrete for me to take some nice level pics. But we'll cope. The separation in this side view really isn't that bad. Scott has been really vigilant in her trims to keep her from getting any torque on that hoof as the hoof wall grows down.
Last trim, Scott decided to "test" the hoof bars to see if they wanted to hold up her hoof or not. They decided to try and create some extra support for her instead of laying down. So, he trimmed them again to see if they'd continue their supportive role. They are also straightening up.
Take a look at the overall balance on that hoof. Starting from the angles of the wall being even with each other and the wall being even throughout the hoof. You can't really tell from the pic but the toe callous has also started to extend from just the tip of the sole to around to almost the quarters. This is important to provide her some cushion and also shows that she is developing more concavity in the sole.
Anyway, really happy with how quickly we are making progress. Scott fingered proper trim and proper nutrition (and really that proper nutrition is the No. 1 culprit to the positive growth we've seen).
So how about that crack?
This pic really shows the separation. You can see it on the sides of the hoof wall, where it starts straight down from the coronary band and then angles out to the side. That also correlates to where the crack begins to open up. If we can keep her hoof tight for the next three to four months, that crack may be just an ugly memory. Scott thinks that while the crack may go away, the scar will likely remain and the hoof will have a ridge and distortion from the scar at the coronary band.
And now onto the pride and joy, the right hoof:
This hoof has really balanced out over the last few trims. Whereas it wasn't bad before the summer, it just wasn't "balanced" and it seemed slow in getting to that point. But it has made a lot of improvement.
And I'll end this post with how Buttercup spends her nights while on vacation (with a very handsome thoroughbred named Moment, oooh la-la!):
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