Blondie
AGE:
SEX:
COLOUR:
7 years old
MALE
WHITE
ABOUT:
This gorgeous little boy came to us through his owner, who had to surrender him under very sad circumstances. We can't elaborate on the story as it is highly confidential, but we can tell you that Blondie and another horse were leased out by the owner. After some time the lease holder realised that Blondie's feet were in a dire condition and decided they weren't prepared to cover the cost of getting them fixed so gave the owner a short amount of time to take him back. Unfortunately the owner wasn't in a position to do that and so contacted us. She was rapidly running out of time to rehome him and was desperate. We couldn't turn him away and organised for him to come to CP. We were quite horrified to see Blondie's hind hooves (see pictures below). The good news is that his main problem appears to be severe and chronic seedy toe.
Our amazing farrier Jordan cut away all the dead and excess sole from Blondie's hooves and separation cavities to allow drainage and importantly - exposing the affected tissues to the air to kill and discourage growth of bacteria.
Seedy toe is basically a separation of the horse's hoof wall from the internal sensitive laminae (connective tissues) resulting in a cavity that can fill with dirt and debris and as a result is prone to infection (bacteria/yeast etc).
Blondie's seedy toe did not appear to be actively infected and was mostly dead tissues and damage from a severe bout.
We will obviously still treat for any possible residual infection.
Seedy toe usually does not cause lameness and can be difficult for owners to notice in the early stages. Hence the importance of an experienced and knowledgeable farrier in regular intervals.
This also highlights the importance of identifying and treating seedy toe in the early stages.
Pain is not usually present unless there is severe active infection or if the condition is secondary to chronic laminitis.
Our vet wanted him trimmed up and the cavity opened up to air and then he will be x-raying all feet in a few days time to determine our plan from here.
X-rays are important as they will tell us the extent of the separation and also if there is any pedal bone rotation or sinking (movement of the main bones inside hooves) or pedal osteitis (inflammation or demineralisation of main bone inside the hooves).
Now that the cavity is open and airing - it’s important to keep Blondie in a clean, dry, soft stable while the hoof cavities are regularly cleaned and treated, any possible remaining infection is gone and the tissues heal appropriately. We plan to stable him for around 3-4 weeks and then hopefully he will get the all clear to have access to a nice soft base yard.
Importantly he has been started on top quality supplements containing zinc, biotin, copper and other important ingredients to help create healthy hoof perfusion and growth.
We will also run some blood tests for cushings just to make sure that isn’t an underlining factor - although I expect it won’t be.
Blondie has started a low sugar, low fat, low starch laminitic diet.
So we are feeling very positive about Blondie's future and both our vet and farriers agree that he has a very good prognosis of full recovery in time.
We were thrilled when our vet decided there was no need for x-rays - he was very happy with Jordan's work and was fully confident there wasn't any pedal bone rotation.
He has a cute little front incisor tooth on an angle which will need to be removed once Blondie is recovered as it is putting pressure on the tooth next to it.
He is the most gorgeous, affectionate little man with a huge personality.
He has all the volunteers jumping hoops for him already and calls out with his cute high pitched voice when he wants attention
Blondie's feet on arrival.
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And after just one visit from our amazing farrier Jordan!
