We had our Equine Podiatrist out today (Deane, she is lovely) sadly she didn’t think there had been any movement on Eastars heels (10+ mins a day of walking / trotting on hard surface to try & spread his heels/frogs) which was a bit of a let down after all that jogging up & down the drive! That said my weight loss over the last few weeks is very pleasing & as I can ride now that will help save my feet while working on his, so it’s not all bad :)
Also Deane told me Eastar has the slightest starting of “White Line Disease” & that it’s nothing to worry about as long as we’re keeping his hooves clean, so I just need to keep an eye on it for now. Of course that wasn’t good enough for “worry-wart” me (she said disease eekks) so I immediately did some research… It seems WLD is also known as “Seedy Toe” (ewww nasty name) & is an infection & nothing more (phew panic over). Its fungus/bacteria in the white line area of the hoof & could be caused by many factors it seems. I know his stable is super clean as I pull ½ to ¾ of it out everyday & wash down with jey 3 times a week, his feet are done daily & often washed off too especially if muddy, so could it be simply wet ole mud & maybe a bit of sheep poo too? One of the (supposed) possible links did make me chuckle; Feeding carrots and apples daily - While feeding occasionally as a treat is fine, they should not be part of the horse’s staple diet. He’s had 6+ carrots a day for years at his old home & never had an issue, if anything I give him less so I think we can rule that out too (if only he knew he’d love that comment).
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