Case Study – Jazzy
Jazzy off fore after trim.
I was asked to take on Jazzy a 15yr old welsh cob in August 2007, she had just been purchased and her owner was concerned her feet did not look ‘normal’. Eight years previously she had suffered an attack of Laminitis and the resulting damage to her feet had never, in my opinion, been addressed.We initially resected the feet and she was shod with heartbars, throughout this time she was happy to be going out and was doing pleasure rides, when we started work on her feet I had suggested if we could improve her action she would probably find a ‘few more gears’.
Jazzy with Imprint Sport shoes fitted.
We saw continued improvement and new x-rays in October 2008 showed a dramatic improvement in the alignment of her bones but we were very aware that due to the length of time that her soft tissue and blood supply had been compromised we may never regain proper horn growth. The lack of decent horn was becoming a problem as the foot that was there was not able to support the steel heart bars and we were running out of areas to nail to.In November Andrew Poynton had organised to run a clinic at a local yard and we were organising some horses to use that would have the ‘Imprint Sport’ shoe fitted. I had previously considered the Imprint shoes for Jazzy but due to the amount of work she was doing there would not have been sufficient wear in the shoes so the ‘Sport’ shoe really interested me. Andrew agreed that although Jazzy was not the typical candidate for the shoe she could come and be a demo horse and it would let us see whether the horse would like them. She was shod up and over the next few weeks the owner reported that she was going from strength to strength, she was no longer slowing down when she reached stony ground, and was happy to go all day long if allowed. The only complaint was that the plod she had bought had found 10 more gears as was going like a nutty cob, all concerned were delighted with her progress. Six months on the wall is much stronger and we are maintaining her soundness, aided by the light weight of the shoes the excellent wear they provide and the all round support that is vital for this mare.
Sarah Logie FWCF
Inverness