Pedro's Big Day

Pedro went to work with me today.  He was such a good boy!  I wasn't sure how he'd do with loading in the trailer, since we haven't done that since July or so.  And I was taking him away from his best buddy Bob.  But he did great, spent all day in the barn at work, and loaded up nicely to head home in the evening.

I've been concerned about his hooves since I brought him home.  Last week we did x-rays on a wee donkey who was severely foundered even though externally his hooves looked pretty good, and he had to be put down.  I decided I better find out just what's going on in Pedro's feet.  If nothing else it will help me trim him better.

This is his left foot.

This is his right.

 

They are not done perfectly, for one the metal markers on the front of his hoof are not placed correctly.  We were shooting them quickly without the doctor in between tasks in a very full schedule at the clinic.

Tell me what you see, if you're good at reading radiographs.  I don't see anything terribly alarming.  His upper hoof wall is growing in at pretty much the same angle as the bone.  The bones do need to move up in the hoof capsule.  I suspect I need to deal with a thrush problem to get him using his foot more effectively and get things shaped up a little better.  Maybe boots and pads would be a good option too, but they don't breathe, so I'm going to start by treating his frogs with vinegar and see what that does for us.

I need to brush up on my hoof knowledge.  I feel a little clueless about angles and where the point of the frog (the tack)  is supposed to sit in reference to P3 on a donkey.  I know they're not the same as horses.  I wish Pete Ramey's video came in book form, or that I had taken notes when I watched it.  I need this info in print where I can look it up as needed.  I also need a little time to actually do the research again, and I'm not going to have that in the next couple weeks.