Back to barefoot, 9 months after keratoma removal

[AandK]

I haven't posted a thread re my horse's keratoma op yet, even though it was almost 9 months ago. He was barefoot before the op, but had bar shoes and a hospital plate fitted in front post op as the hole made to remove the keratoma was at the front and underneath. Fortunately he had a pretty textbook recovery, op was 24th Nov, by mid February he was back out in the field and I was back riding him a week later. We got up to cantering again at the beginning of May and he had some mild bruising to the affected foot, was fine after some rest but then as the defect was nearing the end of growing out, the after affects of the op have caused the foot to struggle a bit since. He had a pad fitted to the affected foot end of June, then pulled that shoe off the day before being shod end of July. Then last week he pulled the shoe again on the affected foot, 2 weeks after being shod (no pad). There wasn't much side wall left so the decision was made to leave the shoe off and put a boot and pad on that foot, with the idea of the farrier removing the other shoe when he is out on Fri 27th.
Well, Charlie decided he did not want to wait that long, and removed the other shoe himself on Monday night. So we're back to barefoot, albeit a bit earlier than planned! Looking at the pics of the affected foot I send to the farrier last week, compared to ones I took this morning, I can see small improvements already, which is great. He is booted 24/7 at the moment, but I am hoping this will only be for another few weeks. I am also taking him out for in hand walks several times a week, in the boots/pads, to help the feet heal.
Being brave, here are some pics of the feet. I don't think the good foot looks too bad after 8 months in a bar shoe, the toe is a bit long, but this will come back as the back of his foot bulks out again. I am posting this just as a point of interest and to show progress of how his feet adapt again.

This was the foot when an abscess burst out 4 days before the operation:


This was 29th Dec, so just over a month after the op:


And these are how his feet are today:



ETA, the crappy bit still showing at the front of the left fore is what is left of the abscess track. The surgery site grew out about a month ago. I have loads of pics if anyone wants to see more of the progress as the defect keratinised and grew out.

 

[Equi]

We always want more photos!! I’d love to see the healing process.

 

[Mrs. Jingle]

I think that foot, 8 months on is very encouraging. I am not an expert by any means, but a friend had the same journey as you are now on so personally I am very interested to see any pics of progress.

 

[Lovely jubbly]

That’s looking really good in the time it’s had…a friend had the same with her horse healed really well but wasn’t 100% sound for at 18 months nearly 2 years. But is now back out competing with normal shoes no remidial foot work needed anymore.

 

[AandK]

It has been a fascinating process, to see the foot heal and grow out. I took a lot of pictures! Here is a selection to show the progress.

This is the first time I saw the foot after the op on 24th Nov. He was at the vets for 8 days post op and this was the first bandage change at home on 4th December.


This is 29th December, about 2 weeks after having the bar shoe fitted. You can see the black outline starting to form, this is keratinisation.


29th January, you can see the pink is getting much smaller. At this stage I was doing bandage changes every other day, you could see the difference in those two days as the keratinisation closed in.


This is a comparison from beginning of Jan to beginning of Feb to show the progress of the keratinisation.


This is from 15th Feb, the defect fully keratinised about a week prior and he was back out in the field at this point. I kept the foot wrapped for the first few days. You can see the split from the abscess is starting to prolapse down.


This is 18th March, again after shoeing. Another comparison pic showing 3 months progress and how much it has grown down. You can also see the rubbish above the defect, which is the abscess track, this is all that is left at the moment.


23rd April, again after shoeing.


Then end of May, he had the shoe reset the week before after having it off for 10 days due to the bruising. This is when the foot started to go quite funky... The outline in red is what is left of the defect, again you can see the abscess line prolapsing down further.


The foot looked horrendous at the end of June, it was a miracle the shoe stayed on! This is 29th June, after shoeing with a pad, the red line again showing the remainder of the defect.

 

[AandK]

And then 27th July after shoeing. He pulled the shoe off the day before. The defect has gone, and what is left is from the abscess track.


And lastly, yesterday. A week after pulling the shoe off again...

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Thanks so much for taking the time to post all those photos. I can remember when a horse at my last yard had that op due to a hoof keratoma. It's just amazing how everything grows out and heals so well.

I'm sure this thread will be really useful for people in the future who have a horse with the same issue.

 

[AandK]

Thanks so much for taking the time to post all those photos. I can remember when a horse at my last yard had that op due to a hoof keratoma. It's just amazing how everything grows out and heals so well.

I'm sure this thread will be really useful for people in the future who have a horse with the same issue.

Thank you. It has been amazing to watch the foot change over time! I will update with more pics as his foot (hopefully) slowly returns to normal.

 

[Cragrat]

fascinating - thank you for sharing the photos, and I hope he continues his recovery and rehab well. He certainly has a dedicated owner!

 

[PapaverFollis]

That's amazing. Thanks for sharing photos.

 

[AandK]

Update 2 weeks after the pictures I took when I posted this, really pleased with the progress!



ETA the other foot as well, new pics not quite as good, must remember to use the flash!

 

[Widgeon]

Crikey OP!! Those photos are both disgusting and fascinating, the regrowth is absolutely incredible. Given that they've got half a ton of weight stood on top of four pressure points, it never fails to amaze me what hooves can recover from. Thanks so much for sharing, and for all the context. You must be so relieved he's looking so good.

Can I ask an ignorant question? Why do the soles of his feet look so odd? Ie there doesn't seem to be any frog and the sole looks lower than where the frog would be? That's not meant as a criticism in any way, I'm just curious as to what's going on with all the different parts of his foot. I've only really seen relatively healthy feet so all these photos of hooves recovering like this are so interesting, I would love to know more about what's going on. Is it a result of the special shoeing and pads?

 

[AandK]

Crikey OP!! Those photos are both disgusting and fascinating, the regrowth is absolutely incredible. Given that they've got half a ton of weight stood on top of four pressure points, it never fails to amaze me what hooves can recover from. Thanks so much for sharing, and for all the context. You must be so relieved he's looking so good.

Can I ask an ignorant question? Why do the soles of his feet look so odd? Ie there doesn't seem to be any frog and the sole looks lower than where the frog would be? That's not meant as a criticism in any way, I'm just curious as to what's going on with all the different parts of his foot. I've only really seen relatively healthy feet so all these photos of hooves recovering like this are so interesting, I would love to know more about what's going on. Is it a result of the special shoeing and pads?

The sole of his bad foot looks like that, I think, due to the issues he has had with that foot as the defect has grown out/down. It was looking fairly normal until June time when the sole really dropped, which is when the farrier put a pad on to support the sole/foot. It looked better the next time round so no pad was used, and then he started pulling the shoe off so we are where we are now. The whole foot is compromised but looking at the changes in just two weeks, and also back to when he first pulled the shoe off 3 weeks ago, I am confident it will sort itself out with more time and patience. Not sure if that helps answer your question or not!

 

[ester]

Looking great, thanks for all the pics I missed them the first time round. Current pics kind of look like the hoof has 'relaxed' a bit.

 

[ester]

What also might have happened sole wise is that rather than dropping he has laid down a lot more sole in order to protect the hoof himself which will shed off at some point (I have pics of mine doing that and sole being lower than wall until it all flaked off one day). This does however mean that the sole is then getting a lot more contact with the ground which can be counterproductive from a pain point of view.

I can see the frog/it's definitely improved already so I wonder if that's a screen issue/artefact.

 

[SEL]

Wow! That's pretty incredible.

 

[AandK]

What also might have happened sole wise is that rather than dropping he has laid down a lot more sole in order to protect the hoof himself which will shed off at some point (I have pics of mine doing that and sole being lower than wall until it all flaked off one day). This does however mean that the sole is then getting a lot more contact with the ground which can be counterproductive from a pain point of view.

I can see the frog/it's definitely improved already so I wonder if that's a screen issue/artefact.

That's a good point re the sole ester, I hadn't thought of that. The issue was most noticeable at the toe when he first lost the shoe, which would make sense as that is where the defect was. The frog is definitely improving too, it is much wider now than it was a few weeks ago.

 

[Spot_On03]

Wow. Definately intresting to see the process and how amazing the body (well hoof!) is at healing itself. I know of one other horse who had this op, but I don't think it was as big.

 

[Cragrat]

Great improvements!

What also might have happened sole wise is that rather than dropping he has laid down a lot more sole in order /QUOTE]

The depth of the collateral grooves tells you about how much sole depth yoiu have. If he has laid down more sole, then the grooves will be deeper- right up to the point of the frog ideally. Hard to tell from a photo though!

 

[AandK]

Great improvements!

The depth of the collateral grooves tells you about how much sole depth yoiu have. If he has laid down more sole, then the grooves will be deeper- right up to the point of the frog ideally. Hard to tell from a photo though!

Thank you! The collateral groove is quite deep until it gets to the point of the frog, at which point it pretty much disappears.

 

[OlderNotWiser]

Brilliant to read all about your experience, thanks so much for sharing. My daughter’s gelding has just had a keratoma show up on X-rays today. He is barefoot too so hoping to be able to revert back as you have. Fingers crossed his journey is straightforward as yours has been.

 

[AandK]

Brilliant to read all about your experience, thanks so much for sharing. My daughter’s gelding has just had a keratoma show up on X-rays today. He is barefoot too so hoping to be able to revert back as you have. Fingers crossed his journey is straightforward as yours has been.

Pass on my best wishes to your daughter and her horse. It is a tough journey, I won't sugar coat it, but it has been worth it in the end. I would recommend joining Equine Keratoma Support Group on Facebook (if not already) as there are lots of people on there who have been through it and can offer support/advice if needed. If you search Charlie on there, you will find my posts. I'm happy to answer any questions if needed!

 

[lynz88]

These changes are so incredibly cool. It reminds me of a snake shedding its skin tbh - you've just got to wait it out and let the body do its thing.

 

[AandK]

Some update pics for those interested. The foot is looking so much better, more relaxed I think. Charlie is getting more comfy walking on it without the boot on. He's fine on grass, so is only wearing the boots during the day in the field.