I got Packenham (Paddy for short) - an ex point-to-pointer in May of 2012, after having a break from riding of about 20 years. There have been some ups and downs (mostly downs) over the past 18 months & this is our journey together from Paddy being a racehorse to hopefully eventually a riding horse!

Saturday, 19 January 2013

The return of the vet.....

The vet came this week to reassess Paddy. We couldn't lunge him because it was snowy everywhere, but did manage to trot him up & again he was a little better, though not sound.

I have done soooooo much reading over the past few weeks about navicular syndrome &barefoot rehab, that I am convinced that this is the way we ought to go with paddy, as remedial shoeing will act like a sticking plaster and he might be sound for a while, but it will do nothing to improve the structure of his foot. Neurectomy is a radical procedure which will affect him significantly, and there is a high chance that the nerve endings will grow back, plus once done, there is no going back.

I talked to the vet about him going barefoot and the fact that I had spoken to Nic Barker at Rockley farm, who thought  that Paddy would be a good candidate for barefoot rehab. I was very surprised that when I presented a very argument for trying barefoot, the vet did say it would be worth giving it a go. Managed to get vet to contact Nic to discuss it, and then Nic spoke to me and said that the vet was open to the idea......PHEW...... Thought I would have a fight on my hands!!!

So Paddy is off to Rockley towards the end of February to start his barefoot rehab....Whoop...Whoop!!

Now that the vet has been, I can arrange for the farrier to take off Paddy's shoes in preparation for going to Rockley.

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