This is better

I am happier than I have been about Nina's RF leg.  I think that the healing ligament has nothing to do with her current lameness.  I was concerned that the ligament could flare up like this with just slow work, it made me concerned about ever trusting it enough to jump or gallop.

Yesterday when I was cleaning her feet a big chunk of sole sloughed off and guess what was under it?
Ok, I'll tell you...
The source of the abscess that she had last year.  It has finally grown down far enough that the blow out hole that was in the coronet band is only about an inch above the ground and the tiny hole on her sole where it blew out finally led to the original site - a hole that I can easily fit my thumb into.  It was covered by just a thin layer of sole that finally came off.  AND, there were bits of gravel packed in there, heaven knows how they got there, but that has got to feel like walking around with gravel in your sneakers.  I got it cleaned out and it looks pretty clean, but it is sensitive to touch.  That bad step I felt her take last week - I would bet she stepped on a rock and there wasn't enough sole for protection and it has been ouchy ever since.

It is still going to need to grow out a bit more before the hole is gone.  The farrier is coming next week and I guess we can look at options.  Pads is the first thing that comes to mind, I wonder if it would grow out faster and toughen up faster if she was barefoot for a little while.  We will see.

I am MUCH happier to deal with an old abscess that just needs to finish growing out vs an iffy ligament.

And now for the pictures.  Before anybody has a cow about how long her feet are.... due to life chaos I missed a farrier appointment.  She is two weeks overdue and will get done on Tuesday.

Here is the hole that broke through at the coronet band, nearly grown all the way out.

Here is the hole created by the abscess which has also worked it's way down to the sole.  The hoofpick is stuck inside the hole. 

And here is the hoofpick just laying on top of the hole to give you an idea of how large it is.