Our vet headed out to see Ranger yesterday and do another set of x-rays. He called me with his findings...the good news, Ranger isn't any worse. The x-rays look almost exactly like they did back in September. Bad news...Ranger isn't any better. Now, that can kinda be expected since he won't be growing much new hoof now that winter is here. The truth is that we won't really know what hand we are going to be dealt until we are a year out from when he foundered...when the foot has totally grown out. Then, we will pretty much have what we will have. He could always get worse in the meantime or any time after. So, we will have to monitor him closely for the rest of his days. The vet thinks since he isn't in any kind of pain or discomfort right now, if we can keep it that way, that we have a good chance at using him as a light riding horse for trails or as a lesson horse. However, there is still the chance that once we try to start using him, that his feet won't tolerate it. Time will tell, I guess. The vet did say that he is still worse in the left than the right and that he does display a little (the tiniest bit) of stiffness when he moves. This could be attributed to arthritis or from complications of the previous founder (of which we had no knowledge). There is no way to tell though. The x-rays show about 3 degrees of rotation in the front left, which is not much, and less than that in the right front. The sinking has improved and he has a good deal of sole and hoof wall, which is excellent news. So, all in all, he is doing good, but we aren't out of the woods by any means and we still have a long way to go. I did get a few photos of him from the barn owner yesterday, which was such a treat. It has been hard not to be there and see him in person and put my hands on him during all of this...especially with my being a little bit of a neurotic horse mom at times. I will admit, when it comes to my "kids" I can be a teeny bit controlling...not always, but sometimes. So, these photos were a welcomed sight. Here's my pretty boy in his paddock with his new shelter which the barn owner built just for him to stay out of the WA winter weather. These people are such lifesavers and I am so grateful to have found such a good place for Ranger to stay.
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