Andromeda is a sweet little National Show Horse who we rescued from going to slaughter last year- she had been sold from one killer buyer to another, and no one at the auction would buy her- so we were really her only option. She was thin and tired and obviously in pain. She had evidence of having foundered, and was severely lame on her right front.
Well, fast forward a year, and Andromeda is a lovely, shiny, beautiful horse! She now has all new growth on her feet, and while we can’t do anything about her previous founder, we are trimming her to keep her comfortable. That being said, we noticed that Andromeda was still a little uncomfortable sometimes in the arena and round pen, so we decided to see if she would be more comfortable in boots.
Founder occurs when there is inflammation in the hoof, and the coffin bone (the bottommost bone in a horse’s leg) will actually sink and can rotate. This can cause pain, depending upon the severity of the drop and the rotation. For example, Noelle can’t even walk comfortably without her special shoes and pads. Andromeda is not as severe of a case, but our goal at Hanaeleh is to make sure that every horse feels safe and comfortable, so we decided to try to get her some boots that would help protect her feet- they go on like little tennis shoes, right over the hoof!
We worked with different boots and we finally found a pair that we think are going to work- it’s a little difficult as one foot is clearly misshapen due to the founder, but for now we think we have a good solution. She is currently in a pair of Cavallo slim-fit sized two boots, and they seem to be staying on and don’t appear to rub, which are both signs of a good fit.
Once we put the boots on, Andromeda trotted out without any problem! She will never be 100% sound, but we can make sure that she is able to comfortably play and run around now!
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- Volunteer Susan walks Andromeda to the round pen!
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- Andromeda’s new sneakers!
