The right front hoof was the first to penetrate, quickly followed by the left front.
Left: April 09 - at the first trim, the right front hoof here had a cb penetration of approx 15mm - the left front approx 10mm. Previous orthopaedic shoeing followed by barefoot trimming had failed to stop the continued rotation and penetration.
The mare could barely walk so used a hopping motion to move when she was up. Her right front leg was beginning to knuckle-over at the fetlock as she only weighted the very tip of the toe.
Above: the mare was housed on a thick bed of hay so she could eat whilst laying down.
Above: the new hoof wall was so steep and there was so much pressure on the toe, the wall had collapsed in on itself.
Below: by 6th June the hooves had developed concavity and the wounds were healing very well. The mare was also able to walk on her heels and spent time each day out on grass. Prognosis was now very good!
Around the evening of the 12 June 2009 Feldspar disappeared during the night from property of her owner/carer. The following day, police found her at a property belonging to the mare's breeder. Despite veterinary advice and supporting documents regarding the care necessary for the mare, she was not returned to the owner/carer as a question of ownership was deemed to be civil dispute.
The RSPCA reported that they would regularly inspect the mare and left orders for her care. Court action was pursued through the Supreme Court in Tasmania by the owner/carer of the mare. After aproximately 15 months, a court finally ordered that the mare be placed in the care of a third party until the owners/carers court case could be heard. Early the following morning, the mare was shot and sold for meat to a local pet food business - despite the court order. The pet food company kindly allowed the owner/carer of the horse to purchase the remains. The pics below show the shocking state of neglect of the hooves, despite the fact that this mare was supposed to be under RSPCA orders.
I have posted only a few photos due to the size of my web pages, despite the fact that I have many photos of this particular case, showing each stage of the recovery up until my final trim. All photos were either taken by me or permission was given for their use by the owner/carer.
This mare had been under constant 24 hour nursing and veterinary care (by 2 attending vets and 1 consulting vet) prior to her removal. At least one vet was always in attendance when I was trimming. After the removal of the mare from her owner, an RSPCA inspection with an independent vet was undertaken. After viewing the original xrays, and xrays taken shortly after removal, the independant vet gave the mare a positive prognosis.
Two very detailed reports by myself, and one by the owner's consulting vet - warning of the probable negative outcome for the mare being removed from the previous special care - were supplied to the RSPCA along with pleas to return the mare to care. Not only were all pleas ignored, the owner/carer (or any of the original attending or consulting vets) were not given any reports regarding the condition of the mare or the details of her care during the majority of the period after removal, other than to say that a farrier/barefoot trimmer had taken over the hoofcare.
According to people who contacted the RSPCA in Tas, after the death of the mare, the RSPCA stated they could not find the case details and could not say when the mare had last been inspected.
All names have been excluded intentionally.
