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Griff
Name: Griff
Livery Type: Rehab
Arrival Date: 29th August 2025
Age: 11
Breed: Welsh x
Height: 12'2 hh
Medical Issues: EMS, chronic Laminitis & 3 annular ligaments cut
Rehabilitation: Hoof, Laminitis & EMS
Arrival:
Griff arrived with quite a variety of issues to work through, including chronic Laminitis and stretch of the white line, EMS and a few hoof related issues too. Griff is here with his buddy Johnny.
Within a week or so of his arrival, Griff became noticeably lame with the sudden onset of an abscess. This was monitored closely but grumbled away over the course of several weeks. Although abscesses are not normal in healthy horses, it is common for sick horses or those rehabilitating to experience them with a change in environment, diet, movement and/or trim.
Since the onset, Griff has been on and off lame. He originally had heat at the coronary band and to one side of the frog, and whilst he was lame to begin with, this improved temporarily. Then of course, his lameness worsened quite considerably. We typically allow abscesses to go away naturally, and don't believe digging them out is beneficial to the horse's ongoing hoof health or recovery. Instead, we allow unrestricted free movement whilst we monitor the horse closely and administer pain medication depending on the severity of the abscess. When the abscess looks like its popped, we start poulticing the hoof to help draw out the pus.
Griff's abscess popped naturally at the end of September, where we have helped it to drain. Griff's lameness has significantly improved since.
As you can see from the photos below, this abscess was a biggen and had three exit points formed at the back of the hoof. Typically we see abscesses pop in weakened or softer areas of the hooves. In horses with Laminitic stretch, its common for abscesses to blow there, and for others, the heel, frog or coronary band is fairly standard. In Griff's case, despite his stretch, his abscess blew out the back of his heel and the side of his frog.
Hoof update - 1st October 2025:
Griff has his second trim with us yesterday that was unfortunately overdue due to his abscess. We did not feel it was safe nor the most comfortable thing for Griff to have him trimmed whilst he was so lame.
Upon being trimmed yesterday, we have now gotten a better idea of what we're working with. Griff has a very stretched white line to grow out, as well as multiple event lines. It's clear from the condition of his hooves that Griff has been chronically laminitic for quite some time. Griff also has quite narrow feet and although he was not shod prior to arrival, we can see this as a result of poor trimming and/or a lack of sufficient movement.
Interestingly, he also has quite a bad imbalance. We're unsure yet if this is due to the abscess and walking to compensate for it, or if this is the result of something else. We'll know more at his next trim.
For now, he is being kept on a 3 week trim cycle.
Hoof update - November 2025
Not a huge update - growing out separation of the white line takes a lot of time and commitment. In addition to having the right environment and diet in place to facilitate his healing, we are focusing on rebalancing his hooves.
We think that the twisting and somewhat severe imbalance of his heels and hoof capsule is likely linked to a procedure he had done prior to his arrival here, where his angular ligaments where cut in three legs.
Hoof update - December 2025
Griff is still on a 3 week trim cycle, and the extent of his hoof issues are becoming more and more obvious with each trim.
As we have mentioned previously, Griff's one front hoof is very crocked and imbalanced. At this trim, it was clear that he is wearing away part of his waterline at the toe, which has also chipped slightly at the outer hoof wall, and isn't weight bearing properly either.
On a positive note, his sole came away in a complete piece (very cool!) which allowed our hoof care practitioner, Kelly, to lower his heels, making good progress for Griff. We believe that this is the result of mass abscessing. Griff most likely grew more sole to protect the damaged areas, and once it had healed underneath, shed the old sole with new healthy sole underneath.
