Donkey with dropped fetlocks

 

Author: Jörg Weber, 2012

 

At the beginning, the donkey Hermann was soft on all limbs, had very long hooves and could barely walk. The animal appeared apathetic and in great pain and the advice of the veterinarian was to have it put to sleep... At the beginning of the treatment, the responsible hoof trimmer knew little about donkey hooves and went to work with care. The improvements were only marginal and the trimmed hoof grew in a very short time.

Before an aggressive trim, however, it was necessary to clarify the location of the coffin bone. From below, there was no longer any structure in the hoof, the frog caught between the horn, there were practically no collateral grooves.

 

 

 

This is what it looked like at the beginning (pictures taken after the set-up trim!):

---

So the X-ray of the hooves followed. The quality of the analog recordings is not overwhelming, but you can still see the extremely rotated coffin bone:

---

and finally, the situation after more than one year:
It was important not only to shorten the hoof - this was done often enough in the past - but also to put the coffin bone in a position where the donkey could walk properly again. This was not a big step, because with the long-lasting situation of dropped fetlocks, it was clear that the digital flexor tendon had lengthened and that time had to be given to return to normal. Even after the first major trim the fetlocks came up, but dropped down after a few days.

By clicking on the image on the left, you will see a video (AVI format, about 97MB) showing how Hermann runs after 2 months of hoof care. The gait is clear and fluid - this condition has remained sustainable and the care intervals are back to normal.