The story of a foot.

Let me tell you the reason Sara has been out of action for so long. 

It all started with a surface crack then after a dry spell the bottom half inch split. My farrier who I had been with for over 20 years tried cauterizing it with a hot shoe and putting a back shoe on so that the clips would hold it together. At this stage it wasn't bothering her. 

My farrier was well past retirement age and I reluctantly decided I should change in case I couldn't find another when I really needed one. The one I got looked at the crack and said yes he could deal with it, no we wouldn't put glue on it as if dirt got underneath it would get infected and we would keep an eye on it. 

Well we kept an eye on it until it reached the coronet band and she was dead lame! The vet said he would staple and glue it.

I changed farriers. 

I phoned a few friends to see who they recommended and came up with Tom Baker. He has been an absolute godsend. I honestly believe if I hadn't found him when I did I wouldn't have Sara now. Exactly 2 years ago he turned up just to assess the situation and see if he could do anything as Gary had only reshod her the week before leaving with the words 'it's got worse, we'll keep an eye on it'.

Well Tom spent 2 hours cutting infected hoof away so the glue that I had been asking for all the time Gary was attending her had something solid to stick to. When he finished it looked horrendous. 

 Over the months we took more photos as it slowly healed. There were times when we didn't think it ever would.I even started looking for a husband for her.
But look at it now. It's a slightly different shape now but you wouldn't know which one it was if you didn't know.

I'm so grateful to Tom. But I will never forgive Gary for the unnecessary pain he put her through by not doing anything or seeking a second opinion and I will never forgive myself for trusting his college education over my instinct and not changing sooner.