Three Riley milestones!

Note extra room on outer edge to encourage hoof to expand.
Horizontal line at the toe is top of defect.

Milestone #1: New, normal shoes
Friday morning the vet met me at the barn and we put Riley on a lunge line -- sound! Well, let me amend that: The vet considers him sound but told me he was seeing a difference in the breakover between the two feet -- the left is very upright, the right is pretty much without a heel. I just saw a horse moving freely and comfortably.

Then the farrier arrived, and he put on two NORMAL shoes. Riley's right hoof has an Equipak gel pad infused with copper sulfate, held in by a mesh liner. The pad will keep the frog in direct contact with the ground. This will hopefully help expand the heel. If you look at the picture on the right, you'll see the outside edge of the shoe is slightly wider than the hoof heel. This is to encourage expansion. See the horizontal line at the toe? That's the end of the hoof defect.

Milestone #2: Drug-free Riley
This was Riley's first sedation-free shoeing (keep in mind he was on stall rest for most of his shoeing experiences). While he was still opinionated, he responded to correction and stood stock still for minutes at a time, or he quietly chewed the chain shank. Not really that bad, especially considering it took an hour to do two shoes (lots of standing, talking, scrutinizing). I can foresee a day he might stand quietly unattended.

Duct tape to protect mesh/equipak
Left hoof in process

Milestone #3: Riley the working man?
Riley's been cleared to go back to work. By work I mean physical rehab, really. He's scrawny. He's gangly. He has no topline. He's on paddock turnout until the spring. It'll be a slow road, but any talk of progress is a little miracle to me. He may be a riding horse after all! After everyone left, I took the bridle into Riley's stall and put it on him.

He remembered.