Barefoot trimming

Madam arrived in April. We knew in advance we would have to do quite a bit of work on her feet. This is how they were then. The first picture shows her left fore. You can see the holes from her last set of shoes. Harder to see, but you might be able to make them out are the bruises on the hoof wall - from the laminae being torn as she moves. You can also see the underslung heel.

The next picture shows the underside of a front foot. This shows the underslung heel more clearly. There is a flare to the left - hence the torn laminae and as you can see the foot is really flat. There may be some bruising around the apex of the frog. A vet saw her in regard to a later abscess and declared that as her feet were so flat she would have to wear shoes.

The final picture shows the underside of a hind foot. The hinds were particularly long - not yet turkish slippers, but on their way. You may be able to see the sole is completely flat and it was actually 'polished' to the texture of glass - which was to prove a slippery prob

lem later. The frog is completely flush with the sole.

See tomorrow's post for pictures of how Madam's feet look now.