Getting the whole picture

I often feel exceptionally blessed. I get to work every day with great people who are determined to put their horse's welfare first. 

The hoof below tells a familiar story, the owner was concerned that something wasn't quite right, but literally couldn't see the foot for the shoes.

Note: event lines upper hoof wall, rasped out lower hoof

wall, crumbling toe edge, dorsal wall is flat at 12 o'clock

from coronary band to floor

Note stretched white line and absence of hoof wall

at toe. Sole is flat and thin.  Hoof proportions are out

the foot has run forward.

This scenario is often seen in cases of undiagnosed laminitis in the shod horse, or perhaps where shoeing has been used to 'treat' a laminitic case, or where the horse has had laminitis in the past which had been treated and then gets it again, but the shoes mask the symptoms.

The owner of this horse couldn't see quite how extensive the damage was, because the shoes were doing a splendid job of covering it up.  So good on them for following their instincts and getting the shoes pulled.  And please send them your best wishes for a speedy recovery for this horse.

It is going to take a while to grow down a decent, healthy foot that has this much damage. In the meantime the horse can be kept comfortable with boots and pads which provide all the support and protection a damaged hoof needs, but which allow easy access for regular inspection and treatment. And when we know the foot is sufficiently comfortable the horse will be able to work in the boots and pads too.

Update on Fred - 12 weeks post deshoeing



Right Fore Medial View - nail damage Oct 10






 





Left Hind Toe Oct 11



Left Hind Toe Jan 11



Left Hind Solar Oct 10





Left Hind Solar Jan 11





















Fred was heading for 16hh thanks to his very tall feet and shoes. Now back down to somewhere nearer 15.2hh. No longer tripping and looking several years younger. Chronic thrush is slowing down his decontraction, but it is still happening.

Have a good look at the before and after photos and make your own mind up. I know which I would rather have.

Note: Previously shod by an award winning farrier; now barefoot trimmed according to AANHCP guidelines.

Contracted tall hooves

Right hind shod six weeks previous

Right hind initial trim

Right hind solar with shoe



Right hind deshod before trim


















Right hind heels



Right hind partially cleaned



Right hind solar initial trim

























































































This is a hind foot from the tall footed horse in 'Tripping'  . To be honest you can see feet like this on most large yards. Now I often read on forums that abc breed is unsuitable for barefoot because of xyz. I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that some breeds are particularly unsuited to being shod. Because the challenges seen above seem to happen to them more often. But maybe that is just the luck of my draw.

The second photo shows the side view post initial trim - can you see the quarter scoop (ok it is kind of hard to miss). On some horses it is barely noticeable. This guy needed something more substantial. If a horse needs a QS and doesn't get it then in my experience the coronary band becomes pushed up (distorted) and quarter cracks and bruising can result; depending on what else is going on. When the quarter is relieved the distortion in the coronary band usually drops out quite quickly.

Just looking at the flat solar shots - well again you see this every day - it is accepted as normal.  I don't know many people with shod horses who would really think twice on the initial shod solar view.  I didn't use to(about 20 years ago mind.)

But if you then look at the heel view - now you can start to see that the foot is contracted, the walls are tall and the thrushy frog is getting buried in sole.

The next picture is designed to show you what the foot looks like when just the chalky sole has been cleaned out.  Hopefully you will get an idea of the depth (remember you can make the pictures bigger by clicking on them) and if you look at the far wall in the heel/quarter area you can see that it rises above the sole by a good 1cm (not quite half inch for the US).  We could have probably got more sole out, but I allow the horse two weeks or so to self exfoliate (and for the owner to get used to the changes) before coming back and checking progress and doing any further trimming required at that stage.

Often with these cases the foot undergoes rapid change in the early weeks and usually the horse is just fine, but the owner might get anxious.  It is important that they know I am coming out so that they can ask questions in the flesh.

If you can, try expanding the photo of the Right hind solar initial trim (the last picture).  Look at top left hand side where the nail holes are.  It would appear that two of the nails were inside the water line, this means they were in the white line; ie in the equine equivalent of the nail bed. It happens more often than is talked about.  Don't blame the farriers, it is almost inevitable that it will happen sometimes. (But do blame the habit of nailing things to living tissue.)

On a technical note and for reasons I can not explain (!) this entire trim was done only with nippers and rasp, no knife involved. Although if you saw the state of my wrists you might think that was a good idea! :-)