Hoof cracks

Hoof cracks can be scary, but they don't need to be.

I'm not big on drama, it just gets in the way.  See the hoof crack below.

When I was called to this case, the hoof crack had been present for 9 years and if I understand correctly had been resistant to conventional wisdom/treatments.  The horse was persistently lame.  The crack originated from a field gate injury.

The first photo was 5 months ago.  You can see the crack runs from just below the coronary band to ground.  It is wide, deep and infected.  The toe is also long and the dorsal wall has a distinct dish.

The 'Hoof Fairy Wand'* was activated and the second photo is now; December.  The crack is growing out nicely.  There is a little gunk in the crack, but it is less than 2mm deep.  The horse is now sound to hack out.

Early July 2016 crack is deep and infected

Mid December 2016 crack is shallow and growing out.

* Sorry - the magic wand doesn't exist.  Working as a team we tweaked a few things and the owner has done an outstanding job.

Barefoot horse case study fronts - day one

The owner of this horse has very kindly let me post these 'before' pictures of their horse's feet.

There is a lot going on with these hooves. I will bullet initial observations after each pair of pictures. These are limited - we will be able to tell more when the shoes come off.

For the first stage of the transistion to barefoot the owner is moving the horse onto a high forage, low sugar diet with mineral supplementation (not OTC). This stage will take four weeks as the horse is weaned off a packaged mix.

Right Fore Front, Left Fore Front

• Both feet show stress rings
• The top of the hooves is showing a significantly different angle of growth to that lower down, suggesting flaring
• Left front toe has been damaged, the owner reports an infection

Right Fore Side, Left Fore Side

• Stress rings very clear in left fore
• Heels appear underrun
• Although not clear both fronts have bull noses
• Lateral cartilages appear weak

Right Fore Heel, Left Fore Heel

• Both heels are contracted
• Palpitation revealed poorly developed digital cushion

Right Fore Sole, Left Fore Sole

• Heel contraction very evident
• Frog weak and thrushy
• Infection in the toes
• Bars are overlaid

I will post more pictures of these feet when the shoes come off - and I will post the hinds tomorrow.