Walked like an alligator, now struts like a dude (yes OTTB can go barefoot)

It might be me, but I've always figured horses should walk like horses.  Until I met 'Pretzel' who with his pulled out shoulders hauling up his odd shaped feet, appeared a least a bit like an alligator.

'Pretzel' because that was the shape of the shoes on his front feet.

To be honest it is early days yet and there are hurdles to be leapt before this horse has truly robust functional feet. But for any horse just out of shoes he is doing well.  For an OTTB with a serious injury in his past and more than a score of races he is doing really well.

It wasn't the easiest deshoe, the nail clenches were buried in the foot and the clips were so tight the hoof was the filling in a sandwich.  We got there though and Pretzel walked off better without the metal.

Hooves were a long way from healthy.  On the fronts the soles were thin, convex, with some thrush, and thinned hoof walls.  Not the worst but definitely on the way. Completely bent out of shape, largely from human intervention and the application of metal.

His person had done everything within their grasp right, including putting him on a more suitable bucket feed for six weeks prior to shoe removal.   At present off the shelf hoof boots don't come in his particular shape. So his human was on the case making nappy and duct tape boots (NDB) so Pretzel could negotiate stony ground while his soles were still so thin.

Regular walking in NDB helped stimulate his feet, took him through the pins and needles stage and within four days it was already possible to see an improvement.

Hind feet - Just deshod to the right, four days post deshoe to the left

The frog is bulking up and the thrush is all but gone.  This has been a relatively inexpensive process.  Nappies at 7.5 pence each (9 US cents) and a few rolls of duct tape. Much Red Horse Artimud has been used initially, with daily use of Red Horse Sole Cleanse.  But when thrush is in check, application once or twice per week is sufficient depending on your horse and their environment.

Pretzel in shoes would stand in his field and hardly move.  Barefoot Pretzel runs, plays and has a great time.  And has been sound enough to school, moving better than ever according to the Instructor.

Thin soles - where there is a will.......

Austen, hope you don't mind, but this one is inspired by you and is for everyone out there who is banging their heads in frustration when their horse has thin soles.

Just bear in mind that one of the horses in the sole thickness post had incredibly compromised hooves, but even without boots we had the horse ready for work in just one summer. It can be done.  With a bit of patience and ear muffs (to ward off the mites.....).


Let's go back to DETECT.

Diet - every horse is an individual.  There are some basic principles which will set you on the right road, but you will need to figure out some of the specific twists and turns of your own horse.  Read the posts:

http://barefoothorseblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/managing-your-microbes-or-how-to.html
http://barefoothorseblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/hind-gut-acidosis-learn-to-love-your.html

Health food won't hurt your horse, so cut the sugar, molasses, alfalfa, haylage and the wheatfeed.  Soak and rinse your hay if you have to.  A thin sole is a warning.  Ignore it at your horse's peril.  Especially if it goes in tandem with a stretched white line.

Some view supplements as the work of the devil, I guess some are.  I have to supplement because in the UK our grazing and forage is typically short of copper, zinc and magnesium to name but three.  Not all supplements are equal and not all horses do well on the same one.  Give it some time, read the labels.

Exercise - a hoof needs to move.  Not just plonking about a pasture/paddock/dry lot/stall.  But really move.  Think about what it has evolved for - 20 miles a day plus all the gymnastics involved in horsey family life.

Many newly deshod hooves just can't cope with real movement to start with.  They have been crippled.  You know how a broken leg loses muscle tone in a cast?  You get the idea.  So start with a graduated programme.  Boot for exercise if you need to. 

Make use of any surfaces you have to test progress, but be respectful and if your horse says no, then no it is.  I generally find that thin soled horses do well on very smooth tarmac (black top).  Even 20 minutes walking 3 X week will help build sole. If you don't have access to this, then concrete can be substituted, but tends to be more challenging, so it will take more sessions of shorter, gentler walks.  Don't trot until your horse can step on stones on the tarmac in walk without flinching.

Need to canter jump and let rip?  By all means, if your horse can otherwise cope, but do your canter work in boots, or in the school.  I am not convinced thin soled horses should be jumping and I am not convinced it is totally safe to jump in boots unless they are a good brand well fitted.

Time - to build a healthy hoof takes time.  Some take longer than others.  Footiness post dietary problems can be resolved within days/weeks.  Thin soles take a bit more work to grow the material required and work it into a tough, dense structure. It also takes time to figure out the right diet for your horse.  It takes time for the hoof to respond to the change in diet and work load.  Give it that time.  Take photos weekly, you will be surprised by the results, I can't promise they will always be happy surprises.

Environment - a hoof is responsive to the environment in which it lives. But that doesn't have to be a completely limiting factor.  I used to keep my gang on a field which was very wet (complete with spring and marsh grass).  But they got out most days to do road work and responded very well to this.  I have clients whose horses are living in very 'unhelpful' environments, but again they thrive if they get to do the work.  The ones that don't do so well usually have dietary issues.  Diet and exercise count for more in my book, although a great environment is really really helpful, a not so good one doesn't have to be the end of the world.

Communication - a two way process.  Unfortunately the BHS, parelli and others seem intent on making it one way.  I have been very firmly taught by a succession of incredibly bright horses that I will get on much better if I listen to them (which includes observation) and respect what they are trying to tell me.  It is not easy, I am a numpty, but my girls are patient and keep on trying so long as they feel I am trying.  In my mind there is nothing so sad as the horse with the blank/far away look; they have given up because no one listens. A bit like the kid who doesn't bother crying any more.

Sometimes the communication is very subtle.  Grace started off with just a tiny tiny lip wrinkle.  Now we have a full range, but it took a while.  Also observe posture, ears, hoof signs, etc etc, it all adds up.  They can have some sort of pain from their guts without it being full blown colic and all you will see is a swishy tail maybe, or resistance to saddling or frequent wood chewing.  Horses are co-operative by nature, if your horse isn't then find the reason why.

And if your horse is footy, find out why; check diet, but don't forget the obvious (like stones stuck in the foot).

Trim - boy are there some bad ones out there, but unless really dramatically awful, or regularly repeated, the damage can usually be grown out.  The best trim in the world won't 'cure' a thin sole, at least not overnight.  But a good trimmer can faciliate the hoof on its way to health and they should be able to advise you how you can help, without resorting to iron.

Whole hoof health, thin sole, contraction?

Ok, third post in 24 hours, can you tell I am supposed to be doing my tax return?

In response to query, how to spot contraction?  I find this easier to show in pictures http://danceswithgrace.blogspot.com/2009/10/hooves-are-dynamic.html and Grace was and continues to be an excellent study.

Again remember hooves can go both ways.  If I shod Grace or didn't manage her according to her needs they could go the other way just as easily.

Regarding thin soles; I hate to be boring, to sound like a nag or for anyone to feel exasperated/frustrated or worse, but it really is all about Diet and Exercise and a half way decent trim.  Unfortunately shoes tend to exacerbate (and often cause) the problem.  Partly from loss of circulation, partly from preventing the hoof mechanism working properly, sometimes because of how the farrier chooses which shoe to set and how it is set. And of course they mask a lot of problems without addressing cause. And any well trained, experienced hoof care professional will tell you the same.

Word of warning, because shoes mask problems and numb the feet a shod horse with a thin sole can be more at risk not less.  I know it is then popular to pad, but this is literally swopping one problem with another and generating more expense, whilst doing nothing at all to fix the cause.

Thin soles can be nightmareish, especially for some people in some areas, but if you stick to the AANHCP guidelines, shut out the Ear Mites and take a deep breath they can be fixed really quite quickly.  And if you are really struggling then boot, don't shoe.  Because boots won't restrict the circulation and you can take them off and put them on as needed, which allows the hoof to develop and grow during 'off' time.

Diet wise thin soles can be a reflection of inflammation caused by diet and/or other toxic overload. And a hoof which is never worked and kept permanently on soft surfaces never gets the chance to build up a good solid, dense layer.

I can't show it pictorially, but density is important.  As the (bare) hoof works over firmer surfaces the solar material compacts. I often think of felting as an analogy but then peeps tell me they don't know how that works. Others refer to 'callousing' but that doesn't really describe it either because that suggests hard places and soft places; whereas a properly worked hoof is hard and dense across the whole horny solar surface.
You could try thinking of hard plastic as opposed to bubble wrap?

This post http://barefoothorseblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/tripping.html shows a horse with a spectacularly contracted foot. In the solar view (with shoe) it is hard to tell just how thick the sole is (very with lots of chalk).

I am not sure this helps?  Let me know