A twisted sole?

[Orchardbeck]

Hi all, my Arab x is barefoot, I changed farriers at the end of last year and after a particularly annoying episode when two apprentices turned up in his place and gave her uneven feet, I requested their boss to take a look - he agreed they weren't a pair (one looked upright and boxy) he sorted what he could and said only he would come out in future.

That problem solved, he then said my mare has a twist in the sole of her front two hooves. What does this mean? And what would cause it?

I'm not going to jump on any particular bandwagon here, but she has always had good feet and has never suffered from not wearing shoes, so we just don't. If she needed them she would have them, that is my stance. She has been assessed by farriers at endurance rides who have commented how great her feet are and in their words - "why spoil a perfectly good foot with nails?". It is just weird that this has started to show up.

 

[LucyPriory]

What exactly does your farrier mean by twisted soles and in which plane?

 

[Orchardbeck]

Well that is kind of my question! From what I can see, there is a bit of a flare' on the outside of each hoof, I don't know the technical term for it I'm afraid, but it is more noticeable when it is time for her 8 weekly trim. She had laminitis 2 years ago and we had x rays done which showed 10%rotation which she was then trimmed accordingly and after a year the angle was apparently right again and they were looking really good in my previous farriers words - but that was really about as much detail as I could ever draw out of him which was partly my reason for changing.

I wondered if her conformation could have caused an imbalance, or the fact that she had been on box rest with no roadwork over dec/jan? I asked new farrier this and he was noncommittal in his answer so I am none the wiser.

 

[LucyPriory]

Well that is kind of my question! From what I can see, there is a bit of a flare' on the outside of each hoof, I don't know the technical term for it I'm afraid, but it is more noticeable when it is time for her 8 weekly trim. She had laminitis 2 years ago and we had x rays done which showed 10%rotation which she was then trimmed accordingly and after a year the angle was apparently right again and they were looking really good in my previous farriers words - but that was really about as much detail as I could ever draw out of him which was partly my reason for changing.

I wondered if her conformation could have caused an imbalance, or the fact that she had been on box rest with no roadwork over dec/jan? I asked new farrier this and he was noncommittal in his answer so I am none the wiser.

Hmm - none of those are twisted sole though.

How about some photos?

 

[cptrayes]

he then said my mare has a twist in the sole of her front two hooves. What does this mean? And what would cause it?

I haven't got a clue. I've never heard of it before and I've never seen it.

If your horse is sound I'd be inclined to pretend he never said it

As Lucy says, some photos would help if you can get them.

 

[Orchardbeck]

Lucypriory, Cptrayes - thank you! I'll take some pics today. It is funny, i've never heard of it, I tried googling and searching on here, but nothing, and the fact he was vague with it strikes me as odd. Her frog tends to grow (a lot) in between trims more to the outside rather than evenly across the middle - you'll be able to see from pics.

I've never really got in to the whole barefoot 'movement' proper, I have to say - her feet have never been an issue that I have been aware of apart from the laminitis episode after which they trimmed 6 weekly. There is perhaps a whole new area of learning i'm missing out on!

 

[ThePony]

Her frog tends to grow (a lot) in between trims more to the outside rather than evenly across the middle - you'll be able to see from pics.

I think this bit is crucial, if the frog keeps growing away from the centre of the sole when viewed from below then I would think the horse is trying to balance the feet differently. I would wonder why that was and if the horse might be better of being allowed to develop in the way it keeps trying too? Looking forward to pics!

Never heard of a twisted sole, though one horse on our old yard was diagnosed with a slipped sole. Horses hooves had been allowed to become more under-run and the hoof in question looked like a v under-run hoof to me. Couldn't see anything different to generate the 'slipped sole' diagnosis though!