Are these contracted heels?? Advice please! (Pics)

[ElvisandTilly]

I have had Flin for 18 months now and everytime he is shod it is getting harder to clear out his feet in the heel area as they are getting narrower. I mentioned to farrier 2 weeks ago that his heels are getting narrower and he just said can't do anything about it as he has boxy feet. I can see a ridge on his foot where the hoof growth down toward the toe is splayed out wider but further up is like a narrow growth that shows his feet are getting more upright as they grow down.

Thing is when I got Flin he had lovely open heels with a very wide frog and plenty of room to get the hoof pick through the sides. These have got so narrow and I am worried they are contracting. He isn't lame but don't want things to get any worse.

I have had this farrier for 14 years and he is always on time and is very good with the horses but my old mare had extremely narrow hooves and contracted heels but because she had a tendancy that way I never really thought her feet were a problem. i think because Flin had lovely open heels when I got him I can see the changes and am more aware of how fast these changes are happening.

Are these feet contracted and any other advice on the shape of his feet would be appreciated. Or if they are fine then tell me to stop worrying!!!

Any technical terms I can mention to my farrier and how his feet need to be trimmed and shod would be appreciated so I can describe to him what is happening and when he says he can't do anything I can say how he can.

Thanks and cookies for anyone who gets this far!!

Pictures taken tonight. He was shod 2 weeks ago. He is 16.2hh and his feet do look quite small for his body.

 

[alfirules]

Hi,

I don't really know much about contracted heels, so i couldn't tell you if that is what your horse has or not.
But i would say that you should really be able to get hoof pick through sides, i would have thought that this could cause pinching and corns.

His feet do look quite stubby, but they do look nicely shod, your farrier has given a nice length of shoe to support the horses heel.

Do you have any pictures of your horses feet when you got him, so we can compare a before and after?

sorry, i'm probably not much help!

 

[VictoriaEDT]

Difficult to see unless you take the pic lying on your front and side on to the foot. Also helps if the are unshod when you take the picture.

From what i can see the fronts look a wee bit low in the heal but the hinds look fine

 

[eventer28]

One of my horses has narrow, boxy feet. He is only a 4yo and has always had them. Would you be able to pull your horses shoes for a few months? They should expand and widen.

 

[Janette]

That's what Star's feet were like when I got her - I couldn't get the hoofpick into the clefts. Boxy, with narrow heels.
She pulled a tendon and I had her shoes removed for the boxrest, and her feet started to open up and now, although the clefts remain very deep, I can clean them easily. I have a different farrier and she only has front shoes, but her feet are far more open these days, than they were before the box rest, although they still tend to be a bit upright.

 

[TheFarrier]

The front foot picture looks like it might be slightly contracted however your farrier is already shoing it wide to encourage heel growth.

As long as there are no stones bieng trapped at the heels there is no need to be able to get the hoof pick passed the shoe, besides you should be picking the feet from the heels to the frog.

Have you actually chatted to your farrier about this as from what i can see he is already shoeing the horse to encourage the heels to spread. That is why the shoe branches are curled in and you can no longer move your hoofpick through them

 

[ElvisandTilly]

Thank you for all the replies, much appreciated! I have spoken to my farrier the last time he shod him and he said nothing he can do as he has boxy feet. My concern was that he didn't have boxy feet when I got him 18 months ago. He had lovely open heels, although his feet looked splayed out so the shortening of his toes has done him good its just his heels seem to be getting narrower with every shoeing.

I have no photos of when I got him to compare with but going to ask his old owner if she has any.

Can't really leave him without shoes. He had a stint without shoes end of last year with him on box rest after stifle op but it didn't really help change shape of his feet.

Is there anything else my farrier could do to help that I can ask for or shall I just leave it??