Barefoot experts, should I trim this flare! Pics and vid

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Monkers

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I have a 21 month old warmblood colt who is showing some significant lateral flare in both hinds.
The off fore has slight medial flare.
The near fore grows evenly yet is the least straight of all his legs!
He is on a mineral balanced diet and his hooves are strong and the horn is good quality. He had just come in from a wet, muddy field yet he still sounds like a shod horse on the hard ground.
He moves well and generally straight. He normally lands heel first in front although not so much in this video.

I must admit I am very tempted to trim these feet back to a "better" shape.

Here is a short video of him moving and some pics of each foot. I hope the link works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekCbzjbLMvY&feature=youtu.be

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!
 
Has it always been there? I would be tempted to leave it, personally. One of the ideas of keeping a horse without shoes is that it will grow the foot it needs. If you were to take it off it could have effects further up the leg, which is something you want to avoid in a growing youngster.
 
I would leave it. My 2 YO had flares on the inside of both her fronts and at her Irish Draught grading it was noted she had offset knees so this explains perfectly the reason why she has flares. Hers are left.
 
It will grow the hoof it needs, but it also needs enough exercise ridden or unridden, age, to be able to self trim, a long foot will be a weak foot and only cause problems later. In the wild horses travelled up to 20 miles a day, standing in a wet english field they are not going to travel that distance
 
Well this is the problem really. Everywhere is wet and soggy and at his age he's obviously not being ridden, so he can't self trim on tarmac. I do lead him out on it when I can, but whilst the weather is this awful, leading an unbitted colt on the road just isn't an option.
 
IMHO. I wouldn't be happy with those feet. I don't like that he is developing deviations in the coronet band , it is curving down towards the heels in places looking like he is on the way to getting underrun heels which isn't good at such a young age, I wouldn't be too happy with the medial / lateral balance on some feet either. I think it would be useful to get a good professional trimmer down to see his feet and work from there.
 
I wouldn't worry about them if he is sound and happy. Plenty of work. Often these are transitional and will grow straight in time.

Only touch them if you can confidently and authoritatively justify trimming it straight by answering the question "Why is the hoof like this, what function is that deviation fulfilling and what will be the impact of taking it away?"
 
I think I'm in a minority here but I would absolutely trim. My boy (now rising 8) I bought age 1 and due to leaving the hooves too long and letting the heels get weak it is much more difficult to get them right now. He mostly has been left unshod and shoeing him was a disaster. Yes a 2 year old has grown a lot but still has a lot more to grow and you want it as straight as possible, trimming should help in the is instance not hurt. If you had him on a track system where he could wear them down himself on different terrain 24/7 I maybe wouldn't be as quick but that's not the case here and a rasp has to come into effect to make up for that. Please, please, please get them trimmed by someone who knows what they're doing. Horses in the wild often don't live long if their misformed and you can help by keeping the hooves straight. Yes in a year or two I would be saying let them grow but at rising two get them trimmed. :)
 
My guy certainally need trimming to correct some long standing issues which wouldn't have resolved without. Ive seen the results so def think there is a case for corrective trimming. Done by someone experienced who knows and understands what they are doing.

Ive seen pics of some of the feet people reckon shouldn't be trimmed and I would not be riding them with feet like that.
 
I am with the trimming brigade here, how long is it since he was trimmed, I think small regular trims would be the best approach.
Also he is quite well built, I would like to see a bit less condition on him, to take him through to spring though I am normally quite keen to feed young horses to promote strength if you want to get them going age 3/4. In this case since the feet are an issue, I would try to keep weight off him.
Is he going to be gelded, this would probably make him easier to manage. I would make sure he learns pressure release in a control halter if you are not going to bit him, one way or another, it would be a good idea to get him on to a better surface.
 
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^^ What MissD123 said. If you look at the slow mo part of the video, he a) travels very close in front and behind and as a result he b) does not land level - the outside part of the hoof hits the ground first. All of his feet have one slightly higher heel. He needs the flare AND the heel imbalance addressed.
My boy came to me as a rising 2 year old with feet which were not level - higher inside than outside. Regular small trims (OK, I had the benefit of 100 acres of hard rocky turnout but he still got regular trims) to correct the medio-lateral imbalance and he levelled up as he grew. The foot now has no tendency to grow high inside. At 21 months although most of the long bone length is there not all the ephiphyses have fused and you have the chance to do some correcting. Conversely, if you do not address the heel imbalance at this stage, his legs may end up wonkier than they are now.
 
I'm sorry, but i do not believe that anyone on an internet forum can advise you how to trim a twenty one month old horse.

Trimming done wrong now, or not done, could permanently affect his development because he is so young.

I think you need a hoof care professional to see the horse in the flesh and advise you.
 
cptrayes said:
I'm sorry, but i do not believe that anyone on an internet forum can advise you how to trim a twenty one month old horse.

Trimming done wrong now, or not done, could permanently affect his development because he is so young.

I think you need a hoof care professional to see the horse in the flesh and advise you.
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Apart from those those who advised "no trimming", those who were "yes trim", would assume that anyone who came would be a hoof-care professional.
We don't have any "barefoot trimmers" round here, and I have always used a farrier, never had any problems, a good farrier should know how to trim any horse at any age or stage.
 
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cptrayes said:
I'm sorry, but i do not believe that anyone on an internet forum can advise you how to trim a twenty one month old horse.

Trimming done wrong now, or not done, could permanently affect his development because he is so young.

I think you need a hoof care professional to see the horse in the flesh and advise you.
Click to expand...


I couldn't agree more. The problem is knowing which hoof care professionals are telling you the right things. There have been a few barefoot trimmers to my yard over the years and the all say/ do different things. I do have a fab farrier who does listen and doesnt just hack away.

My feeling is that he does need a trim. He's not going to self trim at the moment although I appreciate that's the ideal situation.

As for some of the other comments...
I don't think he is overtopped for his age. His condition score is good and his ribs are easily felt. He is very fluffy though and perhaps the camera adds a few pounds! I do like to keep the yearlings lean in their first winter and this one was kept light too.

I appreciate he moves close, but again this isn't that surprising given his age. This should improve as he matures.

The outside heel landing is something that interests me. I have notice over the years that some young gangly horses are a bit cow hocked and often land outside edge first. This seems to improve with maturity.
I was wondering if this was the reason for the flare on this colt? That said, I haven't seen this much flare on any other gangly youngsters.

I have the farrier and the vet due next week so I will see what they both recommend.
Thanks everyone for your comments!
 
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