Barefoot hoof critique please.

patchwork puzzle

patchwork puzzle

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Hi all. I know there have been quite a lot of barefoot advice etc threads on here lately, but I thought it may be interesting to get some views on my mare Sally's hooves. Unlike a lot of the other photos, which seem to be newly barefoot, Sally has been unshod now for 4 yrs. I have had her for 2 of those. She hadnt done much work when I got her, but apart from the odd occasion early on (we do have a pair of hoof boots for when they are needed), she will now cover any and all terrain with her 'rock crunchers' :D
She has good hard walls, but her frogs certainly let the side down.
Photo0806.jpg
All four
Photo0803.jpg
Fronts
Photo0805.jpg
Hinds
Photo0807.jpg
Off fore
Photo0808.jpg
Near fore
Photo0815.jpg
Near hind
Photo0814.jpg
Near hind again

Not the cleanest or best piccies, but it was a spur of the moment thought when leading her back out to the field.
These are taken about 4 weeks after trimming.
 
I am sure a barefoot taliban member will come on at some point to comment, in my view the feet look good and are doing well if she is happy on all ground, but the frogs look as if they are suffering from thrush that is very deep and at some point if not got under control will cause problems.
What are you using to treat them as I find it does not usually get so bad especially when they are unshod as they tend to improve when in contact with the ground as intended rather than how they are when shod.
 
It does appear that she has thrush, but she doesnt, as I mentioned, she does have really poor frogs, they flake, and are not nice and firm and springy, but they are dry and clean (well apart from the shavings in these piccies obviously ;)), no smell, and there is no depth to the flakiness (if that makes sense). I have used Kevin bacon and frog oil in the past, both with no improvement on this general condition (she has however had the start of thrush sneaking in on the odd previous occasion, and either of these products nipped it in the bud rapidly then) however the frog continued to look as it does in the piccies. They also look like this all year round, in the summer she is out 24/7 and in the winter stabled at night.

Also worth mentioning her feeding regime.
She has fast fibre with the liquid supplement called TLC and brewers yeast. (She suffers from sweet itch and really dry skin, and this combination works very well to help control this, I wonder whether there is something that she could be lacking for her frogs? although the TLC is supposed to be a complete supplement) She also has dry hay (not haylage).

Looking forward to the 'hardcore' barefoot crew coming on and commenting ;-)

Note; I am not a bitless, barefoot, fluffy bunny ya ya ya lol. I just do as seems best for my beasties. Be it a touch of natural and/or a touch of traditional etc etc.
 
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her frogs are naturally exfoliating but the gaps in the frog could cause thrush to start so you could get your knife and cut off any loose bit of frog where dirt could get trapped, otherwise just keep them clean and flush out with diluted bleach x 2 a week for a couple of weeks until next trimming or when the frog has completely replaced itself, other than that her heels look as they should on a barefoot horse nice and fleshy and flat so they are taking the weight as they should. One concern is there is a bit of flare in all 4 feet not sure who does your trimming, you or a farrier.
 
If you are really interested and want to read an excellent book on the subject by a very highly qualified Farrier (he is both a Certified Journeyman Farrier and a Fellow of the Worshipful Company of Farriers, so qualified on two continents in addition to being an Orthopedic Surgeon! Busy man) I would recommend the book : The Mirage of the Natural Foot by Michael E Miller, MD, CJF, FWCF. There are a lot of photographs explaining his studies and findings.

http://www.horseshoes.com/index.php...ew=article&id=465&catid=954:interesting-cases
 
beeswax said:
One concern is there is a bit of flare in all 4 feet not sure who does your trimming, you or a farrier.
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Hi Beeswax.
I have a farrier trim her hooves. These were taken about 4 weeks after trimming, and we did have the apprentice the previous session, as my farrier had been kicked and was in hospital. (He is ok now though)
 
I thought so :)

The large flat looking front hooves are very similar to my haffy (who I rescued), hers had been allowed to grow long without a heel. They are much improved now and getting better the more I work her. She still lacks concavity but I'm putting this down to her diet which I haven't got completely under control (too much grass at the moment and I think they are very sensitive to sugars).

I would treat for thrush as those frogs don't look entirely at their best.

What exactly is in TLC, she maybe lasking some vits and overdoing others unless your forage is analysed and the supplements balanced.
 
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They do look a bit wide and flat but handsome is as handsome does. :D I wouldn't worry about anything much if she is rock crunching. Looking at diet is always good imo.
Frogs look like they are shedding to me as well, cutting off flaps (only) will help prevent thrush establishing.

Just a thought,I wonder if Haffies tend to have flatter shaped coffin bones?
 
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Enfys, I got as far as the four point trim reference on that link. I'd never heard of this until a Farrier mentioned it a few years ago. Who trims this way? No barefooters I know! :p Sadly I was put off reading the rest by this being seen as a barefoot trim.
 
amandap said:
Just a thought,I wonder if Haffies tend to have flatter shaped coffin bones?
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I don't know about that but even though my haffy has good heel first landing, she has a very flat way of placing her hooves so that the normal toe break over does not wear as my TB does (it is a round action and kind of lazy looking generally even though she does some stonking fast trots), not sure whether this affects the whole shape of the hoof...
 
If she is comfortable then excellent :)

How much road work does she do?

There is flaring to the quarters but this looks more a trimming issue than a dietry one (although I may be wrong). You can see corresponding pressure to the coronet band (it looks lifted up around the quarters).

Having said that, if the white line is thicker than a credit card (difficult to see on the pics) then it may be worth looking at the diet and seeing if the TLC is too high in iron for them to access the zinc (and copper if it's added) in it.
This issue with most supplements out there are why The Barefoot Taliban (
neener_neener.gif
) tends to recommend only two mineral supplements out there (Progressive Horse's Pro Hoof and Equimin's META Balance - available by special order).

The hooves do look 'splat' and flat (like my horse's can go when exposed to spring grass)....but as your girl is sound, I suspect this is just the Haffie shape of her soles and not something to worry on.

Regarding the frogs - work, work, work. They don't LOOK diseased to me and I suspect they just need more ground contact to exfoliate more.

Pea gravel is a good alternative to such hooves if you have access to it.

But I really think (and my advice from pictures is worth pretty much zero) that she would benefit from a mustang roll. This would create a compressional force on the walls, rather than a separational force and take the pressure off the quarters thus allowing her frogs to have more ground contact.
 
Second the pea gravel. An area has done wonders for my sisters flat hooved ponies. Nothing else made much difference to them and it was a bit of a mystery until the pea gravel area was introduced. :)

Mustang roll is important for all barefoot horses.
 
amandap said:
Enfys, I got as far as the four point trim reference on that link. I'd never heard of this until a Farrier mentioned it a few years ago. Who trims this way? No barefooters I know! :p Sadly I was put off reading the rest by this being seen as a barefoot trim.
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Just to digress again. The four point trim seems to have come from this Vet.http://www.reddendvm.com/
It has nothing whatsoever to do with much of what the "Barefoot Taliban" talk about on here. ;)
 
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