Barefoot - opinions on these feet? Shoe or Trim?

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flyingfeet

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I really want to keep this fellow unshod, but wondering whether he is losing his toe and that the back feet need the splay (if you call it that) correcting

Please can I have opinions




Front
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Hind with sideways splay
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Hind
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Your horse's feet would suggest that he does not move straight. If that's the case then only a trimmer who sees the horse in the flesh can really tell you what he needs. What you certainly should not, imo, do is have that asymmetry removed until a bodyworker or very experienced trimmer/farrier assesses his straightness, and if he is sound, not then either.
 
cptrayes said:
Your horse's feet would suggest that he does not move straight. If that's the case then only a trimmer who sees the horse in the flesh can really tell you what he needs. What you certainly should not, imo, do is have that asymmetry removed until a bodyworker or very experienced trimmer/farrier assesses his straightness.
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We have been slowly taking the splay out of the hind as its forced him into a cow hock position. Farrier was pretty sure he hadn't had his feet trimmed in 5 years when I first got him.
 
I would keep bare and keep working with someone experienced to correct the issues he's got as I don't think shoes will make a difference.

Bare feet are short, as long as he's sound and happy id keep working with the trims and he should come right.
 
flyingfeet said:
We have been slowly taking the splay out of the hind as its forced him into a cow hock position. Farrier was pretty sure he hadn't had his feet trimmed in 5 years when I first got him.
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Can you give us pictures of the whole horse from in front, behind and side on.

Of course you had to correct feet that had been neglected, but there comes a point when foot deviation is a response to unstraight legs/body and not the cause of it. It may be that you are reaching this point.

To find out, your best bet would be to try to do the amount of road work which will mean your farrier has nothing to trim off. When you've done that for a few months, you've got the foot he needs, even if it is wonky.
 
flyingfeet said:
I really want to keep this fellow unshod, but wondering whether he is losing his toe and that the back feet need the splay (if you call it that) correcting

Please can I have opinions



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Hind
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They don't look awful. I'd like to see an improvement in horn quality, but this isn't a trim issue. Is there a very faint trace of purple/pink in toe area of fourth picture? Caudal hoof appears moderately contracted and somewhat weak. Shoes have a tendancy to make this worse. I'd look to diet and movement (exercise).
 
I would try to work on the muscles of the hindquarters, is there a nice long steady slope to trot up?
Check under the tail for muscle development, once you have developed these muscles over a long period, they will develop again more easily.
 
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