BF Hoof Improvements

maccachic

maccachic

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Back ground:

I got this horse in a neglected state had sat in a paddock for 2-4 years no shoes unsure of hoof care frequency but obviously wasn't optimal.

This was my first BF horse so I have learnt a lot.

The May 2011 pic was after a year with an unsuitable / unqualified trimmer she was unreliable so hoof was quite over due in that pic.

New qualified trimmer took over from that May 2011 pic on. Has been an great learning curve for me and the pics (trimmer does case studies yearly) are very helpful as you just don't notice the changes from day to day.

This horse is 14 now events, hunts, sj, dressage, endurance and treks happily. Has never been lame apart from the odd abcess. This is front left foot.

May 2011

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March 2012

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March 2013

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You can really see the difference in the last pic, did you build the back of the foot up through roadwork? Just looking for some tips, good to see it can be done!
 
Corrective trimming was the key - my trimmer has been working on getting the tubules to stand up still got a bit of progress to make as he is older so foot issues more established.

He does a fair bit of road work but it was the experience of the trimmer that has made the difference as the last one had him for a year and as you can tell by the May 11 pic - had not improved the situation and possiably made it worse - I didn't get pics when I first got him so can't verify but feet def are no ideal in the May pic. He also did road work then.

he is on a 4 week trim cycle.
 
You horse has done a wonderful job (with the miles you have put into them) of moving his heels back under his leg.

Personally, I see that happen regularly in horses without the very aggressive trim that your trimmer is applying. If your horse was mine, then I am sorry but I would not want to see that level of exposure of inner, unpigmented hoof wall, caused by what I would consider to be over-aggressive trimming.

I suspect that the roadwork you have done, and time, has had far more to do with the undoubted improvement in his feet than your trimmer has.
 
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This is where we disagree since I was a year with a less aggressive trimmer with no results, work load was the same.

To me the results speak for themself, horse is happy feet are still improving.
 
I have just read on another thread that you changed his diet as he used to have issues with grass. What was the timing of that? I have to say that in this country, those changes are more often related to diet changes than they are to the kind of trimming that you have in your photos.
 
I have been addressing diet issues since I got him (steep learning curve too this horse has been very valuable in educating me) the change to Oats / Lucerne and multivit was was about June / July 2012 I think.

I fail to see how a change in diet can fix underrun heels / bar issues and get tubules standing up, if so why does this not occur with shod horses?

Also similar improvements with my standardbred who only get lucerne chaff and supplement year round.

New horse comming soon has not been shod so hoping similar results with her less damage to start with but feet have been left to get quite long (broodmare currently).
 
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maccachic said:
I have been addressing diet issues since I got him (steep learning curve too this horse has been very valuable in educating me) the change to Oats / Lucerne and multivit was was about June / July 2012 I think.
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It may be of interest if you ever have issues with sensitivity, that we seem to have a lot of horses in this country which cannot tolerate alfalfa, which is what we call lucerne.
 
cptrayes said:
It may be of interest if you ever have issues with sensitivity, that we seem to have a lot of horses in this country which cannot tolerate alfalfa, which is what we call lucerne.
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My bf mare cannot tolerate alfalfa and goes foot sore even if she eats a tiny amount.
 
I have seen that a few times - I like lucerne as it adds extra calories without having to up grains and also has lysine.

He generally gets a 2lt container of chaff over summer, this summer before the drought he was grain free but needed them when we dried out, have had some rain but need a lot more to get significant grass growth before winter. Linseed over here is expensive and we have got micro stuff avaliable so not really an option.

He then gets a mix of lucerne / meadow to keep the calories and protein up through winter as he needs a bit more than the SB to keep him round.

You can still see small event lines on him when the grass changes but nothing like before, whereas the SB doesn't change year round.
 
Interesting thread, fantastic changes. I have to agree, I am not a fan of agressive trimming and would not allow it on a horse of mine. Also, I too have found issues with lucerne with one of mine, although my old girl was fine on it. I would point out (and this is not a dig - your horse, your choice) that the reasons your horse may not have made such progress in yr 1 could be diet related yes, but also because as you state, your old trimmer was unreliable. Personally, It has been nearly a year since a trimmer (well farrier) actually trimmed my boy, he is self trimming, I am pretty surprised that with the level of work you seem to do, the trimmer has anything to remove:eek: If it were me, Id agree I wouldn't want unpigmented hoof exposed to that extent - i mean, it isnt designed to be. But I understand that in NZ there is quite a propensity for such a method and to find a trimmer that doesn't trim like this is actually quite a feat.

Fantastic progress non the less, although certain the hooves could look like that without the icky white bits:p:p
 
maccachic said:
I fail to see how a change in diet can fix underrun heels / bar issues and get tubules standing up, if so why does this not occur with shod horses?
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Since shoes often cause underrun heels in the first place this is hardly surprising. A diet change to high fibre low sugar will cause hoof quality improvement in a shod horse but it can't work miracles while the shoes are preventing the heels from working as they should.

If you look at rockleyfarm.blogspot.com you will see exactly the same changes as your horse with no trimming at all, just work and diet.
 
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Doing nothing didn't work for the first year (or the two years prior to me getting him) so think Ill stick with what I am doing - seeing as the results speak for themselves.
 
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Well yes of course you will carry on Maccachic. You've changed his management, his work, his diet and his trim since you took him on and it's done a terrific job.
 
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