Feet, transitioning, hoofboots help please

[paddy555]

Sole cleanse and hoof stuff on order, should be here tomorrow / thursday.

Do I pack the collateral grooves with hoof stuff as well as the central sulcus?

We do have mild seedy toe in one foot - clean and hoof stuff it too? What about if I have a bit of a crumbly / deepish looking white line?

if the penultimate pic before the x rays shows the current situation I wouldn't pack it or even treat it with anything. You most likely will have a crumbly WL at this stage.
I would deal with the seedy toe. ATM I would clean it out, wire brush it, use a bradawl or horse shoe nail to clean it, poke it with a cotton bud to get it really clean. Then syringe hydrogen peroxide into it. I wouldn't pack it but clean it a couple of times a day.
The more you pack bits of the foot with anything the more you are creating lovely warm damp places for bugs.


Our feet, all 36 of them don't get regularly treated with anything. If there is a problem I deal with it but that is it.

 

[ester]

That depends what you are packing with, if it's antimicrobial it's not a lovely place for bugs. I've had much better results using hoof stuff in central sulcus than any of the other solutions/soaks.

 

[paddy555]

That depends what you are packing with, if it's antimicrobial it's not a lovely place for bugs. I've had much better results using hoof stuff in central sulcus than any of the other solutions/soaks.

not sure if that foot is how they are why you would be packing the cs.

 

[Reacher]

Our feet, all 36 of them don't get regularly treated with anything. If there is a problem I deal with it but that is it.

I now picture you as a millipede! 😆

 

[Wheels]

New pics coming up...

Two weeks in, at the start of this week I had to keep everyone in the stables and smooth concrete yard due to extremely wet and boggy fields. Whilst they do wander around the yard I didnt think he would be moving around enough so I started hand walking just for a few mins up and down the lane and driveway.

Yesterday and today we went out for a walk on the roads.

So he is sound and walking out well on the concrete yard, the arena and the roads. Some days he walks out ok on the stones between stable and driveway and some days he is quite tentative but I just let him take his own pace and route.

Some pics - the top pic from each view is from 2 weeks ago (sorry about the mud), the 2nd pic of each view is from today

Tell me what you see

Right fore

 

[Wheels]

Left fore

 

[Wheels]

Am I starting to see some concavity in the front feet or am I seeing things?

 

[Wheels]

What is going on with this frog? Doesnt appear to be sensitive or sore but doesnt look great

 

[ester]

not sure if that foot is how they are why you would be packing the cs.

Paddy I was only replying to this statement, which is factually incorrect, not the thread as a whole

The more you pack bits of the foot with anything the more you are creating lovely warm damp places for bugs.

 

[ester]

Wheels you've got better at taking photos already .
concavity IME is one of the hardest things to capture or judge from a photo, especially small changes, we got a small but significant improvement but I never really managed to capture it very well.
Those frog holes I'd clear out (with a pointy thing ) and pack but not worry about too much.

The additional sole at the tip of the RF is interesting (by which I do just mean interesting!) I suspect the wall will look quite long when that comes off but I wouldn't worry about it. All sounds pretty good atm and they are generally looking good.

 

[Wheels]

The additional sole is strange, all 4 feet had it but it has worn off the others - you can see some remnants on the pic below on one of his hands

 

[Red-1]

They look better to me already.

No, I don't see concavity. What I do see is that, at the moment, the wall is far too proud of the sole. This is why they look concave. The sole itself is still flat. I would not trim the wall back too much though, as it will come back well with walking. What I would do is make an angle at the edge, so it is rounded off to half the width of the wall. Much less likely to split then. Plus, with less width of wall, it will lower quicker. A rounding off also means that the breaker is assisted while the wall is too long.

I think this is why they don't seem lame initially, as they have excess wall. Once the wall has worn, then you may have to either boot or reduce the walking until the hoof wall catches up growth wise.

IMO, the concavity occurs because the wall stops being the main thing that takes weight, it starts to be sole. Then the frog is also healthy and big, so to fit the frog in, the sole becomes concave. This takes time, months, even a year or so.

The hoof is a wondrous thing. My horse had the extra pieces of hoof, under where the shoe was. She is about 2 months without shoes now this time round. When the hoof is over stressed, the hoof puts out what is like an emergency sticky plaster. It is more jelly like (but still hard) than the normal crumbly sole material. It often grows from the bars, when the hoof is stressed.

Once the hoof is operating well the emergency hoof material ceases.

I have found that the more walking on flat tarmac they do, the better (within reason).

 

[Wheels]

Hmmm well not sure how much walking out on roads I will get done now as it's so dark in the mornings before work and definitely too dark afterwards.

I will continue with the walking around the driveway and lane and roads at the weekends. I dont think it will be enough to keep the walls in check.

I'm nervous about trimming though!

 

[Red-1]

Hmmm well not sure how much walking out on roads I will get done now as it's so dark in the mornings before work and definitely too dark afterwards.

I will continue with the walking around the driveway and lane and roads at the weekends. I dont think it will be enough to keep the walls in check.

I'm nervous about trimming though!

No need to be nervous of you just take a shave every day Especially if you take photos every month to check they are not going wildly out of balance.

If I was not walking your horse on concrete then I would take some of the wall back, as if left that long it can act as a lever to stop the white line being tight. But, it would be a shave a day, nothing dramatic.

 

[ester]

The white line/lever issue while somewhat logical is definitely disputed and I would still leave them be this early on. I would much rather a bit more length possibly helping a horse be more comfortable especially with flatter soles.

 

[ycbm]

False sole picture for anyone interested. Top when the shoe came off, bottom a few weeks later. The horse was a rehab whose PTS appointment had been booked but the owner drove him to me instead.

 

[Wheels]

The false sole is so strange, it's like it has grown out of the white line, it covers the white line growing right out to the wall, bits start to peel off but seems knitted in to the white line, weird stuff but the horses obviously need it.

I think this is going to be a rollercoaster ride. Yesterday afternoon he was a wee bit footy on tarmac and this morning was not striding out in the arena and definitely not happy over the stones.

I sent pics over to hoof boutique yesterday so hopefully will get boots soon. He is due a trim in just over 3 weeks so not sure whether to wait until after that before I order boots, also not sure I want to leave him that long without.

Already so unsure of what to do. This is why you need a good professional I suppose but without hoping you guys will help me! I'm reading that exercise is important to get the blood flow going but if hes not 100% comfortable in the arena am I best to leave him until I get the boots?

 

[ycbm]

The 'coming alive' is normal Wheels, it will get better again soon.

I wouldn't work him if he is obviously sore.

 

[Wheels]

It's mostly just when he steps on a stone, he takes a mis-step, otherwise hes ok on the concrete but in the arena he's not walking out confidently.

I will bring him into the concrete yard to feed, groom and do his feet, that way he doesnt have to go over the worst of the stones.

 

[Wheels]

so I sent pics through to hoof boutique with tape measure in situ - front feet are both about the same length at 125mm, one is 139mm wide and the other is 144mm so quite some difference between the width and length and doesn't give me many options and typically the options that are open to me are the most expensive (Renegade Vipers, Scoots, floating boot) but all look like good boots.

I have decided to wait until the next trim and just take it very easy until then - hopefully the flare will come down a little to take the width down a bit so there isn't as much difference between the length and width - I think after his trim I will just have to go with whatever I can get to suit.

 

[ester]

We did that he was so flat we knew we were likely to need them, we were lucky that they were actually the only boots we ever had (though he did have a new pair after 3 years and the old ones were getting a bit loose- they went in my trimmers emergency boot collection).

 

[Wheels]

4 weeks in! I'm not going to post too many photos today but just have to show these two pics of his right fore, I am utterly amazed at the change in this short space of time!

 

[Mule]

4 weeks in! I'm not going to post too many photos today but just have to show these two pics of his right fore, I am utterly amazed at the change in this short space of time!View attachment 39078View attachment 39079

It's amazing isn't it. They look fantastic, so much healthier.
Mine is out of them just over 4 weeks and his hooves look like they belong to a different horse. They are now wearing evenly and he's become really supple and flexible when he does his carrot stretches. He used to be one sided and generally stuff. The only change has been taking the shoes off so I'm putting it down to that.

 

[Wheels]

That's great mule

The farrier is here on thursday for a tidy up and then hopefully sort some boots out

 

[Mule]

The farrier came yesterday to trim the beast's hooves. Unfortunately I was at work so I didn't get to talk to him. His (uncommunicative) co-owner was there but of course he didn't ask the farrier anything The farrier did say that his hooves had improved

Anyway, the beast is fine after his trim. I did his carrot stretches to see if his newfound suppleness was affected- it wasn't. He is still a furry, grey contortionist?

I'm going to bring him for a walk in hand on the road and over cavaletti tomorrow. Interestingly, I've noticed that since his shoes have come off he is no longer touching/kicking the cavaletti with his hooves. According to what I've read, this may be a result of increased proprioception or he is simply being careful as his hooves are sensitive and he doesn't want to hurt them.

One thing I'm aware of is that I don't want to erroneously attribute every positive thing to him being barefoot. I do believe it's helping him but I want to be sure to document things accurately.

I'm finding it all very interesting. I had never paid much attention to hooves in the past. I can't be around a horse now without checking them out

 

[ester]

looking good

 

[Mule]

I know! It is exciting isn't it?

looking good

 

[Wheels]

Farrier was here yesterday which means we are 6 weeks in and he is very pleased with progress to date. The seedy toe (which M has had for at least a year) has now gone. There is a small hole / dent but no longer any infection present.

For anyone interested I just cleaned the hole out twice every day and squirted sole cleanse in once a day.

We tried a few hoof boot shells, the renegade vipers fit quite well as do the scoots so I've sent pics to hoof boutique before I decide which to go for - he moved slightly better in the scoots but I think hes between sizes so we will see

We are hacking out in walk now and started trot work in the arena and just keeping a very close eye on things. A few of you have said 4-10 weeks in and they sometimes go through a bad patch so hoping it's not too bad

 

[Mule]

Farrier was here yesterday which means we are 6 weeks in and he is very pleased with progress to date. The seedy toe (which M has had for at least a year) has now gone. There is a small hole / dent but no longer any infection present.

For anyone interested I just cleaned the hole out twice every day and squirted sole cleanse in once a day.

We tried a few hoof boot shells, the renegade vipers fit quite well as do the scoots so I've sent pics to hoof boutique before I decide which to go for - he moved slightly better in the scoots but I think hes between sizes so we will see

We are hacking out in walk now and started trot work in the arena and just keeping a very close eye on things. A few of you have said 4-10 weeks in and they sometimes go through a bad patch so hoping it's not too bad

Great news? I'm looking forward to hearing more about your progress ?

 

[Gloi]

I'm finding it all very interesting. I had never paid much attention to hooves in the past. I can't be around a horse now without checking them out

It can get a bit awkward at times. I find it quite hard to look at people's horses' feet without commenting, not always in a flattering manner.