Foot imbalance??

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Flora

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One of my horses was shod about 6 wks ago, due to get shod next week, but for the last while, I have been convinced he just wasnt right on the front left. He looked sore if you turned him on a tight circle and was tripping occasionally. He also seemed to put that foot down heavier. He never showed that he was lame as such though.
Last week I went to ride my old mare and she was fine at walk but went to trot her as a lorry had pulled over for me and she was lame. Its on the same leg as my other horse.
I gave them a few days of Danilon and once off it I trotted them both up last night and they are both ever so slightly lame on that one same leg.
I have the vet coming on Monday but someone suggested to me that it could be a foot imbalance. Having never dealt with this, I dont know what to look for. What are the signs of an imbalanced foot?
 
If you are concerned about foot balance you should discuss it with your farrier, there are lots of reasons why your horse might be lame so between your vet and your farrier hopefully you will get some answers.
 
1. The hairline when you look at the foot from side on very low down. It should be a straight line. In an imbalanced foot it may rise in the middle or dive away at the back.

2. From low down front on, the side walls should be at the same angle. If one is steeper than the other it shows possible balance problems,.

3. From front on low down, the hair on each side should look as if it is at the same height. If its not, one side of the hoof is higher than the other.

4. The feet should ideally be a matching pair of fronts and a matching pair of hinds, though body issues require some horses to be different

5. From underneath, the feet should be symmetrical, with the frog slap bang in the middle.

6. From side on, the heel horn should meet the floor under the very back of the bulbs of the heel. If it does not, then the heels are underrun.

7. From side on the toe and heel should be at the same angle without the toe having been rasped off, and all the tubules that run from the coronet to the floor should be the same angle. They are often much more slanting in the back half, and that also is an under run heel.

8. From whatever direction you look at them, the hoof walls should be straight lines from the coronet to the floor, without having to be rasped to make them straight. Lots of horses bend out with flare (stretched white line) which is frequently a diet issue. Many have feet where the top half inch is growing at the angle the horse wants, but then shoes make the foot deviate forwards. This can be rectified by the old fashioned way of keeping horses, to take the shoes off for three months every year.

Note that some horses need asymmetric feet, but you need an expert on the ground to see your horse move to know whether yours is one of them.
 
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The best way to achieve perfect foot balance is to take the shoes off and let the horses wear their feet to the shape that suits their legs. I am a barefoot person, but it was actually a vet that said that to me about 20 years ago, long before I had thought of discarding shoes.
 
Thanks, will have a look now I know what to look out for! He is also tripping on that foot and is a bit overweight. I have vet out on Monday and farrier on Wed so hopefully will have a better idea of whats wrong
 
Flora said:
Thanks, will have a look now I know what to look out for! He is also tripping on that foot and is a bit overweight. I have vet out on Monday and farrier on Wed so hopefully will have a better idea of whats wrong
Click to expand...

I forgot at least one :)

From the side, the line of the pastern should continue and form a straight line with the front of the hoof, and that line should exist without the farrier rasping off the toe (easy to spot) or artificially leaving more height at the heel (not easy to spot).
 
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