Front hooves. Worried - am I being paranoid? (Also in NL)

[ofcourseyoucan]

if you are concerned in the future please contact your farrier and vet. both have undergone years of training! your farrier no doubt will see your horse again in the next 6 to 8 weeks.

 

[nikicb]

He will be footy, but let him take his time and go at his own speed. Once the snow and freezing temperatures have gone, keep his feet infection free and he'll be fine.

It's a good start, lots of people would be very happy to have feet like that straight away. I hope it all goes well for you both.

That looks so much more like proper feet! I'd still be keeping an eye on the way the event lines on the fronts seem to be running down into the heel, from the photos, and watching the diet.

Thanks for your support, it is much appreciated. So far he seems fine, even on the hard ground, although I can't say he has moved much from the pile of haylage in the field. So long as he continues to be once he starts to work again (only off because of the weather), I see no reason for him to have his fronts put back on. But, he will have what is best for him, and it will remain an open discussion between me and my farrier.

I will keep an eye on the event lines, but as mentioned before I wonder if that was from the change in pasture when I got him. And also as his feet are no longer 'stacked', wouldn't that exaggerate the direction?

if you are concerned in the future please contact your farrier and vet. both have undergone years of training! your farrier no doubt will see your horse again in the next 6 to 8 weeks.

Thank you for your concerns. Just to put your mind at rest, my farrier was booked to come out before I started this thread. And if the vet was required they certainly would have been called immediately.

I value this forum as a place to ask questions on things I haven't seen before. And I have no regrets in asking the questions as I have learnt a lot from the helpful comments people have taken the time to post. If it hadn't been for those comments, the conversation with my farrier would probably have been a lot less productive as well.

 

[intouch]

I will keep an eye on the event lines, but as mentioned before I wonder if that was from the change in pasture when I got him. And also as his feet are no longer 'stacked', wouldn't that exaggerate the direction?

As a VERY GENERAL rule of thumb(!) (and please, I am not diagnosing here, just passing on what I have learned) the growth of the hoof should follow the hair line. So any growth lines should be evenly distributed, growing down the front of the foot faster than the heels, so they reach the ground at the same time, if you see what I mean.

In these photos, it looks like the heels have been growing faster than the rest of the foot.

As this is what happens in a laminitic episode, and I am NOT saying that this horse has laminitis, I would be taking precautions to make sure he doesn't!

Great that your farrier was so helpful. And good for you for being so open to learning. You'll end up in the hoof anorak club if you're not careful!