Hind hooves and hocks- sorry should be in tack room..

[Michen]

I took the shoes off my 10 year old in November, which I do yearly for a period of time. He has arthritis in his hocks which is managed thoroughly (vet checked every 8 weeks or so and medicated when needed). He had a winter break when the shoes came off.

When shod he was in a subtle lateral extension on both hinds. I’ve noticed since the shoes have come off his affected hock/hind hoof combo has become under run (right hind which also has a healed soft tissue injury). He was vet checked and slightly positive to flexion for a few strides which is not unusual and wouldn’t usually be enough to warrant medicating. However I decided to have him medicated as felt the most obvious cause of the heel under running was the hock causing discomfort and it’s possible we saw him on a “good” day.

I am also getting slides of his feet done on Friday (I do this yearly too!). I am concerned he may even have NPA in that hoof now.

My vet thinks he may benefit from reshoeing for the lateral support and that the heel will come good as we’ve treated the suspected cause of the problem.

He’s also been seen by a Physio and considered in good nick. Has anyone had experience of hocks effecting the feet in this way? And if so did you shoe? I was always planning on shoeing by April in order to stud (though if we have a hoof angle issue clearly there will be no competing), but am wondering whether shoeing sooner could be helpful. I have a very forward thinking vet when it comes to feet, I guess the issue is we aren’t going to know if the hoof went underun because the hocks flared up or it went under run because I took the shoes and lateral support off and changed the flight of his foot.

His hinds aren’t bull nosed so maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised by the x rays but preparing for the worst!

 

[ycbm]

Has he got an equal depth of collateral grooves M?

My barefoot spavined horse used to grow one groove much deeper than the other, which I think was his way of creating the same kind of effect as a lateral extension. He never underran, and I'm just wondering if your trimmer is trimming Bog level when he actually needs to be allowed to be lop sided because of the hock arthritis.

 

[Michen]

Has he got an equal depth of collateral grooves M?

My barefoot spavined horse used to grow one groove much deeper than the other, which I think was his way of creating the same kind of effect as a lateral extension. He never underran, and I'm just wondering if your trimmer is trimming Bog level when he actually needs to be allowed to be lop sided because of the hock arthritis.

I’ll have a better look tomorrow! I haven’t actually had him trimmed since the shoes came off, he did enough work before and after his break that he pretty much wore them himself. I assume farrier has been trimming level to then add the lateral extension..

Here’s the difference between the two hinds, sorry not great pic. I know the coronet band looks wonky but I think that’s actually the clip.

 

[SEL]

I didn't shoe because she had other issues going on (plus we've only recently found a farrier she won't kill) but mine grew a hoof much like YCBM describes on her left hind. Has very good heels, no bull nose, just grows that hoof at a bit of an angle. Noticed more pre Xmas when we went over on the usual 5 week trim because farrier had covid and she grows hoof at a mile a minute

Had arthramid into her hocks but has a bone spur on that left one so will always be a bit of an issue. Less concerning for me because these days she's pretty much retired to a life in the field. If I was bringing her back into work then I'd probably x ray those hinds because I trust this farrier to advise the best course of action.

The microcob on the other hand has massively under run hinds and is currently on day #2 at the vet hospital. For her it seems to be a compensating pattern due to problems elsewhere - skidding 12 feet on your bottom into a fence line wasn't going to end well.