Hoof experts - concave soles

Faracat said:
The other three horses have lovely concave soles.
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Faracat have you tested her for Cushings and Insulin Resistance? Both could cause that problem and both can be present without any other signs than hoof issues. Excuse me if I have missed if you have already answered this question.
 
No she's not been tested. Her hooves were 'normal' before the bad farrier episode and she coped fine when her shoes came off so that she could be introduced to the grey. I guess I've always thought that the issue was one of bad trimming/shoeing rather than a problem within the horse herself. I am keeping an open mind about all possibilities now though.

Anyway, here's the photos from earlier. They aren't the best but hopefully good enough.

Near fore.

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Off-fore.

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Trimmed 26th April.

No, not sound. She was three/four days ago when the ground was softer. She is now moving 'carefully' especially on the near-fore (the flattest). She was very lame on the off-fore recently and that turned out to be an abscess (you can see the bursting point on the coronet and the sore heel bulb from the poultice - which she hardly wore because she got so sore so quickly).

Before the off-fore lameness, she was sound and I had started to walk her out along the lanes and she was coping really well on the tarmac.
 
OK. It's going to take me about 20 minutes to construct one of my epic hoof posts
lol.gif
while I sit surrounded by binbags and I ignore the housework;)
 
Very poor frogs, and I would like to c more of a roll on tge hoof wall. Lumpy bars as are protecting poor frog and structure underneath.

Heels r high but I don't think.u can doo much more trim wise with these at tge moment.

I would make sum pads up slightly bigger the the foot (ie draw around tge foot, then cut out sum shapes the same as the frog and. Stick on to the pad so pad is on ground and frog shapes touch frog. U can use a nappy or vet wrap and duct tap if not boots. Thus will put pressure on frogs to try to stimulate growth. If she becomes uncomfortable discontinue use of pads. X
 
Waltzing Matilda said:
Very poor frogs, and I would like to c more of a roll on tge hoof wall. Lumpy bars as are protecting poor frog and structure underneath.

Heels r high but I don't think.u can doo much more trim wise with these at tge moment.

I would make sum pads up slightly bigger the the foot (ie draw around tge foot, then cut out sum shapes the same as the frog and. Stick on to the pad so pad is on ground and frog shapes touch frog. U can use a nappy or vet wrap and duct tap if not boots. Thus will put pressure on frogs to try to stimulate growth. If she becomes uncomfortable discontinue use of pads. X
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So the pad is thicker under the frogs?

I could try this once her sore heel bulb has healed but not right now.
 
Faracat I think you have slight bullnoses (outward curve about half way up the foot) on more than one foot. Photos can be deceptive, but if they are there in real life then I have never myself seen them except in horses with a problem digesting carbohydrates. If you can afford it I would ask your vet to humour you and test for both Cushings and IR even though there are no other symptoms.
 
Yes so its thicker under frog, u may need it thicker towards back of frog.the frog will nor currently touch the floor wen tge horse is standing on it so will not develop. The pads shouldn't touch the bulbs, but obviously is any of this would make her sore hold off until improved.
It's hard to explain in a message!!
Where abouts r u based?
X
 
Waltzing Matilda said:
Hi, walking out in hand will help a lot. Try her in boots (and pads) if she is uncomfortable barefoot. The sole takes about 3 months to grow from heel to toe. Tge concavaty happens wen all tge structures in tge foot r working proprly because the foot us balanced and landing slightly heel first. So in theory it will take at least 3 months from tge foot becoming propely balanced and her been sound enough to use her foot correctly before good concavaty will occur.
Diet is also v important. High fibre low sugar low starch.
If u would like any specific adivice feel free to pm me. I am a trained barefoot trimmer and behaviourist with a working knowledge if nutrition. Happy to help if I can :-s
Best wishes. X
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My boy has had lovely [short and balanced] feet when he was hacking on tarmac one hour per day [winter], but now he is out at grass, no hacking, so I rasp toes off once per week, suddenly [two weeks out to grass 24/7 the front feet are concave, BUT the toes look a bit long to my mind.
Fed one kg of Fast Fibre plus 12 gms of Laminator per day, minimal exercise.
Comments welcome, farrier is an irregular visitor.
 
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Right, you'll all be glad to know that she looks alot better this evening than she did this morning. I've just watched her walk along the field and she was moving in a much more relaxed and free way.

Secondly, I've had a good look at her hooves and they are an interesting mix of concave and convex (the bullnosed areas) hoof wall. The hinds look convex at the bottom and straight in the newer growth under the coronet band. The fronts are slightly more mixed up in their arrangement and quite frankly - lumpy - is a good description.

Thirdly (vit and min people), I have been informed that when the water was tested (natural spring) that the water was high in manganese. Would this be a factor? I will try to find the water results as I'm sure that it will be infromative RE the minerals in the ground, BTW it was passed as drinking water.

Also, I'm sure that I read on here that you have to be careful with seleneum in suppliments? Have I remembered correctly?

Thanks to everyone for their replies, I feel a little like a bunny in the headlights but I will get my head around it all. :)
 
Faracat said:
Thirdly (vit and min people), I have been informed that when the water was tested (natural spring) that the water was high in manganese. Would this be a factor?
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Absolutely!!!

You need to supplement copper if you are high in manganese. My water supply is also affected. It changed my horses a lot to feed 1-2 grammes of copper bioplex from Forageplus every day.


Excess manganese prevents the absorption of copper. Copper deficiency can give you insulin regulation problems which is likely to produce exactly the foot problem that you are having.
 
OK. That's very interesting.

Should I get a general suppliment (eg Forageplus, Equimins or Pro hoof) or try to get the specific minerals that are needed (forage analysis route)?
 
Hi faracat :) in my opinion its definately worth testing and balancing to exactly your horse's diet if your horse has problem feet. That way you know you got it right first time and it either makes a difference over time or it doesn't.
 
I agree you need to work your way through possible dietary issues. The blood testing is an excellent suggestion.
Being me with my obsession, I would address the frogs, in the pics they look very black and eaten. I would personally hit them hard with a soak of cleantrax for eg. and follow up with daily application of one of the red horse products for eg. or sudocrem. Sorting dietary stuff will help stop recurrence of thrush.

Also don't forget that gaining concave soles takes time, the sole has to build to full thickness for that individual horse first.. x
 
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