Hoof flares - what causes them?

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Crazydancer

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OK, while I'm here with other issues.... a question for the barefoot brigade.
My mare has pretty good feet, fronts are a little on the upright and boxy side, but rather that than dinner plates and under-run heels. I've had her shod with fronts only, and the backs have been self-wearing as we have very stony/gravelly tracks. We upped her work coming into spring, and the increase in workload and the tracks here meant that she became very footy, and then she developed a considerable flare on the inside of her off-side hind. Farrier checked, it looked bruised and said we'd been lucky to avoid an abscess. She now has shoes all round, and after 2 lots of trims/shoes, the flare has been reduced.

So what causes flares like this?
 
I am a barefoot novice . . . however based on what my trimmer told me when she came to see Pops (for the first time - that's how much of a novice I am) on Friday, I THINK it's to do with loading/weight bearing . . . so if a horse walks unevenly and puts more weight on the outside (say) of the foot, the foot will grow more hoof wall there resulting in a build up of horn/flare.

Waits for the barefoot Taliban to show up and re-educate me . . .

P
 
Several things cause flares IME
The horse loading unevenly to try to avoid discomfort.
The horse developing a funky foot to match it's funky conformation .
And the laminae separating due to trauma or laminitis .
Poor diet and flares seem to go together .
Hind feet seem to have a tendency to flare and one of my horses developed quite big flares on his hind feet the first time we took him bf .
He been through two cycles of my bf then shoe routine since then and does not do it now .
My vet speculates that horse may do this in response to the desire to affect how they are loading the leg higher up say in the hock almost like its own lateral extension that farriers put on a shoe .
The difficulty is in working out if you will aid or hinder the horse by intervening with the rasp that's the really hard part.
 
Read all about flare on Rockley Farm: seems to me that if DIET AND EXERCISE is correct, that the horse will flare in response to conformation issues. This comment is trite and non specific, but one has to start somewhere.
Look at people who are walking in front of you, are the heels of their shoes worn do they walk in an abnormal way, imagine a vertical line from neck downwards. Horses are the same, only they have two sets of legs.
Now look at horses who are walking away from you, and towards you, there is a lot to learn, just get your eye in all the time..
In my experience horses with good conformation behind don't flare.
Main thing is ............ are the feet landing heel first............. are they self trimming..................
 
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Interesting.
I did think it may be linked to her walking gait becoming very slightly unlevel - not bad enough to look lame. But see my other thread about swollen leg not going down - this is the same mare, and the flare is on the inside of the other (offside) hind leg. I am now wondering if there was some 'nasty' building up for some time under the skin before the abscess burst on the near-hind. This would account for the flare growing in response to her favouring the leg. We noticed she was slightly twisting the hoof on landing, but at no point did she look lame.

Having said all that, I'd be the first to admit that her conformation would never win any prizes - nothing dramatically awful, but a way off perfect! But she had been without hind shoes for over 2 years before this happened, with no major issues.

So would Rockley Farm website be a good place to start if I want to learn more?
 
yes all the info is there, and they are all vet referrals so have been through the mill before they arrive,
diet is the first thing to check ............ in minute detail...
 
Rosie has always had some flare on her back feet. But since leaving her feet alone and not had them trimmed it has made me realize that the flare now on her off hind has disappeared she still has it on her near hind. To me I have come to the conclusion that is compensating for the lack of balance and stiffness in that side of her, almost like shes balancing herself. Thats just my view.
 
My understanding with flares is they grow the feet they need to balance. As long as the diet and exercise is sound the hooves will grow to the horses best advantage. It's fascinating how much they change too. Such dynamic structures when not bound by metal!
 
Most horses twist their hind feet as they land, the reason back shoes have quarter clips, so cross that one off the list.

It sounds like she is placing her feet down unevenly. My mare develops them on both sides of her front feet when she is too heavy and if she is late for her trim. If I keep her weight in check and trim 4 weekly she stays fine.
 
Tnavas said:
Most horses twist their hind feet as they land, the reason back shoes have quarter clips, so cross that one off the list.

It sounds like she is placing her feet down unevenly. My mare develops them on both sides of her front feet when she is too heavy and if she is late for her trim. If I keep her weight in check and trim 4 weekly she stays fine.
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Nearly all my shod horses used to. None of my barefoot ones do unless they are developing hock problems or something.
 
Flare where the white line is stretched is dietary.

Flare where the white line is tight is a deviation in response to a stimulus that is either permanent for that horse, or may need a physio to help straighten the horse's way of moving.
 
I am quite new to bf. Both my older horses have been shod all their lives, although Mac has recently had shoes off as he is retired due to arthritis, and was struggling having his hinds done. As he's no longer in work, farrier is happy to see how he goes. He thinks he'll cope fine in front, it's the hinds that worry him.

Ollie had never had shoes on when I got him. Had him just over 2 years now. He was only recently backed when he came to me, so just starting work. For the first year, he was fine, then last summer, he got really footsore so had fronts put on for a couple of months. He has a bit of a wonky leg, and farrier didn't want to shoe him really. Leg doesn't bother him. Anyway, his hinds haven't been touched by the farrier for months, although he looks at them every time he comes, and his fronts comes off about 3 months ago. Was warned that the hoof would probably split up to the nail holes, but it was very minimal. He just trimmed the outside edge of both fronts last time he came out, and he's out again today, 8 weeks later, so will see what he says.

It is also macs first check since his having his shoes off, will be interesting to know how he is getting on.

Not sure the point of my post, but something I am now trying to learn all about.
 
My 6 year old is very base wide behind, but hind legs land quite close just before foot strike.

He is bf behind, but within a week of Farrier being out, his flares are back.

I am changing to a new Farrier for a 2nd opinion to work out whether the very minimal rasping done by old farrier was making things worse.

I used to use a EPAUK trimmer up until 18 months ago when shoes went on, and I'm certain that the flaring was not there then.
 
Farrier has been today and had a good look at Ollie and Mac. He hasn't touched macs feet at all, been 8 weeks since shoes came off. He did have a good look, and said at the moment they look ok. Mac is mainly in the field, just comes in for a check over and a fuss.

He took the very edges off the outside of Ollie's front feet. Once again, the hinds not touched. Will try and get some photos in the week of his feet and his wonky leg as would really like to learn more about this.
 
I found this post interesting as my horse has a flair in her right hind. We have monitored it for some time but even after trimming it always comes back. Anyway she has just been diagnosed with psd in both hind s (although this was the one we noticed she was lame on) and I am now wondering if this is what caused the flair.
 
fishy said:
I found this post interesting as my horse has a flair in her right hind. We have monitored it for some time but even after trimming it always comes back. Anyway she has just been diagnosed with psd in both hind s (although this was the one we noticed she was lame on) and I am now wondering if this is what caused the flair.
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This sort of issue was the reason for my post! My mare does twist a little behind on foot-fall, but it did seen to get worse, and the flare appeared much larger, about 8 weeks before the abscess burst in her leg.
Her shoes are off now, and will not go back on for a while, so will be interesting to see if the flare re-forms.
Will report back, and thanks for everyones input!
 
Any excess hoof wall growth takes the path of least resistance.

With toe flare this fact is not a consideration but in the case of quarter flare it means that with any medio-lateral imbalance where there is a hoof landing and then loading phase the initial landing may result in a wall flare on that wall area as any excess growth is deflected outwards by ground force reaction.

This will always cause some white line separation and therefore requires rasping in situations where it will not self trim.

Where a sound but imbalanced limb produces an asymmetrical hoof in the form of support flare there will no white line separation and the wall thickness at ground level will be thicker at that point.
 
Ronalda said:
Any excess hoof wall growth takes the path of least resistance.

With toe flare this fact is not a consideration but in the case of quarter flare it means that with any medio-lateral imbalance where there is a hoof landing and then loading phase the initial landing may result in a wall flare on that wall area as any excess growth is deflected outwards by ground force reaction.

This will always cause some white line separation and therefore requires rasping in situations where it will not self trim.

Where a sound but imbalanced limb produces an asymmetrical hoof in the form of support flare there will no white line separation and the wall thickness at ground level will be thicker at that point.
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how do we recognise toe flare, I mean we are not talking long toe?
 
I would recognise it by an outward curve in the bottom half of the hoof wall. Difficult to spot from on top of its been rasped off, but the white line will be stretched if you look from underneath without a shoe on.
 
MrsD123 said:
how do we recognise toe flare, I mean we are not talking long toe?
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If you see toe flare without a long toe there can't be much flare but further to Caroline's advice to check white line integrity, look at the proportional distance between the true frog apex and the toe.

Fronts should be very short as the hooves are round; hinds slightly less so. The frog corium does not move relative to the pedal bone so the frog position is a very good datum indicator for the sole.
 
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