Hoof growth in a barefoot horse?

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HaffiesRock

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I know this is a very vague question and will differ from horse to horse, but ill give you some background and hope fully someone can give me a rough idea. (Sorry, no photos)

I got my gelding 11 weeks ago. He was in a 40 acre field in his last home and no one had been able to catch him for months, so he was for sale for a measly sum. I wanted to see him so rung the lady and had to wait a few days until she had been able to catch him! She put him on her allotment. I fell in love and bought him :)

He arrived the next day, very over weight and with his two front shoes flapping and his backs completely gone. The farrier took the remaining shoes off and I got my barefoot trimmer out. His feet were a terrible mess but my Pony was quite comfortable considering he had no hoof wall touching the floor!

Anyway, he's had 2 trims since and looking at him standing, he has 4 nice shaped healthy feet, but they dont seem to grow very fast. The trimmer says his frogs are big and very healthy and his soles are nice and hard. He is completely sound and is hacked approximately 20 miles over the weekend, and had been having 2 or 3 hour long walks though the village during the week. The rides during the week will now stop. (This has obviously been worked up to over the weeks)

My question is really, am I wearing them down at the same rate as he is growing them? He is completely sounds, hacks barefoot with no problem on roads, can do gravel tracks etc but looking at the foot when picking it, the wall is still quite short (Ill try and get a picture today) His hacking is now reduced due to winter so he will have 5 days off in a row.

He is out 24/7 on a relatively bare paddock, gets hay and a small feed of fast fibre with biotin in. He has lost a lot of weight and the vet says he only needs to lose about 25kg more. My trimmer says I am doing everything right and his feet will grow to accommodate his work. As long as he is sound and happy, is it ok that his walls look a little short?

I hope that makes sense and isnt just rambling!

Cookies to anyone who got this far :)
 
If he's had 2 trims in 11 weeks there is a risk there is a bit of over trimming going on. Which type of trimmer do you have?

If you're doing lots of roadwork Id be tempted to leave them for 8-12 weeks and just keep an eye on how theyre doing :)
 
To me, as long as the hoof wall is level with the sole callous I'm happy. Infact, I don't even worry as long as the horse is sound and if you can hack for 20 miles unwincing then I feel the hooves are doing what they are supposed to.

You say the week work will stop. You will find that now the workload has lessened, you may need to trim as the hoof will be putting out horn quite fast to match wear and will take time to adjust to less stimulation.
 
TigerTail said:
If he's had 2 trims in 11 weeks there is a risk there is a bit of over trimming going on. Which type of trimmer do you have?

If you're doing lots of roadwork Id be tempted to leave them for 8-12 weeks and just keep an eye on how theyre doing :)
Click to expand...

He had a "trim" when he first arrived and a second one 8 weeks later, the next is booked for another 8 weeks (end of November) where she will review the length between trims. She has not physical taken any off, just neatened the edges as there was nothing to trim. The aim is for me to do them myself once we have worked out how fast they grow with my trimmer reviewing 12 weekly.

Sorry, I should have been clearer in my original post. x
 
I wouldn't worry overly as long as he's sound and the trimmer is happy. If you think that they are getting a bit too short, then perhaps hack with boots on until the rate of growth catches up with the rate of wear. I had this in the spring, and it took 2 or 3 months until the growth stabilised. As to frequency of trimming, twice in 11 weeks doesn't sound like much to me! During the worst bit of our "wearing down too fast with wonky hoof balance" phase, he had 4-weekly trims, with a competent person on the yard touching up in between. The point wasn't to take hoof off, but to encourage more even wear. Generally, he's on a 5-week trimming cycle.
 
If he is sound don't worry, the work/trim balance must be right for him. If you increase his workload he may need less trimming.

The average rate is 1 cm a month but it is very average. Hoof growth can depend on whether shod/booted a lot, workload, health of hoof/body and diet.
 
ps. Hoof wall is normally short in a healthy barefoot hoof. Just a bead (catch your finger nail) above the calloused sole. The wall,sole, frog etc. are all designed to share weight bearing.
 
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