HashRouge
Well-Known Member
I was inspired to post this after taking some photos of my mare's hooves today. She is 20, has been unshod for 18 months, after years in shoes, and had a very difficult year last year. It began with the onset of arthritis, and she then had a very mild bout of lami, spent several months on paddock rest for a ligament injury, and developed a problem with recurring abscesses. The abscesses led me to have her tested for cushings, which she does indeed have, and she started on Prascend early December last year. We then had several more abscesses until, finally, the medication appeared to start having an effect (*touch wood* *fingers crossed* etc 
). This was early January this year, by which time she had been out of work for almost 12 months. I started bringing her back into work at the end of January and she has been doing brilliantly. We have been going fairly slowly, but are now up to long reining 3-4 times a week over a distance of 1 1/2 miles (our driveway, basically!) and walking out in hand twice a week, over a longer distance (usually for upwards of 40 minutes). She is sound on all surfaces - it is very stony round here, so she needs to be!
BUT, although there is (I think) a lot to like about her hooves, they also reflect the very difficult year that she has had. I think this is especially obvious atm because she had, until recently, been out of work for so long that the rate of growth was quite slow. She has very obvious growth rings and, in places, there are quite a lot of them. If I just looked at a picture of her feet, I might be inclined to panic. But then I also know that she is sound on all surfaces, has a good heel first landing and is *touch wood* doing better than she has been in ages. I know that I will need to watch her grass intake over the coming months, but atm it is so far so good. So my question is, does it matter what her hooves look like, so long as they function well? I know we all have an idea of what a "good" hoof should look like, but does it really matter so long as the horse is comfortable?
If this link works, you can all admire my lovely mare cheerfully rock crunching this morning. Ignore the bit at the end where I nearly walk into a tree
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151293611091432&l=4431915155608250332
). This was early January this year, by which time she had been out of work for almost 12 months. I started bringing her back into work at the end of January and she has been doing brilliantly. We have been going fairly slowly, but are now up to long reining 3-4 times a week over a distance of 1 1/2 miles (our driveway, basically!) and walking out in hand twice a week, over a longer distance (usually for upwards of 40 minutes). She is sound on all surfaces - it is very stony round here, so she needs to be!BUT, although there is (I think) a lot to like about her hooves, they also reflect the very difficult year that she has had. I think this is especially obvious atm because she had, until recently, been out of work for so long that the rate of growth was quite slow. She has very obvious growth rings and, in places, there are quite a lot of them. If I just looked at a picture of her feet, I might be inclined to panic. But then I also know that she is sound on all surfaces, has a good heel first landing and is *touch wood* doing better than she has been in ages. I know that I will need to watch her grass intake over the coming months, but atm it is so far so good. So my question is, does it matter what her hooves look like, so long as they function well? I know we all have an idea of what a "good" hoof should look like, but does it really matter so long as the horse is comfortable?
If this link works, you can all admire my lovely mare cheerfully rock crunching this morning. Ignore the bit at the end where I nearly walk into a tree
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151293611091432&l=4431915155608250332
