Horse beginning to wear hind feet unevenly

[Welshie95]

As title really, what would be your next step? Horse is wearing more of the outside and as a result turning out, difference is of about an inch more wall to the inside. Had vet out and not lame, personally he is feeling the best he has in forever, have recently began to focus more on elementary level work at home (3/4 times a week schooling with lots of breaks in between, the rest hacking on all surfaces), could it be that he isn't coping? Was diagnosed with a touch of arthritis to the outside of his hocks in 2014 via X-ray and arthroscopy for a different problem, but have been reassured this isn't progressing at a rate to be alarmed. Although he isn't sore, is this a sign he should be shod behind as well as front (front shoes on for 19months now, doesn't turn in anymore, limb is straight and he is so much more confident on hard ground)?

 

[TheMule]

I'd want new hock x-rays and would be expecting to medicate the hocks

 

[ycbm]

If the horse has an inch of hoof wall to wear of then his feet are far too long. If you mean that as an outside measurement, is the height of the hoof wall above the sole much different

But you say he is feeling the best he ever has, so why would you want to change how he is wearing his feet? From my experience of a horse with it, this is an adaptation that horses with hock spavin make to keep themselves comfortable. I took moulds of the collateral grooves of mine and it was the whole internal structure of his foot he had changed, not the wear on the hoof wall.

 

[Welshie95]

If the horse has an inch of hoof wall to wear of then his feet are far too long. If you mean that as an outside measurement, is the height of the hoof wall above the sole much different

But you say he is feeling the best he ever has, so why would you want to change how he is wearing his feet? From my experience of a horse with it, this is an adaptation that horses with hock spavin make to keep themselves comfortable. I took moulds of the collateral grooves of mine and it was the whole internal structure of his foot he had changed, not the wear on the hoof wall.

Sorry yes outside measurement, my very non technical description is I can fit three fingers along the wall of the lateral side, and four to the medial (coronet to floor). Above the sole no they are quite flat.

 

[Orangehorse]

In your situation I would be concerned too, but then as barefooters we become obsessed with feet and can't stop looking at them. Is the horse sound? If so, I wouldn't be too worried.

In the Rockley Farm blog they show pictures of horses with weird and wonderful shaped feet, that are sound and working. The horse will adapt his feet to cope with whatever is above. I think what you need is some reassurance that this is OK.

 

[ycbm]

Sorry yes outside measurement, my very non technical description is I can fit three fingers along the wall of the lateral side, and four to the medial (coronet to floor). Above the sole no they are quite flat.

Thanks for the explanation.

He's almost certainly done it to adapt to the spavin, successfully by the sound of how he is working. You risk spoiling that if you have him shod. It's the underneath view that's most important in a horse which has joint issues.

Feet are wonderfully dynamic things when they are allowed to be

 

[Welshie95]

In your situation I would be concerned too, but then as barefooters we become obsessed with feet and can't stop looking at them. Is the horse sound? If so, I wouldn't be too worried.

In the Rockley Farm blog they show pictures of horses with weird and wonderful shaped feet, that are sound and working. The horse will adapt his feet to cope with whatever is above. I think what you need is some reassurance that this is OK.

Thanks for the lovely reply, horse is sound, I am just incredibly paranoid. I nearly had him retired 3 years ago due to patellar tendinitis so am very wary of the slightest change in him in a bid to keep him sound and comfortable for as long as I can.

 

[Welshie95]

Thanks for the explanation.

He's almost certainly done it to adapt to the spavin, successfully by the sound of how he is working. You risk spoiling that if you have him shod. It's the underneath view that's most important in a horse which has joint issues.

Feet are wonderfully dynamic things when they are allowed to be

In which case is there anything I should avoid doing with him? I don't gallop much anymore and the slow canters we do are on suitable ground. A lot of our hacking these days is walking just for the pleasure and views, he is not allowed to slop along on a loose rein though, far too sharp for me to sit those spooks!

 

[ycbm]

Lots of wear on a smooth hard surface like tarmac, and then he will produce the foot shape that best fits how his hocks feel at the time. You may find that they alter shape quite fast in colder wetter weather and back again if it dries and warms up. It's quite odd to watch it happen.

 

[Welshie95]

Lots of wear on a smooth hard surface like tarmac, and then he will produce the foot shape that best fits how his hocks feel at the time. You may find that they alter shape quite fast in colder wetter weather and back again if it dries and warms up. It's quite odd to watch it happen.

Got it, I will keep a photo diary of how they change. Thanks so much for the sympathetic advice, really appreciated at worrying times like this

 

[ycbm]

This is a picture of two tinfoil moulds I took off the grooves on either side of the frog of my horse with spavins. You can see how much deeper one is than the other, yet from a sole view, the height of the hoof wall was equal. I think this is the kind of thing you are looking at with your horse.

 

[Welshie95]

This is a picture of two tinfoil moulds I took off the grooves on either side of the frog of my horse with spavins. You can see how much deeper one is than the other, yet from a sole view, the height of the hoof wall was equal. I think this is the kind of thing you are looking at with your horse.

Can you explain more: is the gap between the foils where the frog would be? So that would show a higher right side of the hoof?

 

[ycbm]

The foils are totally separate, two different mouldings, but the gap is where the frog would be, only bigger.. I can't remember now which one came from which side, my recollection is hazy but I think the inside grooves were higher on both feet.