How are these 10 week barefoot hooves looking?

[McGrools]

Hiya, so approx 10 weeks out of shoes. Little 5 year old tb x mare. Tiny feet. Just wondering if anyone has any comments on how they are looking? Anything i should look out for?
She is hacking out fine on tarmac and has been for 10 weeks and feels sound in a straight line, trots out nicely.
I have boots all round but have barely used them. only for first couple of weeks. I would use if going for a longer hack. Currently doing 30 mins approx 4/5 times per week.
She is footy on stones. She lives out 24/7, i accidentally gave her a net of haylage a few days ago and she felt crippled the day after.

Any comments gratefully received.
Many thanks

 

[hopscotch bandit]

Looks ok to me.

Have you noticed how much the sole grows? I put a post on here about my horse as i couldn't understand why the soles looked so weird but apparently that was what the farrier hoped would happen! Here was my photo for comparison. It gave me a proper fright having never gone barefoot before!! (the photo was after she'd gone barefoot and then been shod heart bar.)

https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/threads/does-this-foot-look-strange-to-you.786659/#post-14218310

 

[McGrools]

Looks ok to me.

Have you noticed how much the sole grows? I put a post on here about my horse as i couldn't understand why the soles looked so weird but apparently that was what the farrier hoped would happen! Here was my photo for comparison. It gave me a proper fright having never gone barefoot before!! (the photo was after she'd gone barefoot and then been shod heart bar.)
View attachment 58276
https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/threads/does-this-foot-look-strange-to-you.786659/#post-14218310

Hiya, thanks for replying.
I havent really thought about the soles much tbh i was more focussed on her developing a bit of concavity. I am learning as i go. Somedays she feels great, and then others pretty meh, i am trying to exert patience!! ??
She is making a nice clippity clop noise with the fore hooves now. I’m hoping the feet will beef up and become tougher. Xx

 

[PurBee]

For just 10 weeks barefoot theyre doing pretty well.

I’d be tempted to still boot the front when riding on all surfaces as her left fore sole on the right of the apex of the frog has a white patch. Maybe its just dried mud looking white in the camera view, but if its sole cells of a black hoof and black sole turning white, means excess pressure on the sole, compressing the sole cells too much so theyre not receiving adequate blood flow and there’s pigment loss. Much easier to see this on a black hoof/soled horse. Very suggestive of thin soles.

I havent got a sideways view of the fronts to gauge sole depth Or concavity.

The boots when riding on firm surfaces will help cushion her soles, and allow her soles to build up thickness.

When out grazing the soil with be cushioning so shouldnt need booting, unless youve got really hard-soil paddocks.

I’d have her rear heels brought lower to bring the back of the frog into more contact so it develops more/stronger and the walls at the back half of the rear hooves too, especially right hind. But without hoof in hand and just a couple of angle pics, i may be seeing wrong as the left hind wall and heels dont seem to be as long as the right hind walls. Im sure your trimmer wouldnt trim differently so maybe the pics are being a bit deceptive!

The frogs look good all in all, especially having nice width at the heels.

Is the horses sensitive to grass sugar fluctuations? The fronts hoof walls show ‘event lines’ of some regularity indicative of metabolic/dietary stress episodes.

As the horse is normally out 24/7 i’d supplement with low sugar hay or high fibre, low sugar haylage, through winter and add a broad nutritional balancer pellet/powder for supplementing the nutrients which are normally low in hay and pasture.
The supplement will really help hoof health.

 

[McGrools]

For just 10 weeks barefoot theyre doing pretty well.

I’d be tempted to still boot the front when riding on all surfaces as her left fore sole on the right of the apex of the frog has a white patch. Maybe its just dried mud looking white in the camera view, but if its sole cells of a black hoof and black sole turning white, means excess pressure on the sole, compressing the sole cells too much so theyre not receiving adequate blood flow and there’s pigment loss. Much easier to see this on a black hoof/soled horse. Very suggestive of thin soles.

I havent got a sideways view of the fronts to gauge sole depth Or concavity.

The boots when riding on firm surfaces will help cushion her soles, and allow her soles to build up thickness.

When out grazing the soil with be cushioning so shouldnt need booting, unless youve got really hard-soil paddocks.

I’d have her rear heels brought lower to bring the back of the frog into more contact so it develops more/stronger and the walls at the back half of the frog

Wow Purbee thankyou for such an indepth response!
Lots to think about
Yes she does have a lot of event lines. She had her feet xrayed in the summer and xrays were good, do event lines point to lami?
She is a greedy guts, i am actually looking forward to the winter with this one to slim down. She does have the progressive earth foot balancer with a handful of grass nuts.
I will go back to boots. Yes she does have thin soles. Thankyou for the tip about the white patches. I was unaware of that.
How do i go about bringing the rear heels lower? There isnt much foot to rasp? I havent got a trimmer. Trying to learn on the job.
I rasp the front toes myself but there is very little to take off.
Thankyou for your input. I very much appreciate it
Xx

 

[Gloi]

I would agree with purbee about continuing to boot for riding for a while yet and that some of the heels are rather high.
Seconding feeding a good supplement and trying to get her diet consistently low in sugars.

 

[PurBee]

Wow Purbee thankyou for such an indepth response!
Lots to think about
Yes she does have a lot of event lines. She had her feet xrayed in the summer and xrays were good, do event lines point to lami?
She is a greedy guts, i am actually looking forward to the winter with this one to slim down. She does have the progressive earth foot balancer with a handful of grass nuts.
I will go back to boots. Yes she does have thin soles. Thankyou for the tip about the white patches. I was unaware of that.
How do i go about bringing the rear heels lower? There isnt much foot to rasp? I havent got a trimmer. Trying to learn on the job.
I rasp the front toes myself but there is very little to take off.
Thankyou for your input. I very much appreciate it
Xx

It’s great youve had xrays - they’re a good starting point to work off.

Yes, deep obvious event lines can suggest lami atttacks due to fluctuating grass sugar levels or even a gut microbe imbalance due to different forage.
Lami isnt always caused by sugar hike, (but oftentimes is the cause)....it’s sometimes caused when the gut friendly bacteria population quickly changes - due to sudden forage change, or parasites, especially after worming and there’s die-off of the parasites being cleared from the system.

The heel on the hinds and walls could come down. Aswell as the bars - leaving the bars high and bringing down the walls/heels only will be uncomfortable for the horse.
Don’t rasp them completely flush with the sole level at the heels or back quarter, and don’t suddenly bring high heels down low in one trim. Aim to leave 5mm of heel above the sole. Allow the foot/frog to adjust to being brought lower. The frogs look healthy enough to me to handle more contact, but still, Its wise practice to work slowly - as i read often, we can always take more off but cant put it back on!

If you google for a good farrier or barefoot trimmer in your area with good testimonials, it would be worth them giving a set-up trim and you can get a lot of tips from them while there on how to maintain the trim. Worth doing as they can see the hooves in real life from all angles, whereas online pictures can be abit deceptive so online help is limited in what advice can be given.

You’ve done well to keep the toes short as they help maintain breakover and pedal bone position.

Despite the long walls on the rear feet, you can see tight white line where the walls are longer, and thats good news! You’re conditions where the horse is kept isnt too wet to soften the walls and making them prone to flaring, and her diet isnt causing white line issues severely....and the event lines are minimal. When diet is severely out of balance it shows on all 4 hooves. The backs are easier to care for in that sense as they support less weight of the horse. The fronts will show more the dietary issues of the horse. So still watch sugars.

Maybe try a tub of powdered protexin probiotics as a boost to her gut beneficial bacteria. I often get a tub when i know mine are going out to grass and the inevitable change in gut microbes ensue, equally when coming into winter routine of more hay/haylage and less grass, i’ll add protexin to their feed for a couple of weeks. 20 quid for a tub is great value as its very effective in helping the gut stabilise.

Really for a TB breed, the feet are lovely! Im always reading about their feet being weak And hard to manage, but yours is looking great potential to be successful barefoot. Just watch the sole thickness on the fronts, maybe even buy pads for the boots when riding to allow more cushioning on firm ground.

 

[McGrools]

It’s great youve had xrays - they’re a good starting point to work off.

Yes, deep obvious event lines can suggest lami atttacks due to fluctuating grass sugar levels or even a gut microbe imbalance due to different forage.
Lami isnt always caused by sugar hike, (but oftentimes is the cause)....it’s sometimes caused when the gut friendly bacteria population quickly changes - due to sudden forage change, or parasites, especially after worming and there’s die-off of the parasites being cleared from the system.

The heel on the hinds and walls could come down. Aswell as the bars - leaving the bars high and bringing down the walls/heels only will be uncomfortable for the horse.
Don’t rasp them completely flush with the sole level at the heels or back quarter, and don’t suddenly bring high heels down low in one trim. Aim to leave 5mm of heel above the sole. Allow the foot/frog to adjust to being brought lower. The frogs look healthy enough to me to handle more contact, but still, Its wise practice to work slowly - as i read often, we can always take more off but cant put it back on!

If you google for a good farrier or barefoot trimmer in your area with good testimonials, it would be worth them giving a set-up trim and you can get a lot of tips from them while there on how to maintain the trim. Worth doing as they can see the hooves in real life from all angles, whereas online pictures can be abit deceptive so online help is limited in what advice can be given.

You’ve done well to keep the toes short as they help maintain breakover and pedal bone position.

Despite the long walls on the rear feet, you can see tight white line where the walls are longer, and thats good news! You’re conditions where the horse is kept isnt too wet to soften the walls and making them prone to flaring, and her diet isnt causing white line issues severely....and the event lines are minimal. When diet is severely out of balance it shows on all 4 hooves. The backs are easier to care for in that sense as they support less weight of the horse. The fronts will show more the dietary issues of the horse. So still watch sugars.

Maybe try a tub of powdered protexin probiotics as a boost to her gut beneficial bacteria. I often get a tub when i know mine are going out to grass and the inevitable change in gut microbes ensue, equally when coming into winter routine of more hay/haylage and less grass, i’ll add protexin to their feed for a couple of weeks. 20 quid for a tub is great value as its very effective in helping the gut stabilise.

Really for a TB breed, the feet are lovely! Im always reading about their feet being weak And hard to manage, but yours is looking great potential to be successful barefoot. Just watch the sole thickness on the fronts, maybe even buy pads for the boots when riding to allow more cushioning on firm ground.

Thankyou again Purbee for such an indepth response. I hacked in front boots with pads in today and she felt much happier. I will keep her booted and padded for the forseeable
Talking of gut supplements, i use Radiance Gold for one of my others who is a stress head. It is a good bacteria based supplement, i assume would do the same job as protexin? so will start her on it tmrw.
I am learning so much about the feet, it is fascinating. I have 2 others barefoot but they have been no bother at all to transistion. I just took shoes off and cracked on with them xx

 

[McGrools]

I would agree with purbee about continuing to boot for riding for a while yet and that some of the heels are rather high.
Seconding feeding a good supplement and trying to get her diet consistently low in sugars.

Thankyou Gloi. I am booting up for hacking again as of todat. I am hoping the grass loses its sugars pretty soon and when she starts getting hungry will supplement with hay. She needs to lose a few pounds, i will let winter slim her down xx