How are these tb feet looking 8 months on?

[BigGinger]

My boy has been shoe less for around 8months and it was the best thing I ever did! We've had our little set backs footyness wise but it has generally been straight forward. He is now in work and showing no signs of footyness and his feet seem rather sturdy. Here are his feet now, what do you think? ( only pics of fronts as he has always been bare behind for the last 3.5 years.

Tbh they are probably due a trim and neaten up but he has been self trimming for the last couple of months and he has finally outgrown the very last bit of old hoof so now this is all brand new hoof.... I think

Any crit welcome as usual as the beasty is my main prioity

 

[Oberon]

It looks like you have 1/2 and inch of old growth at the bottom still growing out but the new connection looks perfect.

Frogs still need to develop more - grow bigger at the tip so they cover more space within the hoof and pop out at the back so they are almost flush with the bars and aren't hiding up in the heel so much.

Compare to this Holy pic of a healthy frog and you can see what you are aiming for......

With a healthy frog in place, his heels will start to grow down more (rather than how under they are at the moment), and then he will shift more load to the back, rather than the toe where it is now.

If you look at this pic, the red lines indicate unhealthy form and the yellow lines are better form.

At the moment you have a yellow line at the front but a red line at the back, if you understand what I mean? You fixed the front, now you are going to fix the back.

His hooves are longer than you would normally see with BF hooves BUT this is helping him at the moment. If we trimmed him nice and short, it would dump him on the weak back part which isn't ready for that yet.

In conclusion, you have some work still to do but you are doing a smashing job so far. Keep on going as you are

 

[BigGinger]

Thankyou Oberon you explained that really well.. Just what i needed to hear.

what can i be doing to improve the frog and heels more? Is this a diet thing or type of work/workload?

At the moment i would say he doesnt get worked on lots of different surfaces with the weather so i guess this will improve his feet once he is out hacking and moving round on his feet more

 

[Oberon]

Thankyou Oberon you explained that really well.. Just what i needed to hear.

what can i be doing to improve the frog and heels more? Is this a diet thing or type of work/workload?

At the moment i would say he doesnt get worked on lots of different surfaces with the weather so i guess this will improve his feet once he is out hacking and moving round on his feet more

It's all about work now The frog is comparable to a muscle and you have to put work in to get from this

to this......

Diet is important to get them comfortable enough to be able to work in the first place. But you have already sorted that, so now you just need to get the work in for his frogs to look like Arnie Your boy will take care of everything else

(you still look to have a bulge to his wall but it's hardly worth mentioning as it is obviously growing out and fixing itself )

 

[BigGinger]

Haha love that! Makes perfect sense.

Thank you again

 

[BigGinger]

Just noticed the bit about the bulge.. What does this indicate? I had noticed this a few month ago but seems to have reduced

 

[Oberon]

Likely bull nosing (there's a thread running about it on this forum atm).

If you are still showing some bulging after another few months then review diet again. But at the moment you have so much remodeling going on - it's fine to wait and see.

 

[cptrayes]

Really lovely looking soles - are they as tough as they appear? You're doing a great job so far, well done.

I think Oberon means the very slight bullnose that he has - a curve on the front of his feet. Provided you have him on a high fibre/low carbohydrate diet that should disappear as his heels gain more strength. I also think you'll see his feet get a lot smaller yet at the ground line. And then they will be a fabulous set of feet

 

[BigGinger]

His feet seem very tough all round at the moment and he hasnt took a footy step in the last 2 months now hes come back into work. his diet has changed slightly but still high fibre, below 10% sugar/starch as hes had ulcers in past. Currently hes on

Mollichaff hoof kind
speedi beet
topspec cool condition cubes
linseed
brewers yeast
magnesium
salt