How is he looking? CC please.

[Tash88]

Thank you all again for the latest replies, I have a little update for you and I suppose I do feel a bit better, but I am still questioning everything and doing my research.

I spoke to my YO (who also bred my horse) this morning and told her everything and how concerned I was, and she just said that it was a bad photo and that if she took one then he would look completely different and much better. I have to say that I am sceptical even though I know I'm terrible at photography, but she is going to take one soon and we will compare. She also said that he should be fine, given that he's always stood like this and he passed a vetting a year ago.

The farrier was also at the yard so I asked him about his bullnosed back feet. He said that he shoes him in that way so that his back shoes don't come off, he did lose one a few shoeings ago and so my farrier sets the shoes back a little bit so that they are less likely to come off. He also said that his feet won't crumble and that they are really strong, but I kind of knew that anyway. My horse had always had rather small, boxy feet and so there isn't much that can be done.

So I suppose I do feel a bit better, but I am still going to ask the vet later this month and look into changing his diet. I don't suppose there is any harm in putting a shod horse on a 'barefoot diet' if it is going to help his feet; I could swap the bio-life for something else at least. I have also spoken to a friend of my aunt's who is an equine craniosacral therapist (very popular in their area and teaches students at the local equine college etc.) and she said that he is just unbalanced, and that craniosacral therapy could definitely help him.

So I still have lots to do and think about, but I a feeling a bit reassured. And I am so grateful for all your advice; I will keep you updated. I think this is going to be a big and interesting learning curve for me, but I don't think we ever stop learning when we have horses. Thanks for the PMs as well, will reply to them ASAP, although I still have some work to finish today.

Tash x

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Taken today:

I spoke to my YO (who also bred my horse) this morning and told her everything and how concerned I was, and she just said that it was a bad photo and that if she took one then he would look completely different and much better. I have to say that I am sceptical even though I know I'm terrible at photography, but she is going to take one soon and we will compare. She also said that he should be fine, given that he's always stood like this and he passed a vetting a year ago.

Which is it? A bad photo or does he always stand like this? The YO is contradicting herself here.

You need to spend some time watching him over a few days (in the yard and when turned out) to get to know what is normal for him. If he does regularly stand like in the above photo, then be aware that as it is now normal for him, that he has a long term issue.

The farrier was also at the yard so I asked him about his bullnosed back feet. He said that he shoes him in that way so that his back shoes don't come off, he did lose one a few shoeings ago and so my farrier sets the shoes back a little bit so that they are less likely to come off. He also said that his feet won't crumble and that they are really strong, but I kind of knew that anyway. My horse had always had rather small, boxy feet and so there isn't much that can be done.

Your Farrier is dumping the hind toes.

Dumping is a term given to excessive rasping of the outside of the hoof wall, usually at the toe, but it can extend all the way around the wall. It is most often done to make the foot fit a shoe which is too small, or in an attempt to try and trim back what is perceived as a overlong toe and is most commonly seen in the front feet. Dumping has several adverse affects. The cross-section area of the bearing surface of the hoof wall is reduced so the shoe will come to rest on the sole resulting in sole pressure, and the nail holes will invariably be inside the white line resulting in higher risk of nail bind and prick. If the dumping is excessive at the toe or has been present for a long period of time an apparent "Backward Rotation" of the distal phalanx can occur. On lateromedial radiographs of the foot the distal border of the distal phalanx slopes downwards at the heels. This results in stress on the dermal laminae at the heels.
Feet which have been markedly dumped have a characterstic "Bull Nose" appearance when viewed from the side. Another way is to lay a straight edge from the top of the hoof down, if the edge looses contact with the hoof wall you have some dumping. The straight edge should make contact to the bottom of the hoof. You can try it in the front of the hoof and at the quarters.

 

[JHC]

Can't quote you Bryndu but I completely agree with everything you said about my horses hooves. I had changed farrier and in my nativity I didn't see the drastic change until it was too late.

Im now ultra critical on any farriers work and can now say my current two horses are barefoot (one in transition as we speak).