Opinions on these feet please

kirstyl

kirstyl

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 October 2009
Messages
1,776
Visit site
I would be really interested to hear your opinions on these feet! A friend's 10 year old TB who has been diagnosed with arthritis in his hocks but seems to be more uncomfortable in front. Know what I think but want to know your thoughts please!
horsefeet.jpg
 
I'm no expert but they look very long in the toe with underrun heels, probably dropped pedal bone - the pasterns look very sloping too.

I'd be looking for a change of farrier & some remedial work PDQ.
 
If they belonged to my horse I wouldn't be posting pictures and I'd be looking for a new farrier (I know she's not yours) :(
 
Don't know all that much about feet, but I would think he is quite flat footed and the hoof pastern axis looks way out to me.
 
Thank you all for your comments. This horse has been under veterinary treatment for several months at vast expense and is still intermittently lame. My poor friend is distraught, she bought him last year as a schoolmaster type that had won at Novice Dressage and BE Intro following a successful racing career. He has been lame on and off for over 6 months. Not having seen him for a while, I was really dismayed by the state of his feet 5 weeks after being shod
 
I'm not surprised the horse is lame! My 7/8ths TB had feet like that - she was finding it hard to work, looked poor, was intermittently lame and suffered terrible hoof abcesses. However I wasn't knowledgeable enough & didn't connect any of the problems we were having to my farrier at that time.

It was my vet who educated me & after a change of farrier, plenty of x rays, gel in the feet, lots of tears & lots of increasing my overdraft she came right after about 12 months of decent shoeing & proper veterinary/farrier attention.

Her front leg & hoof conformation isn't the best but she now looks like a different horse & without being uncomfortable she is now able to work much better and is muscling up differently.

Things can be done to help :)
 
id be saying the same,get a good farrier and vet working together and get it balanced correctly,my d would not work with them feet im afraid!good luck to her!
 
I'm not a barefoot boffin or extremest, my 2 are more often barefoot than not, but I don't go around saying 'rip the shoes off' however, that horse seriously needs some remedial work and to get back to his/her natural balance :eek: I'd have the shoes of and be getting a decent professional out to help me rectify the train wreck going on in his hooves :( Horse would probably come sound then.
 
Queenbee when my horse had feet like that there was no way she could go barefoot. I did try along with the assistance of my vet & a very well respected barefoot trimmer who wasn't local to me, but she was so weak in the heel she really couldn't cope. It was remedial shoeing & gel pads that turned things around for her.

I may well get jumped on for saying that but barefoot isn't always the answer in my opinion.

Runs for cover to watch the thread degenerate into a barefoot debate!!!
 
FIRSTLY you have just posted pics that are like my lads only not on chestnut legs :)
iv also got issues with my horse also tb being lame and general pottery movements. Only problem is when my lads feet are left like your friends horse he stays sound, once the farrier trims them back and shapes them better he's pottery. And it's different farriers not just the same one.
I can't help I'm afraid as I'm working with the same issues but ACHINGHIPS ( sorry cap lock to get your attention hopefully) when you say take the weight off the horses heels would that explain why my lad goes pottery when he's trimmed up? Putting the pressure back on the heel which could be a under lieing area off pain?
Sorry don't mean to hyjack
 
I'm the first to jump on you sonjafoers, well not really. Iv got the same issues and am considering bare foot as my lad don't seem to be able to except shoeing any more. Surely with boots and pads the heels would improve?
Generally interested
 
thatsmygirl my experience is limited to my own horse & research I did to help her, along with info gleaned from a great vet & farrier. It was a while ago so I may have forgotten some important bits but I think it's generally correct:

It was explained to me that the heels get very weak when trimmed like the pictured horse because the toe is left too long, more weight is then taken on the toe and the heel doesn't get used properly so it cannot strengthen itself. Over time when left like this the whole foot becomes unbalanced, the pedal bone drops and the tendons/ligaments are stretched to compensate for the unnatural weightbearing.

I had gel pads for my horse which supported the foot and enabled the heels to strengthen & build up.
 
sonjafoers said:
Queenbee when my horse had feet like that there was no way she could go barefoot. I did try along with the assistance of my vet & a very well respected barefoot trimmer who wasn't local to me, but she was so weak in the heel she really couldn't cope. It was remedial shoeing & gel pads that turned things around for her.

I may well get jumped on for saying that but barefoot isn't always the answer in my opinion.

Runs for cover to watch the thread degenerate into a barefoot debate!!!
Click to expand...

Great to have opinions from all sides!
 
sonjafoers said:
thatsmygirl my experience is limited to my own horse & research I did to help her, along with info gleaned from a great vet & farrier. It was a while ago so I may have forgotten some important bits but I think it's generally correct:

It was explained to me that the heels get very weak when trimmed like the pictured horse because the toe is left too long, more weight is then taken on the toe and the heel doesn't get used properly so it cannot strengthen itself. Over time when left like this the whole foot becomes unbalanced, the pedal bone drops and the tendons/ligaments are stretched to compensate for the unnatural weightbearing.

I had gel pads for my horse which supported the foot and enabled the heels to strengthen & build up.
Click to expand...

This sounds sensible advice. I just can't believe this horse's soundness issues only link to arthritis in his hocks
 
SJ: you will see in my post that I do not profess to believe that barefoot is a 'fix all' my mare and youngster are barefooted, it's cheaper! Although during extensive work or showing season I will pop shoes on her (probably 1-2 sets a year) I also hate shoeing her because she doesn't grow quickly and she ends up with holes over holes in her feet! But essentially I'm not an avid barefoot 'cures all' however, I do believe that the route cause of this horses problems is the awful state of his feet with are not 'typically flat footed' as someone said... They are downright awful, and I agree that remedial work in whatever form must be done on this horse, and it will take time, it may be for this horse that shoes off and chuck it out in field approach works, or it may be that like your horse he won't cope, but my first attempt (like yours was) would be to change to a reputable remedial farrier, take shoes off, start to change feed to supplement for being unshod, and slowly work over time on the horses hooves. I wouldn't expect an overnight miracle, and I would expect any horse to be footy after having shoes off, and one like this will be more so, but it will get better over time
 
Consider myself jumped on :D :D

Mine just couldn't cope thatsmygirl but you may be right for 99% of cases. I did try but I couldn't stand to see her so crippled so I called in a barefoot expert ( at great expense! ) and got my vet there at the same time & they both agreed the best way forward for mine was to shoe & pad.

My farrier then spoke to the barefoot lady & worked alongside my vet to shoe according to the x rays. It was this that worked for me but it's only my experience.
 
I too think the horse needs a rehab period, padded and booted with attention to diet etc. and I would say an experienced trimmer with lots of tb rehabs under their belt. Are the hooves as mismatched as they look. Rt. front looks a very sick hoof to me I'm afraid.
 
I'd get a top farrier to see him every four weeks. He looks like he needs very frequent small trims to get them back to some kind of normal shape.
He is likely to benefit from going shoeless even for short periods.
Toe is far too long and heels are underrun. No wonder he is lame.
 
OP with front feet like that he won't be able to use himself properly & will more than likely have a sore back/ back end issues. I'd agree with you that it's not only arthritis making him sore, his whole body will be out of sorts because of the terrible state of his front feet.
 
Sonjafoers you done what was right by your horse and with all the back up from vet, trimmer etc what more could you do?
Iv tried bare foot on my lad before but the same as yours it just didn't work but I may have to try
again.
It's so hard knowing what to do for the best.
 
God, just seen how many exclamation marks are in my second post... I wasn't shouting honest:D also my youngster isn't shod as he's not broken in yet but I suspect I'll shoe him for the first year so I'm not against shoeing at all :D and in terms of people who know their stuff in terms of problems and barefoot there are lots of very knowledgable people on here... I'm not one of them ;)
 
sonjafoers said:
OP with front feet like that he won't be able to use himself properly & will more than likely have a sore back/ back end issues. I'd agree with you that it's not only arthritis making him sore, his whole body will be out of sorts because of the terrible state of his front feet.
Click to expand...

He also has a sore back and is receiving regular physio. But feet need sorting out as a priority!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top