Opinions on these feet please

kirstyl

kirstyl

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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
 
Typical TB feet with long sloping pasterns to boot!! I would think theres a fair bit that a good farrier could do to help by gradually reducing the toe length and offering some support for non-existing heels! My own TB has feet that would naturally like to look like this and my farrier helps so much. He doesn't think she could take natural balance shoes in front (altho she has them behind), but he shoes her as far back as he can in front and with extra length at the heels. I would think all alterations have to be done carefully as the horses limb confirmation will have to deal with all the changes, but I would think theres an awful lot of good things that could be made which would drastically help.
 
monkeymad said:
Typical TB feet with long sloping pasterns to boot!! I would think theres a fair bit that a good farrier could do to help by gradually reducing the toe length and offering some support for non-existing heels! My own TB has feet that would naturally like to look like this and my farrier helps so much. He doesn't think she could take natural balance shoes in front (altho she has them behind), but he shoes her as far back as he can in front and with extra length at the heels. I would think all alterations have to be done carefully as the horses limb confirmation will have to deal with all the changes, but I would think theres an awful lot of good things that could be made which would drastically help.
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Thanks for this Monkeymad. The farrier has been shoeing this horse for over a year hence my concern that the horse's feet look like this
 
monkeymad said:
Typical TB feet with long sloping pasterns to boot!! I would think theres a fair bit that a good farrier could do to help by gradually reducing the toe length and offering some support for non-existing heels! My own TB has feet that would naturally like to look like this and my farrier helps so much. He doesn't think she could take natural balance shoes in front (altho she has them behind), but he shoes her as far back as he can in front and with extra length at the heels. I would think all alterations have to be done carefully as the horses limb confirmation will have to deal with all the changes, but I would think theres an awful lot of good things that could be made which would drastically help.
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totally agree, word to word!
my TB 'was' the same, but like the above said.. with proper farrier work, they can be fixed! my lad had horrid feet but he now has lovely feet that look nothing like a TB's horrid feet.
 
They look like very common pathological hooves found on long term shod horses. Not normal or 'typical' for TBs (who are just as capable of growing a good hoof as the next horse) but sadly so common it's almost considered normal and inevitable :(
 
Oberon said:
They look like very common pathological hooves found on long term shod horses. Not normal or 'typical' for TBs (who are just as capable of growing a good hoof as the next horse) but sadly so common it's almost considered normal and inevitable :(
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Agree! My TB's feet do not look like this and don't think this horse should have to suffer feet like this either
 
The photograph is rather small, but what concerns me even more that the long toes and underrun heels is the change in angle in the newly grown hoof (especially the near fore). I suspect there is marked pedal bone rotation and the horse should be on box rest with a deep shavings bed ASAP!
 
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Toes too long and no heel. I also agree that tb's feet are not "typically" like this if they are shod correctly. I would change my farrier if my horse's feet were like this! However, change should be gradual to allow the leg to adapt to a change in balance.
 
Wagtail - it's so sad isn't it.

You can clearly see the horse is desperately trying to grow a perfect hoof there given half a chance.

It makes me sad that all the time such horses are labeled as having 'crap feet' and eventually end up lame and written off......they have been silently and desperately trying to grow fabulous feet that would carry them soundly.....but they don't often get the chance.
 
Oberon said:
Wagtail - it's so sad isn't it.

You can clearly see the horse is desperately trying to grow a perfect hoof there given half a chance.

It makes me sad that all the time such horses are labeled as having 'crap feet' and eventually end up lame and written off......they have been silently and desperately trying to grow fabulous feet that would carry them soundly.....but they don't often get the chance.
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What's just as sad is that it is not uncommon for a vet to visit, and diagnose arthritis without saying "please, please, please do something about this horse's feet" :(
 
Agree :(

Owners should be able to trust the professionals they pay to provide their expertise.

It's very tough for owners to know who to trust and when to question what they're told.

Almost every. 'Barefoot Taliban'
 
Grr. Stupid phone.

Meant to say....almost every Barefoot Taliban member has a few 'hindsight scars' where we wish we'd known then what we've learnt since :(
 
I have always liked my farrier and trusted him shoeing my horses. However, I am now tempted to go for a barefoot trimmer for my (now barefoot) horses. My mare had a terrible shoulder injury nearly 3 years ago that forced her retirement. This exacerbated the boxiness of one of her front feet that had first become boxy after a massive foot abscess. Then this Christmas, for the first time in her life, she came down with laminitis in her other (non boxy) forefoot. Since then, it has started to splay badly. When I pointed this out to my farrier, all he said was 'well it will do, yes'! My sister is a barefoot trimmer, but lives around 4 hours away from me. She is going to trim her feet for me next time she visits and I will see the difference and may change to someone she recommends in my area.
 
Unfortunately finding a good BF trimmer is as much (if not more) of a crap shoot as anything else :/

That is as frustrating to me as everything else :p

I am tres ranty today :D
 
I agree that for barefoot horses you really need a good barefoot trimmer. A very good friend of mine both professionally and socially, has just completed a barefoot course. He is very impressed with the standard of the course and the fact that much emphasis is placed on the whole horse and it's management rather than concentrating just on the feet. This comming from a farrier with 30yrs under his belt is a very worthwhile endorsement in my view.

He has done this as he has lost quite a few customers to barefoot and he feels a lot more will go down the barefoot route.
 
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Thank you for all your replies. My friend who owns this horse has just joined the forum this weekend and is just 'feeling her way' so has replied on New Lounge, where I also posted this thread. I will ask her to read this thread too ASAP
 
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