Opinions on this foot?

[Casey76]

Bit of background... my yearling (at the time) started limping on his near fore very intermittently last summer. He was poulticed, hoof tested and xrayed but showed nothing. The vet suggested (due to lack of other evidence) that it was probably thin soles, and that he should be shod with glue on shoes.

I strongly objected and we compromised, agreeing that I would use boots instead, when necessary.

He was out 27/4 with ad lib hay until Nov when he started coming in overnight.

He is now 100% sound without any intervention.

These pics are taken 2.5 weeks after being trimmed.

And just to compare to 6 months ago (September on the left):

Ooh they are massive - sorry! I don't know how to change them either

 

[TwoStroke]

Some lovely improvements .

I'd say it looks like a generally healthy foot, though the heel is a little high. The caudal hoof is starting to beef up a bit, and I'm sure it'll improve with more work. I'd say work is the best thing to strengthen that foot even further. Well done!

 

[Meowy Catkin]

It looks like the hooves are too long to me (especially at the heel) as you almost have a 'shoe' of hoof. Your photos are 2 1/2 weeks after a trim but they look as though they are due for a trim to me.

 

[TwoStroke]

Btw, didn't mean to suggest you should start riding your yearling .

Just that it's particularly important for young horses to stimulate their hooves with different surfaces, to develop the internal structures. It would also help to keep the walls down which, as faracat says, are a bit on the long side, especially for only 2.5 weeks after a trim.

 

[MerrySherryRider]

Did the vet mention that the thrush could have made him lame ?

 

[cptrayes]

Is your vet very short sighted? For lack of other evidence?? The foot on the left looks to me as if it is severely compromised, in what looks like a metabolic fashion. It has some fairly severe rings and bull nosing.

I've known of only one other two year old go lame with laminitis, but it can happen and it can also happen in only one foot. The improvements have all happended while the grass was dead.

I would, personally, have this young man on a very, very careful watch this year. I would find a patch of rough ground to walk him over daily, and the moment he shows signs of being at all sensitive to it, I'd have him off the daytime grass quicker than a rat up a drainpipe.

I also agree with the others, for less than three weeks in, it looks like the foot was left too long at the last trim - he has so much hoof wall it is preventing him from building a proper sole callous.

 

[foxy1]

Agreed with above, some serious event lines there- I'm horrified that a vet recommended you shoe a yearling Thank goodness you had the good sense to resist!!

Are you feeding anything else other than hay?

What breed is he?

 

[Meowy Catkin]

I had assumed (maybe stupidly) that the bottom event line was from weaning. Both of my yearlings had big event lines an all four hooves from when they were weaned.

 

[cptrayes]

I had assumed (maybe stupidly) that the bottom event line was from weaning. Both of my yearlings had big event lines an all four hooves from when they were weaned.

I was more worried about the stuff further up Faracat, than the white one at the bottom. That thickened band higher up isn't at all normal. There was something going on for sure in that foot last year

Fancy suggesting sticking shoes on a yearling though !

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Yes, I should have realised that the event lines further up were significant.

Fancy suggesting sticking shoes on a yearling though

I agree that this is shocking.

 

[Casey76]

Well a lot happened to Blitz last year. He was weaned at 9 months in March. He was moved twice, once in March and once in May. He had compromised liver function at the same time as the intermittent lameness and a selenium deficiency severe enough to warrant injections as well as dietary support.

The big event line near the bottom coincides with when he was trimmed in Jun, and the second event line coincides with when he was trimmed in August.

He does grow a huge amount of horn. Certainly when he was trimmed in Feb, the wall at the toe was flush with the sole, though I feel that the heels and quarters were left too long.

At the moment he is out for 6 hours per day and ad lib hay when he's in. He also gets a handful of micronised linseed with a youngstock supplement mixed in.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Poor boy. No wonder he has a lot of event lines. Is he OK now?

 

[Casey76]

He's due the vet again this month to retest blood, and I have my fingers crossed that everything is OK now... not that he had any obvious symptoms linked to the selenium deficiency and stressed liver. It was just on the off chance I had bloods drawn as part of a general MOT that showed the issue.