Overgrown feet with hoof lines - what are they?

[emilymoran]

Hi everybody,

I’m after some advice pls re a pony I have viewed to buy. As you will see by the picture she has very long feet with horizontal rings. The current owners say that they just need trimming and they have struggled to get a carrier booked as they have been backlogged due to Covid.

I’ve done some research and have seen that a previous episode of laminitis can cause these rings and make the feet go flat. I am now cautious as to whether this is the case with this pony.

This is a 4 year old mountain and moorland pony. She is carrying a lot of weight (as most ponies do at this time of year!) and they have kept her in restricted grazing.

Does anyone have any experience of this? I have uploaded pictures to show - hoping for some advice / opinions re steer well clear or if they probably do just need trimming.

Thanks!

 

[Melody Grey]

If you’re considering purchasing, I’d get a vetting but I’d say that about a prospective purchase in any case.
I wouldn’t be overly concerned-
They are growth rings which look fairly uniform all the way round- I’m told it’s when they widen at the back you need to be worried (due to the laminar stretching).

The feet are long at the toe and definitely due a trim- I wonder how long the horse has gone without farriery?

if you take the growth of an entire hoof to be 12 months, they’re about half way down, so 6 months ago- would tie in with the warm February and grass we had....unscientific but makes sense to me?

I’d be a bit curious about the difficulty in booking a farrier- in my area, farriers have lost a lot of work and are struggling, but that could just be here?

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Yes they need trimming very badly. The seller may be telling the truth and they were unable to get a farrier due to the lockdown, they might always let their ponies go months between trims, I have no idea.

RE the event lines. Yes it could be laminitis caused or it could be something else. I managed to cause huge event lines on every hoof belonging to three horses once by swapping their molassed chaff to a non-molassed one. So who knows what the cause is just by looking?

You need to ask yourself how much you like this pony and if you are willing to take a risk on her or if you want to move on and look for a different one.

 

[Mule]

Show the photos to your vet

 

[meleeka]

I’d get the horse vetted in any case but lines like that could be anything. A proper laminitis attack would usually cause the lines to be lower/wider at the back and these look pretty level to the coronet band all the way round.

 

[emilymoran]

Thank you for the replies, very helpful! I really like this pony - I’ve been looking for a while and there aren’t many about in my price range / distance.

It’s only £500 and as it’s a youngster I wasn’t going to get a vetting hence getting opinions on the feet. I’d loved to have asked my vet or farrier but I haven’t had a horse now for over 10 years so have no-one to ask! (And presume I would struggle to ask over the phone / a photo as they would want to inspect it before giving an opinion?)
Thank you again!

 

[DabDab]

They are event lines and can be caused by all sorts of things. If the vendor is not particularly attentive to their hooves then they may have no recollection of what could have caused it.

I would get the vendor to get the horse a trim (or organise for your own trimmer if they are being sticky about it) and then wait 1-2 weeks before having the horse vetted. It's a lot to cut off all in one hit.

 

[Nari]

I'd say those feet have been left untrimmed for a long time and Covid is being used as an excuse. To me they don't look like laminitis rings, and while it's possible for a 4yo to have had laminitis it is pretty unusual.

Have you seen them handle her feet? I'm wondering if there's a bit more to not being able to get a farrier than they're telling you.

 

[DabDab]

Have you seen them handle her feet? I'm wondering if there's a bit more to not being able to get a farrier than they're telling you.

Tbh I would assume the same

 

[IrishMilo]

It's going to take months and months to get those feet right - they're not the result of just a missed trim...

The toe needs to be brought back as often as growth allows, little and often basically, so the heels can start growing at an angle where they're not totally collapsed.

 

[TheMule]

I would not buy a horse who has had such blatant disregard paid to its basic care needs. Those feet are more than covid overdue and I dread to think what damage has been done to the structures inside. Therefore I guess they also haven’t bothered worming it or doing any other basics

 

[tristar]

they could be growth rings which coincided with the spring flush of grass as they are half way down the hoof, ie 4 to 5 months of gowth

 

[Auslander]

I have one here who has virtually identical event lines - she moved from stabled livery with no turnout, to full livery with full day turnout, and the rings represent that change. She has just moved to my yard, and is on 2/7 turnout, so I fully expect to see another line in due course.
It's just the horses body saying "something changed here, here and here..." and not necessarily a bad something

 

[Polos Mum]

I think if these were properly trimmed they'd be more than half way down so maybe Nov / Dec time - odd time for lami. 100s of things can cause them from feed change to medication given to weather

I would worry that she's hard to handle for the trimmer - have you picked up here feet yourself and given them a good tap around with a hoof pick?

I also think these haven't been done since well prior to lockdown so I would worry about other basic health maintenance.
- is she up to date with vaccination,
- does she have a passport?
- is there a worming routine

These things can all turn a cheap pony into an expensive one if they haven't been done in ages and worm damage is horrible in the long term.

 

[Goldenstar]

It’s hard to see in the picture but it looks like an event line and they can be caused by many many things .
if the there’s no sign of abnormal separation between the walls and sole I doubt that was lami .
I would be more worried about the damage the long feet has caused to the soft structures of the legs and feet .

 

[emilymoran]

Good points raised and it gives me a lot to think about. Mari - I handled her and picked up all 4 of her feet myself and she was as good as gold, no issues do I can’t see there being any issues with them not being able to get the farrier near them?
Thank you again all, very helpful!