Pics and vid following my post last night re barefoot

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Ilovefoals

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Ok, so I enlisted the help of my hubby this morning and took some pics of his feet.

Right fore
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Right hind
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Left fore
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Left hind
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And a front on shot of front feet and legs
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I hope they are good enough as he was a bit hyper and prancy :)

And here s a video of my hubby leading him. (Please ignore the fact he's wearing his pj's, I dragged him out to help me, oh and ignore the dog who was not being helpful). He's actually walking much better than yesterday so wondering if it was the soft spongy heels after a day in a wet field that did it. Thoughts?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EqsmzubbRs
 
You may well be right re spongy. Plus if he's not been doing much the hooves do lose 'fitness'. But from the photos alone the feet look good. Just check for deep central sulcus crack because for some horses a bit of sand in there can be miserable. Not viewed video.
 
There is some exceptionally heavy toe rasping going on there on the fronts. They have been taken right back almost into the white line. I'd be inclined to see what happens if you allow him a proper width of horn at the front on his foot. His toes don't seem to me to be so long that they require such a lot taken off.
 
There's a big difference in his feet since his shoes came off. I wish I had taken pics when I first got him. His feet, esp the right fore, looked very flat and low at the back. So I think they are slowly improving. So should I just leave them alone meantime and just get him working?
 
Go on that other forum! Way forward for feet!

I think his feet look very over trimmed on the toes and frogs and its a wonder he's not worse!!! Just cancel the next trim and see how he goes. Keep taking weekly photos helps to see if you are going in the right direction but try get the surface/angle consistent. For footfall videos you need to camera at ground level on a hard surface. Set camera going on ground, walk horse past! Mark where you put the camera and where you walk and adjust as necessary! Then you can also keep a record of that. Lying on the ground is not to be recommended!!! :-)
 
The heels look rather long and underrun considering he's barefoot. I wouldn't be happy with the heels at that length as they're starting to splay forwards and I'd be surprised if the frogs actually touch the ground. The left fore especially.

I'd stop chopping bits off the toe and frog and shorten the heels a little. If he's then walking comfortable heel first I'd then get him out walking on the roads as much as possible. That will build the heel and frog whilst naturally trimming the toe.
 
What do you mean shorten the heels? Trim them so they are closer to the ground? I'm not sure what you mean by underrun either?? Sorry, I'm really thick when it comes to feet but I am trying to learn.Which pics am I looking at when you say underrun?
 
The pictures aren't in perfect focus and the feet aren't clean so its harder to tell but the heels appear to be quite long and start to grow forwards and the bars are folding, esp on the left fore. There looks to be fair amount of excess wall at the quarters.

As an example if a recently trimmed foot where the heels are short, in the right place and thick and strong from a lot of hard work
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Its obvious that horse is landing heel first and using the heels. Your boy doesn't look like he is,from the wear (or lack of)
 
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I don't do this lightly but this might help.

Here is my mare's feet circa 2010 just before I got my act together and changed farrier.
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This is an under-run heel where it has actually started to curl under. She had 6 months of remedial farriery to put this right, later tried barefoot with her, that didn't really suit her so she's now got fronts on again.
 
That is one seriously underrun heel! :eek: OPs is nothing nearly like that, the heels are just a little longer and more forwards than Id expect in a barefoot horse.
 
Ok, wow I see the difference now. So, work is the best thing? Should I just ask for his heels to be trimmed next time or leave him a while to see how they sort themselves with work. Gosh I wish I knew more about this. I can also see now how thin his walls are compared to that pic Kallibear. Thanks for posting your pics skint1. I can totally see what you mean there. That's what I mean when I say my boys feet looked flat when I bought him. Maybe not a case of a long toe but more under run heels.
 
Those are serious barefoot feet. He did 8hr common rides with them. His walls were as thin as your boys originally.

Why not get a barefoot trimmer out to see him? They will offer you a lot more advice and support than a farrier will. If you don't like what they do you don't need to get them again. If thy do anything stupid he'll quickly grow it out anyways.

I trim my own horses feet (on the odd occasion they need it). I would trim his heels a bit shorter and Id take the excess fold off the bars too. Really not much, just so the heels are level with the sole (poss not quite that far). At the moment he looks like he's walking on a long rim of wall at the heel.
 
Kallibear said:
That is one seriously underrun heel! :eek: OPs is nothing nearly like that, the heels are just a little longer and more forwards than Id expect in a barefoot horse.
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Tell me about it! I was so upset because I thought that by having a farrier who came every 6 weeks I was being a responsible owner. It wasn't until someone pointed it out and I did some research that I realised how huge of an issue it was, I gave him a chance to address it, but he didn't, so I changed to someone who did

I just thought I'd share the photos because they're so awful they're a really clear illustration of underrun heels,
 
Sounds like a good plan.

Those shod feet look very undrrun: see how they appear to be sliding forwards under the foot?

There's nothing terrible that a trim and lot of work on the road won't sort.

Also, have you investigates his diet? Flat soles and long heels are made much worse by starch and sugar.
 
Skint1, wow! Do you have any 'after' pictures? I have one that had similar feet and 6 months out of shoes they are better but still a work in progress....
 
skint1 said:
Tell me about it! I was so upset because I thought that by having a farrier who came every 6 weeks I was being a responsible owner. It wasn't until someone pointed it out and I did some research that I realised how huge of an issue it was, I gave him a chance to address it, but he didn't, so I changed to someone who did

I just thought I'd share the photos because they're so awful they're a really clear illustration of underrun heels,
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They're so severe it's actually hard to see how long they are unless you know what you're looking for. You should mark on the photo where the heel actually touch.

It a really common story though. So many people put blind faith in their farrier and know so little about feet. I look back at old photos and cringe at the feet, esp when I thought they were just fine. The horse seemed sound, feet weren't cracked and the shoes stayed on for 6-8 weeks so surely the farrier was ace and the feet great?! :rolleyes:
 
Diet wise he gets fast fibre, linseed and a handful of Healthy tummy plus a hoof and skin supplement and Suppleaze Gold. He's a a very dry haylage as I just couldn't source any good quality hay locally and grazing is pretty poor and coarse. He's out for 7hrs a day and will be out 24/7 in summer.
 
Diet sounds fine. No molasses or nasty green green grass. That would be fine for most horses. You'd only need to start looking at more detailed minerals etc if you're still have problems later.
 
Ok great. Thanks. He's only had his shoes off since the end of october so I'm actually chuffed with the changes so far in just a few months. Esp looking at how flat his front feet look in that pic of him with the rug on. Hopefully they will continue to improve :)
 
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