Pics- cracked hoof thread, after trim pics

It would be interesting to see the line of the coronet band from the side (without the fur in the way). Is it straight, or is it wavy?

ETA - age has nothing to do with it.
 
saddlesore said:
Very interesting reading amandap thanks! Any thoughts on the hoof shape after the trim?
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You need a hoof care professional on the ground who will hold your hand through this and trims sympathetically to the individual horse. Easier said than done I know! :( Approach it like a rehab, it will take time.
 
saddlesore said:
I'll look today. What would that show?
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http://www.healthyhoof.com/case_studies/Nick/Nicky.htm

You need a Farrier that really takes looking after BF horses seriously and as if it's a skill in it's own right. If you can't find one, then a BF trimmer would be another option. Basically you need the best hoof care professional in your area, your horse is young if his hooves are sorted out now then it will contribute to him having a long, sound future.
 
The farrier I've contacted is excellent. I've raised my concerns and he knows horse is young and barefoot etc. fingers crossed he can start us on the right path :-(
 
The long hoof walls with the flare can act as levers to cause separation of the white line when the hoof isn't as healthy as it should be and the WLD eats up this compromised white line.

My pony had had problems with WLD for years when he was shod. Half his hoof wall was hollow. The nail holes were letting the infection in. Once his feet were bare the wall was trimmed back so the outside of the sole was taking a lot of the weight instead of the hoof wall and the white line wasn't being levered apart by flare. Within a few months all the WLD disease had grown out and he has never been troubled with it since.
 
I guess you didnt pay him then. He should have put a rasp edge at the top of the main crack. The foot on either side of the crack is not level, there is flaring, agree there is still too much wall by the heel on the sole.
 
Wow, makes me wonder why there are so many horses with hoof cracks if all it takes is a rasp mark above it to stop it going further up the wall. Lol.
 
I'm not fussed about rasping over the top tbh, it'll just thin the wall and won't stop any infection anyway IMO. Yes I paid him. He's a good farrier, just doesn't do much barefoot work so is more used to doing a paddock trim than a 'working' foot.

Hoping to get this other farrier out soon to take a look.
 
Just wanted to add, please get using the red horse stuff artimud/hoof stuff! It is antibacterial so will not allow anaerobic bacteria to thrive, unlike things farriers use to fill cracks like hoof putty.
Forums like this are useful for garnering different opinions but ultimately you have to do what you think is best, and not just jump from one thing to the next grasping at straws. It's very difficult to judge hoof balance from a photo anyway, so if your farrier is willing to work with you and not shoe, then don't discard him out of hand. The most important question is always is the horse sound?
 
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Thanks PE :-) yes he is totally sound and landing heel first. He is also very forward, no shuffling so isn't feeling his feet at all. I soaked in Milton again today then sprayed with sole cleanse. Plan to do this for a bit longer and then use the artimud. I've also got them trimmed and started him on minerals so taken on board much of the advice :-) hoping to get a second opinion from this other farrier too but I do like mine and he's taken more off them than he ever has so I guess he's trying lol.
 
If he's sound and happy I wouldn't be overly worried, just keep on doing what you're doing to treat the seedy toe :) everything's a learning curve with horses I've found!
 
And sometimes it's mighty steep! I've had horses 22 years and still very ignorant about many things. Feet in particular as I guess whilst you don't have an issue you aren't looking for solutions!
 
Well, rounded toe does nothing. Look at the flare! Why has he missed that out? This will make the crack worse, not better. He's thinned out the area that is the weakest. It already had a crack in it, what is rasping it away going to do exactly. The foot has not been considered in it's entirity. It's very out of balance.
 
tallyho! said:
Well, rounded toe does nothing. Look at the flare! Why has he missed that out? This will make the crack worse, not better. He's thinned out the area that is the weakest. It already had a crack in it, what is rasping it away going to do exactly. The foot has not been considered in it's entirity. It's very out of balance.
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You cannot accurately judge hoof balance or flare from a picture, let alone ones taken from those angles. Photos can be so misleading, and I wouldn't take advice from someone on an internet forum over someone who's seen the feet 'in the flesh'! By all means get another opinion from a recommended farrier or trimmer OP, but don't let ppl worry you unnecessarily when all they've seen is a badly taken photo (no offence meant on the pics btw!)
That's it, I'm off now, all the best with him :)
 
I thought the flare was largely dietary? Would that improve if more of the hoof wall was removed towards the heel? In what way is it out of balance? Genuine question!
 
I just wanted to add, that we did treat our horses seedy toe with more or less everything that was available 14 years ago from powders to spays and the horse was sound for many, many months while our farrier tried to fix him (he was shod at the time) but they didnt work, it only gave the bacteria more time to do damage. The horse was completely sound until one day out on a hack were he came back lame, hence the xrays/vets treatment.

What else would you suggest if you had a horse which was lame with a hole in his foot? all you could see from the outside was a small 2" thin black line crack, it wasnt until he was xrayed you could see the damage.
 
Just found this update, very interesting. I agree wholeheartedly that too much wall/flare has been left, and I say (again) that you need to find a barefoot specialist (who may be a farrier, but I doubt it) if you are serious about keeping this horse barefoot. The crack is shorter for sure, but the leverage forces will cause it to run higher unless the balance and trim is addressed.

Did you have a look at CleanTrax?
 
I have now got cleantrax. Just doing a couple of practise soaks with the Milton lol- don't want it to end up everywhere!!

I am trying my best on the trimmer front, seems to be something we are very short of round here. A second opinion was the best I could do at the moment. Will it open higher because the hoof wall is too long at the heel?
 
I think flare caused by compromised lamina is usually due to diet. It can be rasped so the hoof looks better but the flare is still there where it matters! If you get my drift.

Good luck op. :)
 
Yes, I plead fully to ignorance but fail to see how flare can be rasped off?!!

If the wall was rasped lower to the sole would it take pressure off the toe and help the crack to not split further so you think?
 
Ok one more lol. Landcruiser going by those photos then where exactly would you trim? The hoof looks a bit long from below because of the quarters, but if you look at the toe and heels they can't go any shorter without compromising the horse's comfort, so would you scoop the quarters to match them to the toe and heels? Looks like white line stretch at the quarters and the only way to fix it is to grow it out! Which as soon as the diet is sorted it should. The seedy toe is also frequently caused by damaged laminae due to diet. Get the diet right and the infection controlled, and it will go.
The trim is not the be all and end all.
Where exactly is the leverage on the toe?? Going by the photo, the wall is not longer than the sole at the toe, in fact it looks shorter than the sole, so where exactly would you trim? Horses in the UK do not do well when they're forced to bear all their weight on the sole. They're not mustangs and they're not kept in mustang conditions.
Internet trimmers are dangerous when ppl take all their advice on board and then demand the farrier take more off their horses hooves because so and so on the H & H forum told them it was the right thing to do!
 
saddlesore said:
Yes, I plead fully to ignorance but fail to see how flare can be rasped off?!!
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The outer wall is rasped, sometimes through to the inner wall, to to alter the look of the outer wall angle.
This is flare due to compromised lamina... http://www.bare-foot-horses.com/images/typicalflaredhoof.png

It can happen anywhere or all round the hoof. You can see if you rasp the lower portion of the wall to be more in line (similar angle) to the upper wall then you will thin the wall but not do anything to change to lamina connection. It is arguable if it helps stop prizing forces and is common practice. Good lamina connection is incredibly strong in my understanding and not prone to flare, long hoof wall tends to chip off rather than splay out.

ps. Horses aren't designed to bear all their weight on the sole and dumping a horse solely on it's sole can be very risky if sole is thin for eg.
 
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PE I think essentially to a few it doesn't look like a particularly well trimmed hoof (with a farrier who doesn't seem to be that helpful and trims frogs ;) ) although I agree going into specifics from those pics is perhaps not right, hence I think I queried earlier whether it was wall height or just stretched WL.
 
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