please comment on my horses feet/shoeing -

samuelhorse

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please comment on my horses feet - well his near fore...
he was shod approx 4 weeks ago, usually goes 8 weeks between visits as doesnt grow any toe...
This time he appears to be standing odd, like low heels and toe almost turning up....
He has had previous bouts of mild laminitis...

He has also put different shoes on, usually has roller motion?? (i think thats what they are called)

not sure if his feet have just had a growth spurt, or if i have a problem with his feet..
Have tried to contact farrier to c ome and have a look...........

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VictoriaEDT

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need quite a few more pics from other angles. From what I can see the feet are in poor conditon with brittle hoof wall (but it has been dry) and the shoes are not long enough and there is no heel support
 

Louby

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Im no expert but his shoes dont look long enough as I would think they should be left longer at the back to support his heel.
My boys feet have grown like mad this time, we are done every 6 weeks but farrier had to cancel so it ended up just over 7 weeks and his feet had grown over the shoe :eek:
 

Toby_Zaphod

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I'm no farrier but it appears that the shoes are not the right size for your horse. I agree with Louby, they don't appear to be long enough & should go further around the hoof & end nearer to the frog. There seems to be little support at the heel.
 

guisbrogal

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I am not an expert on horses shoeing at all but I would definitely agree those shoes are not big enough. My mares come right back to her heel/frog.

He also looks very low in his heels and the toe is too long. I almost feel I can guess who your farrier is without asking! :rolleyes:

Can you PM me so I can see if I am right ;) I might be able to save you a lot of heartache!
 

amandaco2

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i also think the toe is overlong,and the heel is very weak and growing forward.
the shoes should be much longer and end where his heels should be growing down to-under the bulbs of the feet!
it looks like the toe has been rounded off to try to ease breakover, but if he was mine i would get them done every 4 weeks to get them in better shape...........
i would be very unhappy with the shoeing tbh............
 

intouch

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I would suspect a laminitic episode in the near fore - you can see the growth in the heel at the hair line, and it looks suspiciously like the white line is compromised. Can he go without shoes for a while to let the hoof walls grow down? And maybe get some advice on diet?
 

thatsmygirl

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Tbh if my farrier had shod my horse like that I would not use him again. Total lack off heel support, shoes look far to small. I would look for a new farrier now. There is a farrier on this forum but can't remember his name but he would give his honest thought.
 

lachlanandmarcus

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the shoe looks bizzare, like a dolls shoe on a person. I know forums are full of uneducated comments but in this case we have all seen hundreds of well shod feet and that def aint one of them.

I would be changing farrier.

Also look at food; if lami and need hooves to improve mine have got no end of better since I dropped all the supplements and put them on Dengie Healthy Hooves. They love it and hooves/mane/tail etc are all much much better than when I paid £££ for farriers formula,
 

LizzyandToddy

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Looking at the hoof, I can see signs of laminitis. Ponies with laminitis grow alot of heel as a result of it, and looking at the hoof, I would suggest that this is what has happened. My little sisters pony had the same problem, and we just left him unshod for a few weeks then the farrier came back and sorted it.

I wouldn't worry too much about the cracking and such as most horses feet havent been in the best shape thanks to all this hard dry ground, not really seen a horse without 'some' evidence of it! Although if you wanted you could rub cornucrescine in to help conteract the fact it seems to be staying so dry! >:|
 
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samuelhorse

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I would suspect a laminitic episode in the near fore - you can see the growth in the heel at the hair line, and it looks suspiciously like the white line is compromised. Can he go without shoes for a while to let the hoof walls grow down? And maybe get some advice on diet?

hi intouch,

he has a keratoma in the near fore, and previous bouts of lami, never severe, but makes him pottery.
No he cant go without shoes, he cant walk (feels very sorry for himself)

He is fed Top Spec feed Balancer to make up for lack of grass as is muzzled through the day and in at night.

xx
 

Shysmum

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I would get a copy of Feet First by nic Barker and co - looks like the diet needs sorting out, which will help strengthen the hooves no end, and I'm sure the shoes are too small.

This pony may well be better off barefoot, at least to let the feet strengthen and recover ? Just a thought.. sm x
 

Kallibear

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Horrible, very 'shoe sick' feet.

It looks like he's had a bout of mild lami. In fact, if you've noticed it WITH shoes on, it was probably quite a severe bout. There is quite a difference in the heel growth with the toe growth, a classic sign.

I'd also be wanting that front left foot xrayed - the sole pictures is poor quality but I'd be conserned about pedal bone rotation.

The heels are underrun but suprisingly uncontracted and the frogs good. Toes are too long too. Shoes are too short as others said but that's not the main issue, nor the cause of his poor feet. Terrible quality hoof wall too.

A decent farrier will improve his feet but if you want to quickly sort his heels then having his shoes off and looking at his diet and management is the quickest and most effective way of doing it. And no, with the right help and knowledge, there is no reason he should be lame or even sore. It's a sad state of affairs when shoes have damaged the feet so much that the horse can't survive without a peice of metal hammered to it's foot :(
 

samuelhorse

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Believe it or not this is the work of a 'decent' farrier!!

As we speak am trying to get hold of a farrier, Steve Beane is too far out and wont come to horses yard due to distance, so am going to try sarah brown, his girlfriend,, who steve recommends.
 

Kallibear

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There seems to be a shortage of 'decent' farriers. Most are ok if the feet are fairly straight forwards but many seem to be unable/unwilling to sort out feet that look like your horses'.

The more i look at it, the more concerned I am about pedal bone rotation.
 

samuelhorse

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his feet have never looked so bad in the 6 years i have used this farrier!

have phoned him and he is too busy to come out!

Need a farrier urgently if anyone can recommend a GOOD one!

he is not currently lame, his feet are cold and no pulses are palpable, but am worried bout them
 

wilsha

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agree with everyone quite cracked arond the front my pony smetimes has this so i put naf hoof moist on to help withthis
 
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