Question for barefoot gurus

[Caol Ila]

Hermosa got a trim yesterday, and the farrier recommended that I put something on her feet for hacking into the park. Boots or shoes.

Before the trim, she had flare on both fronts on the inside of the foot. Pretty even on both sides.

Farrier said that it wasn't flare in the sense of a stretching white line, but the wall was thicker on one side than the other. He said that all the roadwork and rocky trails were wearing out the outside of the foot faster than she was growing it, due to how she lands. Hence recommending putting boots on her for hacking (or shoeing, but no).

Does this make sense?

She has been fine to actually ride or lead. She was initially footy over rocks after a different trimmer took too much foot off (back in October), but this has improved immensely since starting with current farrier. I hadn't thought about boot shopping at all until farrier mentioned it yesterday.

If she needs boots, she needs boots. But can I do anything else to encourage hoof growth that matches work? Diet wise she is on ad lib forage, whatever is left in her field, oily herbs, Progressive Earth mineral balancer. Admittedly, she is not getting the fully recommended amount of PE or herbs because she isn't keen on me hiding them in the chaff.

I have no idea if the following information is relevent, but I'll include it:

She moved yards at the start of November. At the previous yard, she was turned out 24/7 in a grassy field, and I probably saw her and did stuff three/four times per week. Maybe once per week, we would handwalk along the road for about an hour. Sometimes those walks were more like fortnightly. The roads were very tedious.

Once she moved to current yard, she started doing a lot more hacking (in hand and now ridden) on roads and rocky tracks. She's probably goes out, either ridden or led, four times per week.

 

[ester]

Do you have any pics? Is it actually wearing laterally too much or is the medial side not getting enough wear?
F wore slightly more laterally and if left it would move his break over to a more lateral position too so for him I just kept the medial side in check more regularly

 

[Caol Ila]

I don't have any 'before' pics. I can take some post-trim pics today if that is of any use.

Farrier thinks she lands ever so slightly on the outside edge of her foot so that was getting more wear than the inside edge. He did not watch her walk or trot up, though.

The trimmer we had at the last yard did have me walk and trot her up, and he thought she moved really straight.

 

[sbloom]

Is she at all base narrow or anything else that's a tiny bit off?

 

[Caol Ila]

She’s a bit base narrow.

 

[sbloom]

I'd work on that then, good old thoracic sling.

 

[GinaGeo]

I’d echo the above.

Work on strengthening her up through her thoracic sling and chances are she’ll be breaking over more centrally in time.

In the meantime I’d be tempted to make tweaks little and often to keep her breakover as straight as possible. It can get a little chicken and egg once the breakover has shifted.

If she’s comfortable I wouldn’t worry too much about booting right now. The medial side isn’t wearing as much, as opposed to the lateral side being overworn

If you suddenly decided to increase the work over challenging terrain then I might look at booting in the short term

 

[Caol Ila]

I'd work on that then, good old thoracic sling.

What exercises should I do? Obviously she needs strengthening all round, since she's been backed for about two months. We've mostly just hacked.

I’d echo the above.

Work on strengthening her up through her thoracic sling and chances are she’ll be breaking over more centrally in time.

In the meantime I’d be tempted to make tweaks little and often to keep her breakover as straight as possible. It can get a little chicken and egg once the breakover has shifted.

If she’s comfortable I wouldn’t worry too much about booting right now. The medial side isn’t wearing as much, as opposed to the lateral side being overworn

If you suddenly decided to increase the work over challenging terrain then I might look at booting in the short term

I bought a little radial rasp to maintain her feet myself when we couldn't find a farrier/trimmer. I wasn't any good at it, mind you. But would the odd rasp on that inside edge help with the break-over?

 

[Fieldlife]

Worth trying rasping inside, lightly say every 5 days.

Equally worth trying a trimming cycle hacking in boots, if can get second hand ones and seeing if it helps.

 

[Fieldlife]

What exercises should I do? Obviously she needs strengthening all round, since she's been backed for about two months. We've mostly just hacked.



I bought a little radial rasp to maintain her feet myself when we couldn't find a farrier/trimmer. I wasn't any good at it, mind you. But would the odd rasp on that inside edge help with the break-over?

nothing to think about re being good at it. Lightly rasp frequently with radial rasp. Think about filing your nails - tiny changes.
If do it every 5 days is very little to do.

 

[SEL]

What exercises should I do? Obviously she needs strengthening all round, since she's been backed for about two months. We've mostly just hacked.



I bought a little radial rasp to maintain her feet myself when we couldn't find a farrier/trimmer. I wasn't any good at it, mind you. But would the odd rasp on that inside edge help with the break-over?

A good vet physio should be able to advise on the right exercises as well as checking there's no restrictions.

 

[CanteringCarrot]

Farrier said that it wasn't flare in the sense of a stretching white line, but the wall was thicker on one side than the other. He said that all the roadwork and rocky trails were wearing out the outside of the foot faster than she was growing it, due to how she lands. Hence recommending putting boots on her for hacking (or shoeing, but no).

Interesting, my PRE did something similar. Basically his inside "toe area" would be longer than outside due to the way he moved/landed. Basically if I kept him on a 4/5 week trim schedule with a good trimmer, it was hardly noticeable. He was very good on rocks and whatnot, so I never used boots. What type of trim cycle is she on/how long between trims? Is the part she is wearing faster getting too short/thin?

 

[Gloi]

I've been using Hoof Armour on mine to reduce wear from hacking on tarmac and it has been really successful and I've not needed the boots he previously needed. Mine goes straight except on one front hoof where he lands slightly laterally but the hoof armour has stopped the uneven wear from that and stopped any gravel getting in the white line on the flared side of that hoof. It took a couple of applications to get full effect but I now put in on monthly or so.

 

[Boulty]

Depends on why she’s doing it. Could be due to her stage of development / her conformation at this moment in time. Could be because she’s a bit weak generally as obviously she’s only just starting work so she’s not going to have the strength and balance of an older, more established horse. Could be there’s something going on higher up / elsewhere in her body causing her to move like that.

The fuzzy idiot spent a few years landing VERY laterally and it was definitely creating some undesirable wear patterns. He was overweight, struggling to be kept in consistent work, didn’t (& tbh for the breed he is still doesn’t) have the best looking chest in the world & was generally weak & uncoordinated with some gut / back issues thrown in.

I’ve spent years doing endless amounts of backing up / turns on the forehand / snaking over poles / raised poles / squares of poles all of it more or less inhand. This brought small improvements but no revelations. We tried fiddling a little with how he was trimmed as well but didn’t really help & we agreed after xraying that trying drastic changes was highly likely to lame him.

Did start using boots on him as he was footy as well & he DOES move straighter in them & I think they have helped with the uneven wear (however they have sometimes then meant me doing more trimming myself than I’d ideally like to do)

He does move straighter now he lives on a track. Difficult to pin down if it’s the extra movement, the weight loss, this being the longest stretch of being in work he’s ever managed & so being stronger in his back, him becoming slightly less bum high, me being able to leave his feet alone a bit more to find their own balance in between trims

Anyhow sounds like your issue is smaller than mine so fingers crossed it’s just a passing thing with her (I’ve wondered at times with him if he’ll actually stand up to work with how many problems he’s had before he was even backed & I really wasn’t happy with how he was moving)

If you’re wanting to monitor things a tip my trimmer gave me years ago is to film in slo mo mode in walk as it will make everything really super obvious & you can pick up on things that might be hard to see at normal speed. Ideal would be side on, directly towards & going away either with someone holding camera & focusing on the lower legs or prop it up at ground level as straight as you can get it & just walk past. Ideally do the side on in both directions so you can see horse going up & down hill seeing as most yards aren’t perfectly level. Should be a hard, flat surface ideally so that you get even footfalls

 

[Caol Ila]

I own Hoof Armor. The instructions for use have kind of freaked me out (my brain goes a bit *gaahhhhh* when reading semi-complicated instructions), but it can't be that hard.

Farrier thinks the base narrowness is just a development stage, and that it will improve as she matures. He says it's fairly normal for 4-year olds.

She is currently on a six week trim cycle. Before she was in work, when she was being a stay-at-home mom in a field, it was more like eight weeks.

 

[Gloi]

I own Hoof Armor. The instructions for use have kind of freaked me out (my brain goes a bit *gaahhhhh* when reading semi-complicated instructions), but it can't be that hhard

It's not hard at all. When the foot has been trimmed, make sure it's clean and dry. Put gloves on, squirt some, not too much, on the hoof and spread it about with your hand till all the sole etc is thinly covered. Shake some talc over it and put the foot down. Top up if needed depending on foot wear. I usually use one nozzle for two hooves before changing it , if I'm quick and get 12-16 hooves from a tube.

 

[Michen]

It's not hard at all. When the foot has been trimmed, make sure it's clean and dry. Put gloves on, squirt some, not too much, on the hoof and spread it about with your hand till all the sole etc is thinly covered. Shake some talc over it and put the foot down. Top up if needed depending on foot wear. I usually use one nozzle for two hooves before changing it , if I'm quick and get 12-16 hooves from a tube.

Ohh, you don't use the gun? I might give it a go again, then

 

[sbloom]

What exercises should I do? Obviously she needs strengthening all round, since she's been backed for about two months. We've mostly just hacked.

I'm a stuck record, Balance Through Movement Method - a year down the line I've still not seen anything else come close. That includes physio exercises in the main; BTMM works in such a way that you should find restrictions that may need more help (vet, bodyworker) rather than causing further issues.

 

[Gloi]

Ohh, you don't use the gun? I might give it a go again, then

Yes, use the gun. That mixes the hardener in and squirts out the mix onto the sole. Then use your hand to spread it around. The gun is easy it's just like squeezing paste from a tube. It's like when you are decorating and put silicon round the sink The hardest bit is the first time you work out how to put the cartridge in the gun.

 

[Highmileagecob]

My old boy does this, always has. He used to be chunky, barrel chested, and landed on the outside of each front hoof due to conformation. My trimmer showed me how to shorten and roll the edge of the flare and recommended I do it mid cycle just to keep things ticking over and prevent the hoof wall breaking away. Ten years down the line and I'm still doing it! Old Dobbin was 17 when I switched to a barefoot trimmer, so I have to accept that this is normal for him.
If you would like a demontration of a basic trim, Cavallo have a Barefoot Trim video on line, which is helpful.

 

[tristar]

do you walk on the camber of of the road much?

does she really move straight, if she is unlevel, worn more one side, it could affect the balance, if she was level before, booting her temporarily to even out the growth and wear.

perhaps a lot of things come to light when ridden, as in she was mainly on soft ground before now going more on roads, rocks regularly

 

[Bellalily]

Are you confident enough to do a trim between times? I would have thought it would help if you could keep her balanced during that time.