Remedial trimming in a young horse?

P

PonyIAmNotFood

Well-Known Member
Joined
7 October 2010
Messages
1,312
Location
Norf West
Visit site
I have no experience of this at all. Was told by leahurst today when pony went in for OCD surgery that he would need remedial trimming to try and correct his cow hocks. I will obviously be speaking with my Farrier about this, but I like to go into things knowing a bit.

What should I expect? How can the farriery correct this? What part of the hoof would you expect to be rasped/changed?

He is already on a barefoot diet and I'm pretty up on that side of things, just not the trimming!
 
PonyIAmNotFood said:
He's about 18 months. Unknown definite age, he came from rspca who over estimated his age. Current vets and leahurst think about 18-20 months.
Click to expand...

I think his hock growth plates are still open. By trimming one side of his feet shorter than the other, the farrier can put more pressure on one side than the other. That increased pressure will result on one side growing more quickly than the other, and that can be used to straighten the limb. You need a farrier who has done this before and knows what he is doing.
 
Thank you for that, I shall phone my Farrier tomorrow and ask him what he would do to try and correct this. If his answer doesn't resemble what you said, plus the reading about I've been doing, I will shop about a bit until I find one who does!
 
PonyIAmNotFood said:
Thank you for that, I shall phone my Farrier tomorrow and ask him what he would do to try and correct this. If his answer doesn't resemble what you said, plus the reading about I've been doing, I will shop about a bit until I find one who does!
Click to expand...

Glad to help. It's pretty routine to do this with foals and young horses who aren't straight. Your own farrier will probably know how to do it. It's completely non invasive, and provided you get them young enough it's a bit of a magic trick.
 
Getting this straight in my head. So hind toes turned out, hocks swinging into the middle. Shorter inside of hoof to turn the toe back in? I know it's very hard to tell without seeing him!

Eta after more reading (?!) thinking this will be shorter outside wall? Eurgh. I hope my Farrier does know what he's talking about haha, cause I don't!
 
Last edited:
My horse is cow hocked, she is unshod behind and the outer wall does get slight flare over the course of six weeks. She's 15 though and has no lameness issues. To correct in a young horse I suspect that the hoof would need to be shorter on the outside wall. I'm no farrier of course but in humans it would be described as underpronation.
 
Has yours always been ok soundness wise? No negative effects from the cow hocks?

I will have to get hoof pics from him, I think he's already changing the feet himself. The new growth on the outside wall is much tighter, and the central suculus (sp?) is pointing to the outside of the foot slightly, as though the foot is moving inwards? It's a shame I can't get hoof pics while he's legs in the air (anaesthetic for surgery), fab sole shots could be had!
 
She's been sound with me, I bought her at 8 so that's 7 years so far. She's a Gelderlander and carriage horse breeds can tend towards this conformation. She doesn't twist her hind feet when placing them on the ground, so I don't think it causes her any discomfort.
 
B
PonyIAmNotFood said:
Getting this straight in my head. So hind toes turned out, hocks swinging into the middle. Shorter inside of hoof to turn the toe back in? I know it's very hard to tell without seeing him!

Eta after more reading (?!) thinking this will be shorter outside wall? Eurgh. I hope my Farrier does know what he's talking about haha, cause I don't!
Click to expand...

Don't get confused with correcting the movement in an older horse. What the farrier will try to do with your young horse is to cause uneven growth on the plates on one side of the hocks compared to the other. This is not to make him move straight now, it's to cause deliberate uneven growth on the bones to make him move straight later. If he gets it right, it should make it more likely that your horse will stay sound for a long life, but there are no guarantees, of course.
 
Just to add that my farrier trims my horse as she is, he doesn't try to straighten her up. At her age this could be disastrous.
 
Tnavas said:
Many youngsters look as if they have cow hocks - they generally grow out of it.
Click to expand...

This is true. I see you are from New Zealand and perhaps you may not recognise the name Leahurst? The horse in this thread has been recommended remedial work for cow hocks by one of this country's top three veterinary teaching hospitals. It's probably very unlikely that this one will grow out of it, and there is time for the farrier to straighten it, since it is still young enough.
 
Tnavas, I have read that when researching as well, but his are quite extreme. He straightens up when he moves out, but even after seeing him trotted up the surgeon recommended remedial trimming. I'm getting in touch with a lady who remedial trimmed a friend of a friends youngster who had leg deformities to see what she thinks/to get her to trim him. Decided against his regular farrier, he tends to do 'field trims' or shoes (which is not an option at his age).
 
Sounds like yours is a candidate for remedial trimming. Can work really well too. I had a filly years ago with pigeon toes, she was trimmed fortnightly and straightened up really well.
 
That's really good to hear, I want him to have the best possible chance at a long and sound working life after a bad start. What was the process for straightening the pigeon toes? Which part was shortened/trimmed back, the inside wall? When I get stuck into a subject I start wanting to know more about every scenario, not just the situation I will apply it to!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top