uneven hoof wear in barefooter.

itsonlyme

itsonlyme

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Just wondering if this 'means' anything? She's wearing the outside of the outer hoof wall so that it's flat to the sole, but the inside is growing. Sorry, that's a terrible way of explaining it!
Is it likely to just be her way of going? Rockley are saying to leave them to grow the feet they want - is that relevant here? Or should she be trimmed more regularly so that she's even?
Thanks in advance :)
 
Bad pic, but hopefully u can sort of see what Im blabbing on about!

2011-11-12114248.jpg


Fyi - this horse has had a massive thrush infection - the photo is actually a huge improvement to what they were. White line has also been addressed via diet & grazing analysis :)
 
How long have the shoes been off?

Has she had time to grow a complete foot?

If they wear unevenly, then in time, with the right diet, they usually produce extra thick horn on the piece of the hoof that is getting too much wear. The key question is whether your horse has had time yet to produce extra horn, at the floor, at the point of extra wear. It would normally take 4-6 months to do this.
 
Yes you have too much hoof wall on the left of the photo and I would trim it off, personally, because it is much higher above the sole than the other side is.

Are you treating what looks like pretty nasty thrush rot down the right hand side of the frogm and a suspiciously dark central sulcus???

Who is trimming the point and sides of the frog? Tell them to stop :)

And you need a quick rasp on that nasty chip on the front before it pulls more hoof off than it needs to.
 
itsonlyme said:
Just wondering if this 'means' anything? She's wearing the outside of the outer hoof wall so that it's flat to the sole, but the inside is growing. Sorry, that's a terrible way of explaining it!
Is it likely to just be her way of going? Rockley are saying to leave them to grow the feet they want - is that relevant here? Or should she be trimmed more regularly so that she's even?
Thanks in advance :)
Click to expand...

Opinions are divided on this point.

This is only MY opinion (so not worth anything:p)

Deviation due to a body/limb problem is one of the perks of barefoot. The hoof dynamically grows in order to support the problem. This is often temporary until the problem is sorted.

The downside can come when the horse is on soft ground and cannot wear the hoof down when it's ready to. Then they keep growing in this way and the hoof becomes unbalanced and trapped in a cycle that causes it's own problems.....

The question is - is the horse sound? If yes - then great. If not, then she may need a mm rasping off somewhere.

You can wait and see or go 'trial and error' with a rasp yourself.....or get someone you can trust to have a look.

My old boy wears unevenly. My (excellent) trimmer does his thing every six week and it's never a problem.
 
My RI, who is looking after my horse for me while I'm away, posted an interesting video on her blog last week about a trimmer visit (the first since P left Rockley). P is also wearing unevenly but the trimmer was keen to leave it. In her view, uneven growth is generally down to how the horse is using his body (or, presumably, conformation) and her view is to monitor rather than change anything.

Blog and video are here:
http://freelanceinstructorsdiary.bl...ofcare-and-equine-body-work-kingsley.html?m=1
 
Thank you all :) Her shoes came off in July (the end of), so it's been nearly 4 months. The thrush was horrific tbh. She's having white lightning soaks, petes goo, scholl athletes foot aerosol, Red Horse field paste, the list goes on! It's working though. I don't have a rasp & wouldn't let myself touch a horses hoof until a pro showed me how. Hopefully, if i ever find a new trimmer, s/he will show me.
The horse in question is pigeon-toed & very bum-high - likely affects her way of going? she's not lame though. She's not being worked as much as I'd like at the moment - struggling a bit with work & the dark nights & 3 new barefooters pretty much on my own :-(
Thank u all again :-)
 
Oh, cptrays, don't worry - anybody's trimming the frog. They're shedding quite a bit at the mo & i pull hanging bits off when Im cleaning them, so the random assortment of gunk gets everywhere. Feel free to shout at me if this is bad though! :D
 
Yes you certainly are winning the battle against the thrush.

That's the beauty of barefoot the growth of the hoof shows you any imbalances your horse has in the way he moves and uses his body.
 
My pony is also slightly pigeon-toed in front. Left to themselves, his fronts tend to develop a bit of medial flare, which sounds like exactly what you're describing. He also wears a break-over onto his foot that is displaced slightly towards the outside (which you might expect from being a bit pigeon-toed). His trimmer gently corrects the flare, but nothing drastic. He currently gets trimmed every 4 weeks---any longer, and his feet grow like weeds!

How often does she get trimmed at the moment?
 
Disclaimer, I'm no trimmer but I agree with cptrayes and think it sound be lowered especially as it is in the quarter area.
Over time the hoof should sort itself out. Good job with the thrush.
 
Thanks again :-)

I've found a trimmer and i'm just waiting for confirmation that they can fit us in next week.

I'm really glad i've kept a photo diary - i look at her feet every day and think that i'm not getting anywhere with the thrush, but then look at the pics and see that we are. I'm just disgusted (with myself and with my farriers at the time) that they ever got that bad. This isn't even the worst foot :( The farriers just kept saying "oh it's fine. Just put some peroxide on them"! :mad: And they were remedial farriers, recommended by my vet! I trusted them though... :(

Spookypony - she's been going about 6 weeks between trims.

J1ffy, thank you for that link :) I love blogs!

Anyhoo, onwards and upwards and all that! :D Will see what new trimmer says and will also ask about teaching me to maintain the mustang roll between trims, so she doesn't chip like she has. :)
 
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