Wear to bare feet... how concerned would you be?

OMG [faints
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] what lovely frogs
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.

Is the horse sound?
 
Shucks guys, you're making him blush ;)

He is sound :) We went out on a 2.5hr hack this morn, mainly roadwork, those were taken when we got back. He's not lame or footsore in any way, but I've never seen wear to the frog like that before? He currently has front shoes on as he was struggling with becoming footsore on those, but his backs have never seen a pair.

Just needed a second opinion that it's normal and he's not going to end up hopping from that kind of wear... we'll carry on as we are in that case :) Thanks!

Casey - I'm not too sure if it's conformation or trim, last time farrier came out he didn't take anything off the backs as they were looking okay length-wise.

Makes you worry when they fall over like this on return :p

 
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The normal amount of wall versus sole on a bare hoof is just enough to catch your fingernail on.

You often see excess wear on the toe of a horse who is weak and uncomfortable in the frog and is loading the toe too much.

This is not the case here and your horse appears to have a lovely, robust hoof that is loading well (I'm not going to comment on the heel wear without seeing the horse loading in the flesh).

The frog is just as it should be - muscular and dominant. The lack of a weight bearing frog is often the first issue that leads to pathology. With barefoot rehabs - getting the frog right is the first step in healing.
The frog SHOULD be part of loading - so don't worry about some scuff marks to it :).

They are not 'wild mustang' feet - but a great example of a healthy domestic hoof.

I will steal the pics if poss, for my Hoof Album?
 
Love the Draft Dimple in his toes :D.

My draft x has these to his fronts. Drives me mad when they get filled with muck :mad:
 
Oberon said:
The normal amount of wall versus sole on a bare hoof is just enough to catch your fingernail on.

You often see excess wear on the toe of a horse who is weak and uncomfortable in the frog and is loading the toe too much.

This is not the case here and your horse appears to have a lovely, robust hoof that is loading well (I'm not going to comment on the heel wear without seeing the horse loading in the flesh).

The frog is just as it should be - muscular and dominant. The lack of a weight bearing frog is often the first issue that leads to pathology. With barefoot rehabs - getting the frog right is the first step in healing.
The frog SHOULD be part of loading - so don't worry about some scuff marks to it :).

They are not 'wild mustang' feet - but a great example of a healthy domestic hoof.

I will steal the pics if poss, for my Hoof Album?
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Ahh. His fronts were wearing very much at the toe, and he seems much happier with fronts on for the minute (going to re-assess that one when the roadwork calms down a little!), but his backs are the opposite way round. The only thing that was worrying me is that the frog has been worn completely smooth on that ride. He wasn't sore on the ride, or on bringing him in tonight (which involves walking across a loose stone / gravely car park), so I'm assuming just keep an eye incase he turns footy at any point?

That's put my mind at rest, thanks :) By all means steal the pics, happy they're of any help!

Oberon said:
Love the Draft Dimple in his toes :D.

My draft x has these to his fronts. Drives me mad when they get filled with muck :mad:
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Oh the dimple is a nightmare!! Nothing worse than when you get one of those tiny stones stuck in it out hacking which clicks on every step. Cue get off, pick out, get back on, 5 mins later there's another one! :rolleyes:

ester said:
argh you broked it!

we did a long one too- but did stop for tea and biscuits (and hay :o) on the way round :D
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I know... poor broked pony :( :D He did get back up, fart, and b*ggar off after falling over though, despite changing from piebald to a murky looking bay... I'm hoping that's a good sign? :p

Tea and biscuits sound fantastic... I'm determined to find somewhere to do a picnic ride next weekend of the weather stays dry!!
 
When you watch a shod hoof from behind, you catch a glimpse of steel.
When you watch a bare hoof from behind, you catch a glimpse of frog - it's so dominant in the hoof.

The frog is meant to be part of the loading. The more you 'scuff' it, the more muscular and dense the tissue becomes (like folding paper until it's really strong).
You will notice your horse's frog has no ratty bits or thrushy areas - and while he is working, it never will.



I usually find stuffing ArtiMud/Field Paste in the dimple helps :D.
 
Oberon said:
The normal amount of wall versus sole on a bare hoof is just enough to catch your fingernail on.

You often see excess wear on the toe of a horse who is weak and uncomfortable in the frog and is loading the toe too much.

This is not the case here and your horse appears to have a lovely, robust hoof that is loading well (I'm not going to comment on the heel wear without seeing the horse loading in the flesh).

The frog is just as it should be - muscular and dominant. The lack of a weight bearing frog is often the first issue that leads to pathology. With barefoot rehabs - getting the frog right is the first step in healing.
The frog SHOULD be part of loading - so don't worry about some scuff marks to it :).

They are not 'wild mustang' feet - but a great example of a healthy domestic hoof.

I will steal the pics if poss, for my Hoof Album?
Click to expand...

Spot on -put it very well

That kind of wear is what the frog is there for. It may be that he is wearing a little more as they frogs toughen up now the drier weather is here and exfoliate all the old softer stuff

But there's a lot of folks would like hooves like that in their herd.
 
The frog does look good but just gently put your hoof pick in that tight slit and see what happens. I'm wondering if some sensitivity (deep inside) is what is keeping the wall longer. I do have to be awkward. :D
 
I'll have to look up the field paste :p

So the wear to frog / heel is fine providing he doesn't turn sore? The only thing I'm conscious of is that these longer hacks are going to be more regular, if one has worn his feet like that, do I need to be keeping a close eye on future hacks? How low can frogs go before sensitivity kicks in?

Novicey questions I'm afraid, but he's my first candidate for bare feet, past horses have always been shod all round (on loan, and requested so by owners).

Poor photo (too much damn hair, and too few hands :o ), but for reference this was a back foot a couple of weeks ago, minus the wear.



And in contrast, how his fronts were wearing on the same kind of work.



I had a poke around in the slits a couple of weeks ago and found no sensitivity, they were all relatively shallow, one of the fronts was slightly deeper. I shall have another poke around tonight and see what I can find :)

And just because I'm on a piccy hype at the minute... we have snow prints too!



Farrier has said that his backs are more concave and a better shape than fronts, hence coping better and shouldn't need shoes. Fronts do look a bit "splat", to be fair.
 
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snap. not the best pic as a collection of before and after a year, but bottom right I wouldn't have been worried about that amount of wear on his fronts either ;).

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re hinds I wouldn't worry too much, just keep a bit of an eye and he will let you know if uncomfy.
 
Brill, thank you :)

The issue with the fronts was that he was telling me he wasn't comfortable. I spoke to a couple of farriers, we opted for fronts for the time being (the only hacking we have at the minute is roadwork, and pone is a very good doer who needs working), and he's been bouncing round like a 2 year old since having them on :rolleyes: I'm planning on pulling them back off again as soon as circumstances change, hopefully this year :)
 
ShadowFlame said:
Poor photo (too much damn hair, and too few hands :o ), but for reference this was a back foot a couple of weeks ago, minus the wear.

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Personally I'd be very worried about the imprint at the bottom of the photo - looks rather elongated and flat footed to me :p

Seriously lovely feet and lots of wear left to my uneducated eyes. I have to keep fronts on ex-racer - have tried to leave him unshod all round, but he just can't cope with current workload. I also have to do loads of road work as pants hacking in my area.
 
amandap said:
:D I once investigated a similar slit (frog not as robust as your boys though) and found it full of white cheesy stuff. The horse didn't appear sore. I now always check slits if they are evident.
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Ooh. I have cheesy pasta for lunch. Ergh :( :D

Nicnac said:
Personally I'd be very worried about the imprint at the bottom of the photo - looks rather elongated and flat footed to me :p

Seriously lovely feet and lots of wear left to my uneducated eyes. I have to keep fronts on ex-racer - have tried to leave him unshod all round, but he just can't cope with current workload. I also have to do loads of road work as pants hacking in my area.
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Oh b*ggar. That one's already shod... don't tell me it's a remedial job? :p

Pants hacking is a nightmare isn't it? Makes me tempted to up and move purely to find some decent riding!
 
Interesting what you say about the fronts - mine wears the toe more on the fronts when the frog split gets deeper and a bit funky. I have to keep on top of it all the time if I want a proper heel first landing.

I would be plugging the hole in the toe with HoofStuff (just to name yet another cool Red Horse product :D) - I had to plug an abscess hole in a similar location for several months and nothing worked as well or stayed in as long as the HoofStuff.
 
ShadowFlame said:
So the wear to frog / heel is fine providing he doesn't turn sore? The only thing I'm conscious of is that these longer hacks are going to be more regular, if one has worn his feet like that, do I need to be keeping a close eye on future hacks? How low can frogs go before sensitivity kicks in?
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I don't think the heels are worn low at all. Take the first two photos and look at the wall height above sole in the seat of corn... corner of sole where the wall turns into bar. Healthy frogs should never be sensitive even when heel is down to a nail catching length. You have a good amount of wall to wear yet. I don't see the wear you do I'm afraid.
 
(I hope this doesn't come out too big!)

This is an old photo from when Pinto had been barefoot for only 18 months, but you can see how the heels and frog all merge together.

He was 100% sound despite just returning from a 4 day randonnée covering over 240km without boots

 
PapaFrita said:
That's interesting, thank you :)
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This is my Tank's hoof - you can see his dimple



He has never been shod nor had any hoof pathology. It's just a natural dimple and they are sometimes seen in draft types.

I would be interested if The Tank ever needs an Xray - I would like to see if he has a notch to his coffin bone in the same area.
 
Ahh okay. Picture was helpful, thanks :)

I'm probably being a little over-precautious, although pone has never had shoes on his backs, this will be his first year in full work so I've not really seen them wear properly up until now.

I'm sure he'll make it clear if they're feeling sore, he did with his fronts, just needed some reassurance it's all normal and he's not about to cripple on me! :o

I'll look up the hoofstuff... more horsestuff to spend moneys on! :D
 
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