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

Oberon said:
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.
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That's a very handsome looking hoof!
 
AshTay said:
Regarding the uneven wear to the heels - could lots of walking on a road with a steep camber do that?
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More likely the limb above the hoof.

If the horse is sound and happy - there's no reason to worry about cosmetics :).

Only worth worrying if uneven wear causes pain, or is an indicator of a crooked rider/poor saddle fit/hind end pain.
I suspect it would be very obvious in those circumstances though :)
 
Oberon said:
More likely the limb above the hoof.

If the horse is sound and happy - there's no reason to worry about cosmetics :).

Only worth worrying if uneven wear causes pain, or is an indicator of a crooked rider/poor saddle fit/hind end pain.
I suspect it would be very obvious in those circumstances though :)
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We don't tend to do much in terms of wonky roads (that I can think of at the moment, anyway!), saddle's fine, doesn't seem to have any pain anywhere, sound, and hopefully I'm relatively straight!

I'm assuming it's conformation, but will keep an eye anyway - took him out for an hour and a half of stoney tracks and roadwork last night, still not footsore so I think it's safe to say I was worrying over nothing :)
 
Sorry, another quick question :o We've established that the underside is looking okay, but what do you make of the shape of these feet? Is this just a typical draft splat shape, or is there something going on here? These were taken this morning, they look fine to me from the side, but from the front they're very wide?





 
Photos can be misleading but your first set appear to show excess wall length in the quarters. This will contribute to the wide appearance from the front. Short term excess wall in the quarters is ok(ish) provided there is a strategy in place to deal with it, long term it can cause issues.

Cobs and heavies do tend to have hooves wider than long, but this should not be a product of excess wall, or stretch.
 
ShadowFlame said:
Ah okay, thank you! Out of interest what kind of issues are we talking? I'll have a chat with farrier next time he's out, in that case :)
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It pushes the hairline/coronet band upwards and causes stresses in the hoof wall that can eventually crack. You'll see superficial and more serious cracking at the quarter lines on many horses. A superficial line is not normally an issue unless it is also accompanied by deviation in the hairline.
 
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