What to do with hoof that always appears to be unbalanced?

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wench

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Hoping someone may be able to offer any suggestions.

Bit of history:
Found out via xrays approx. a year ago that one of my horses hooves was unbalanced. Farrier did another trim and shoe based on what he saw. Got vet back out to xray, and the balance was better but still not perfect. I don't think he altered the balance any more on any further shoeings.

Horse has since moved yards a few times, and I had another xray done in May. Hoof still unbalanced, although have supplied new farriers with copies of old xrays.

Had shoes taken off just over a month ago, and another xray done last week; hoof is still unbalanced, although marginally less so than it was on the last set of xrays.

I will be ringing the vet shortly to see what he has to say, but I obviously want to try and sort this problem out for good if possible.

Has anyone got any suggestions/ideas?
 
Is a complex issue. Old X-rays are just that, a moment in time, so I would discount them now.

The first question is how sound is the horse?
 
The horse is sound. However struggles on the right hand rein, and has a lot of muscle tension down that side.

This is not all due to the hoof, but it is a contributing cause.
 
I was going to ask if the horse had any issues on that side - as it could well be that the hoof is reflecting the issues higher up and trying to alleviate them rather than contributing to them. Do you have any photos? It would be interesting to see what/where the imbalance is.
 
The horse had some kind of accident when she was younger, resulting in an injury along the coronet band on the right hand side. She also has a slightly wonky pelvis from this accident.

The imbalance is not from anything more sinister, she has been inspected by enough vets!

She has had a gait analysis done, which was earlier on in this year, which shows she is landing heel first on all four feet.

The imbalance is not a massive problem, just one that I hope I can solve somehow.

I do have xrays, but not permission to post them. Bascially as you look at the front of her hoof, the bones are on a slight angle, pointing down towards the inside of the foot.
 
I take it you mean P3 is unbalanced? A month without shoes isn't long and if there has been some improvement I would be tempted to carry on and see if the improvement continues.
 
Personally I'd continue with shoes off and let the horse grow the hood it need and see where you end up. A month isn't a long time in the land of hoof growth and if there's already improvement then it's worth continuing IMO.
 
The improvement could be down to how the farrier has trimmed her...

She was rather lame after she was done, so I think he had altered the previous balance quite a bit
 
wench said:
The improvement could be down to how the farrier has trimmed her...

She was rather lame after she was done, so I think he had altered the previous balance quite a bit
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Yes but altering things enough to cause lameness may not be the best for the horse. The horse will quickly try and grow back enough hoof to 'right' itself in my understanding. If change is done at the horses' pace, the risks of lameness are greatly reduced and the horse isn't put into growing hoof back fast to compensate mode. Nor does it have to use it's body differently to compensate.
Obviously I am speaking in general terms.
 
Then that farrier wouldn't be coming anywhere near my horses feet again, a horse should never be sore after shoeing/trimming. Maybe it wasn't the balance of the foot that made her sore, maybe it was the trim itself?

Let the horse grow the hoof it needs, don't let anyone mess with that.
 
I am more than happy with my farrier. The horse was lame/footsore for a couple of days, then back to normal.

Considering she had her shoes taken off, then was walking around on nobbly concrete then she was going to be a little sore, as well as the farrier probably altering the balance to what the previous one had done.
 
Given the history, the fact that she was sound until the farrier tried to address the imbalance I think it sounds like wonky is right for her.
 
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