Hunter (dbL)
The only thing that changed for this horse was the trimmer. For several years this horse traveled from Minnesota to Arizona for the winter with his owner and I would put him on a 4-6 week corrective trim schedule. Every October he'd show up with pigeon toes and high heeled fronts ( and a crooked left hind from being left hind dominant ). He was always sound to ride and he always went back to Minnesota in April with his coffin bones properly aligned with his hoof capsules. I always knew what to expect and it was a lot of meticulous diligent work to get them right before he left but we always pulled it off. The Minnesota trimmer wasn't able to fully control the distortion but they never let them get so out of hand that I couldn't correct them in 6 - 7 months. The owner finally got tired of the cold and the traveling and decided to stay in AZ. He built a house and a beautiful track system for his horse and even got another one to keep him company. Just before he moved him from the barn where I'd been trimming him for the past several years, the owner quit calling. A year and a half later, he called me back and wondered if I'd come take a look at his horse. He admitted that he had made a series of bad choices and he was worried about his horse's feet. When I showed up he told me more of the story: He said that he knew I was very busy so he quit calling me. He followed up on a friends recommendation for a trimmer. This guy followed the Don't Blink or You'll Miss My Trim Method. There was plenty of theory backing it up and he was very generous with his knowledge. After seeing the horrible results, the owner finally let him go and hired the farrier that took care of the other horses at the previous barn. The farrier shaped up the flares in the outer wall pretty nicely but did nothing to change the heel height or toe length. After the horse started showing lameness he called the vet. The vet took X-rays, blood work, recommended some dietary changes, and told him to keep his horse in boots during the day but didn't have much else to say about how to fix the feet ( vets are only required 3 hours of hoof related studies. Some vets realize the importance of feet and learn more but they aren't required to ). That's when the owner finally called me back.
The photos on the left are from about 18 - 24 months ago before I quit trimming this horse. The photos on the right are pre trim after 18 - 24 months of improper trimming on infrequent intervals. The owner has agreed to put his horse back on my schedule so I'm going to document his rehab. Here's the point I'm trying to make: This horse had good feet when the diet, footing, and environment weren't optimal. For 6 months of the year the trimming wasn't even optimal. My recommendations about the dangers of supplementing with alfalfa flew under the owner's radar. After I stopped trimming he built a large track system (on a south facing desert hillside) and got another horse for companionship and to encourage movement. Most horse people don't realize how many daily miles horse's need for the wear rate to match the growth rate and can't tell the difference between a good foot or a bad foot so they just go with the flow until the horse is limping. Many hoof practitioners trim in the wrong places and don't recognize or understand proper hoof form let alone know how to achieve it, and many vets are unqualified to give direction about hoof care.
September 2017 - Set up trim
Second Trim
Left - pre first trim | Right - post second trim
Post trim / first trim and second trim / 1 week apart
Third trim, two week interval
October 2017 - 4th trim, 2 week interval
Right front | 4th trim | 5 weeks progress
Left front | 4th trim | 5 weeks progress
From the top, it appears that the flare is on the medial side ( right side in photo ). From the solar view it is pretty obvious that the hoof capsule has deviated laterally and is closer to the outer wall on the medial side. The medial wall is also already thinner than the lateral wall so trying to balance this by rasping what looks like a medial flare only makes P3 closer to the the medial side while weakening the hoof capsule by making it thinner. In this case, the lower 1/3 of the outer wall would be totally removed if the medial flare were top dressed to "look" balanced.
November 2017 - 6th trim, 3 week interval
December 2017 - 3 months progress
3.5 months progress | Random pre trim/post trims (8 trims total) | 2-3 week trim schedule
January 2018 - 9th trim, 2-3 week schedule
4.5 months of progress on a 2-3 week trim schedule. Green is live hoof capsule. Red is dead hoof capsule.
Closing the gap between the coronary band and the extensor process as the sole develops under the tip of P3.
February 2018 - 10th trim
5 months progress
5 months progress. Boney column/Hoof capsule alignment. I trim this horse on a rubber mat to show the improvements in load bearing. At this stage it's easy to see where P3 is in relation to the hoof capsule I've positioned the photos like this to show the changes in alignment of the boney column within the hoof capsule. It's impractical to get radiographs at every trim cycle so it's helpful to find other ways to read this relationship. I do about 95% of my trimming from the bottom so these are actual changes. It's not a cosmetic trim from the top. That's one of the things that got this horse into trouble in the first place. In the beginning, ( left photos ), the original top dressing is still visible almost 1/3 of the way up the wall.
5 months progress report. Prior to my first trim, this horse was dead lame and wearing Soft Ride boots 24/7 for 7 weeks. After my first set up trim he only wore the boots for a day or two directly after the first two trims. He hasn't worn any boots now for about 5 months. Except for EasyCare Gloves for trail riding, now that he's been comfortable enough for mounted work for the last couple of months.
Some people don't look above the hairline to see the effects of crooked feet. The horse has to compensate to try and make the feet as level as they can. The before photos ( top ) show signs of top dressing which makes the feet only appear to be somewhat balanced. This just hides the crookedness but it eventually just shows up above the hairline. The bottom photos show 5 months of progress trimming from the bottom with the live sole as a guide and minimal top dressing.
March 2018
Wall separation is a symptom of founder. 6 months progress on a 3 week trim schedule.
April 2018- 6.5 months progress
7.5 months progress
April 2018
Sept 2017 - July 2018
9 photos showing 7 months progress on fronts.
7 months of 3 week corrective trims
The previous farrier had done a lot of top dressing to reduce flare. This shapes up the appearance of the outer wall but thins the outer wall, weakens it, and disguises the actual problem. Minimal to no top dressing was done to regrow this hoof capsule more evenly around P3 and restore balanced growth/trim rates. It was done from the bottom by trimming to restore proper weight bearing on the solar structures
April 2019
Sept 2017 - Nov 2019
Hinds pre trim / post trim (Nov 2019)
February 2020
Sept 2017 - Feb 2020
June 2020
June 2020
April 2021
Sept 2017 - August 2021
December 2021
Jan 2021 - Heel/frog/seat of corn relationship
June 2022
February 2024
December 2024