4 year old Appaloosa gelding
December 2014
February 2015
July 2015 - Top, front foot. Bottom, hind foot. I've been trimming Jaques for three years now on a 2-4 week schedule, Since he was a two year old. The quality of his hooves has always been beautiful. He's never been shod nor been confined to a stall, however, there are some right hand dominance issues that can get out of control if I let him go longer than 3 weeks for a trim too many times in a row. He lives in a small track system with his buddy, Dallas, an older Paint gelding. The track consists of a 60 ft round pen adjoined by a small lane to a 60' X 60' paddock. The footing is mostly clean hard packed dirt with some sandy areas for loafing and napping. This is a good example of "good feet in small spaces".
December 2015
The photo on the left is pre-trim about 3-4 weeks since the last trim. The middle photo is post trim with out touching the bars or the edges of the frog that run parallel to the collateral grooves. The photo on the right is after addressing these areas. There are a lot of opinions about how much to trim the frog and bars or whether you should trim them at all. Here are three stages of a trim that I would feel comfortable with as a completed trim. The horse was comfortable to start with and comfortable when I left. That's the beauty of a 2-4 week trim schedule. This horse has been on my schedule for 3 or 4 years now. He's young and his feet will continue to improve in their development.
This is a before and after trim on an 8 year old Appy that I've been trimming almost every 3-4 weeks for 5 years. This horse had good feet to begin with but they were crooked from the affects of his conformation and being trimmed infrequently. You can still see the crookedness but it is minimal and most of it straightens out after the trim. The residual crookedness is closely following the inner structures. I thought this was a good example of "encouraging straightness" with out forcing it and why I believe in a more frequent trim schedule than is commonly accepted. Never making a big correction and never letting the wrong part of any structure get loaded for an extended period of time is the key to hoof development. I don't believe a hoof can develop properly when the horse is sore, malfunctioning, or loading improperly. I also think that an important thing to notice here is the fingernail moon shape of thick calloused sole at the toe that has not been touched and rarely ever is on the horses that I trim. Another thing that I strive for is to grow the flat spot out of the vertical surface of the heels (between the hairline at the heel bulbs and the widest part of the frog/end of heels/end of the collateral grooves.). I try to DEVELOP this area into a continual curve by lowering the heels as much as I can get away with and rolling them to the widest part of the frog/end of heels/end of collateral grooves. the concavity on this foot has also been developed, not carved. The material that has been removed in the sole was over grown retained sole and bar material. It is all dead tissue and it'll grow right back by the next trim. I always respect the collateral groove depth and never trim live sole.
December 2016 - Before and after trim (3 week schedule)
March 2017 - Top/pre trim, Bottom/post trim. These feet are a result of 5 years of text messages from Jaques' owner at 3 week intervals. Even in our drier climate, domestic hooves don't get this way on their own.
April 2017- 5 years on a 2-4 week trim schedule / Bermuda grass diet / hard packed decomposed granite and sand footing / 5000 sq ft track system with a buddy / proactive owner
August 2017
September 2017
April 2018
September 2018
August 2019
Top - around 2016 | Bottom - 2020
2021
2022