Red II (dbL)
The starting point for this album is in 2018 when Red was at what I consider ground zero. Red’s functional soundness was dependent on the retained dead sole that he had accumulated from years of toe loading. The presence of retained dead sole indicates erosion of the solar rim of P3. After 8 months of trimming to shift the majority of Red’s weight bearing over his heels, he exfoliates all of his retained dead sole and had no collateral grooves depth around the front half of his frog. The depth in the slits at the back of the collateral grooves are very shallow here. The live sole is calloused but gives to thumb pressure like thin hard plastic. The frog gives with it and the small cracks open and close. His hinds were in similar shape here and they bled when cleaning out the cracks with a hoof pick. We decided to try to use EasyShoes not only for protection but to build live sole. He has adequate soft tissue depth but he can’t use it for support until we get him off of his toes. He can’t really afford anymore bone erosion. In my opinion, improper trimming on long schedules and steel shoes only help the horse retain dead sole for increased hoof capsule depth and temporary comfort while the bone continues to erode.
Series of photos documenting 8 months progress with back to back 3 - 4 week trimming and EasyShoe application on the right front.
Series of photos documenting 8 months progress with back to back 3 - 4 week trimming and EasyShoe application on the left front.
Both fronts 8 months progress trimming and using EasyShoes on 3-4 week back to back intervals.
It took 8 months to improve Red's weight bearing in order to set the foot up for the corrections that he needed to make his heel conformation more physiologically correct.
December 2019 - I used EasyShoes back to back on a 3-5 week shoeing cycle for 8 months to rebuild Red’s live sole thickness. We tried to go bare foot again but he started to lose live sole thickness within a few 3-4 week trim cycles. I believe he has too much P3 solar erosion to build a sustainable barefoot at this time with my trimming alone (especially in his rocky environment). My long term goal is to keep using EasyShoes to get him used to loading the back of feet over time to change his body carriage ( getting him off of his forehand ). At some point I hope to get him into a sustainable barefoot with fully functional live calloused soles, live frog depth, and frog clearance. In the meantime he’s pretty happy to gallop over the rocks in rubber shoes.
Left- assessing weight distribution by loading the foot on a hard flat dirt surface and seeing where it sticks to the foot. Middle- the pink shaded areas outline the weight distribution at this time. Right- future goal for weight distribution pattern.
Left Hind
May 2021
July 2021 - Red went 5 weeks without shoes during the rainy season. It was the first time in a couple of years that he was comfortable without EasyShoes, even with wet feet in rocky hilly terrain. The owner had started riding him and he was doing better in EasyShoes. The frequent trims and EasyShoes have steadily improved his comfort and hoof form as well as his structural and functional soundness so we decided to keep using them.
November 2021 - The Easy Care Glue On Shells have been keeping Red comfortable and building live sole for a couple of years now. They were out of stock at this shoeing interval so decided to try the Versa Grip shoes. The previous set of Glue on shells were on for 8 weeks this time, which is 4 weeks longer than I like to go. The frequent trimming helps keep the majority of his weight over the heels. That’s what builds soft tissue and prevents bone erosion caused by toe loading. It doesn’t matter whether a horse is bare foot or shod in composites. Toe loading is what gets them in trouble.
Almost 3 years in EasyShoes back to back ( except for a couple of cycles ) to build Red’s live sole depth.
April 2022
August 2022
Red’s LH 5 years on a 4-6 week trim schedule. | Left - 6/2017 | Middle - 8/2022 pre trim | Right - 8/2022 post trim