The unimportance of trimming (or Smart work, O'Neil)

O'Neil has been here for just over 3 weeks. There are several factors which many would think militate against him working barefoot. He is a thoroughbred, he is a big chap (over 17hh) and he had weak feet which weren't comfortable in shoes and certainly weren't immediately able to stomp about on hard surfaces out of shoes. 

Day one, with long toes and under-run heels made worse by the fact that he had gone longer between shoeing intervals than normal. 

The same foot today with a shorter toe and more supportive heel (check out the hairline for confirmation). 

And he has done all this himself, with a little help from the tracks. Even though he arrived with long feet I have done no trimming. 

Why? Because (as always with horses like O'Neil who arrive with palmar hoof pain and long term lameness) the biggest problem isn't the extra hoof which could be trimmed off but the weak internal structures which need to develop.  And you can't build those except with time and work on stimulating but supportive surfaces. 

If you don't believe me, take a look at the difference in his frogs over a 3 week period. Its a response to stimulus which has made the difference, not human interference with a knife or rasp.

A stronger frog is the best way to build support for the palmar hoof from the inside out so perhaps its not surprising that O'Neil's heels are less under-run today than they were initially.

Trimming is all very well (provided it leaves the horse sounder) but its a tiny part of what makes up a healthy hoof. With a foot like O'Neil's its more productive to let him wear off the long toe with better movement and at the same time rebuild and stimulate his weak palmar hoof. 

A trim could instantly shorten the toe and put him back on his palmar hoof but without strengthening it first the result would most likely be a less comfortable horse.

By allowing him to wear his own feet over the last 3 weeks he has with each step been able to improve his under-run heels and develop his palmar hoof at the same time as shortening the toe; he is becoming more, rather than less, comfortable on tougher surfaces.

There is still a long way to go, of course, but O'Neil is certainly heading in the right direction. 

There was an interesting article posted by Tomas Teskey, a US vet, on Facebook this week, and it included a paragraph which for me sums up the limitations of trimming: 

"Realize that your hand tools are taking the place of the terrain that would normally shape the hooves, and that you are providing this service "for free". 

Within minutes, you have changed the shape of the horse's foundation, and the horse didn't have to expend more than a few calories to balance on three legs at a time. 

Therefore no callousing has been imparted, no concussion experienced to stimulate internal structures, no opportunity for the thousands upon thousands of landings and breakovers, little to no physical exertion for the body, less stimulation for the nervous system, vastly diminished volumes of blood that would have passed through the hooves... ...

Can you better appreciate the importance of your job as a trimmer and the responsibility you have not to trim too much?"

Horses can make big improvements to their hooves in an incredibly short period of time - but that's usually the result of their movement, not our trimming. 

There are certainly times when trimming is appropriate but they are far, far less frequent than we imagine!

Its 4 weeks on Fryday...

Hard to believe but Fryday has been here for 4 weeks. He arrived in bar shoes but those have been off for 4 weeks too. 

I know the biggest change appears to be in the fact that he has become hairy and muddy but that is more a result of the change in the weather than anything else! 

If you look more closely the angle of the heel as also improved and there is a lot of growth - the nail holes are already nearly grown out despite the fact that he arrived in shoes. 

This isn't a fair comparison because of course you can't see anything under the bar shoe and pad but today his frog is improving even though the symmetry and heels have a long way to go.   

Same on the right foot - lots of growth in evidence along with a shorter toe but this is only the beginning. 

Friday cute alert...

Love this photo of Dom - ex rehab horse who is about 15hh - and his rider Georgia jumping in the school. Absolutely fantastic and should put a smile on everyone's face!

PS: When Dom was here last year he was mum Nikki's horse...suspect she has now been well and truly jocked off as it will be a while before Georgia outgrows him...!

The horse, the "experts" and the heel first landing

I had a classic conversation with a vet this week. She had been to see a horse who was a rehab here a year ago with a palmar hoof problem. The horse had recently moved yards and lives several hundred miles away; he was new to the vet and she was understandably concerned because he was footsore.

I asked about the grazing at his yard (for reasons which will be apparent later on) but she told me this wasn't the issue. In fact, apparently the reason he was uncomfortable was because he had "dreadful pointed toe conformation" and because he was "walking on his heels".

I felt like asking her what she thought he should be walking on but I didn't have to. She told me a second later what this horse needed: the solution to the terrible problem of him walking on his heels was glue-on shoes at £800 a set plus - of course - box-rest and bute.

Fortunately for this horse, there is a Very Good Farrier in his area who was able to go and see the horse soon after. We'd already talked about the horse and I already knew the VGF wouldn't use glue-on shoes :-)

Meanwhile, since the vet's visit the owner had kept the horse off grass (ex-dairy pasture and very, very, rich) as she and I both suspected that his footiness (which came on within 48 hrs of him moving yards) was more likely to be related to the grazing than to him "walking on his heels" - which incidentally he had been doing soundly and happily for many months in his previous yard.

VGF and owner assessed the horse on concrete and walked him up and down. Landing was good (those heels again!), medio-lateral balance was good, comfort levels were improving, feet looked fine.

The Very Good Farrier trimmed a bit off the toe - which was a sensible idea because it immediately resolved the "dreadful pointed toe conformation" which was bothering the vet and since he was already "walking on his heels" he was clearly more than happy to load them(!). In fact, as the VGF said, the pointed toe had only occurred because the horse had suddenly been unable to work - in normal circumstances he was self-trimming.

Just to make sure, they got another farrier to have a look - the specialist in glue-on shoes - who also happened to be on the yard. He agreed; horse was comfortable, feet were looking good, no need for glue-on shoes.

Now, although I didn't mention it in my conversation with her, I was pretty surprised by this vet's comment. Most vets (including all the other, excellent vets I've spoken to this week) and most people who have spent any time studying the anatomy of a horse and how it moves have no difficulty understanding why a heel first landing is beneficial for the horse. 

Its something I've blogged about many times so I won't repeat it, but the anatomical explanation is here and it details why a toe first landing stresses the DDFT and other soft tissue, leading to injury and damage if its continually repeated. 

All horses will  - unless they are in pain - land heel first when the limb is fully extended. It doesn't happen when horses are moving in a very collected gait (or going uphill) but in a normal or extended stride (or when on flat ground or going downhill) a horse should and will land heel first. 

I've occasionally heard people suggest that a heel first landing is a sign of laminitis but to be honest there is a huge and noticeable difference in gait quality and demanour between a laminitic horse (above, footsore, tense and short-striding even if loading the heels) and a sound horse working in full extension with a correct and comfortable landing.

Equine anatomy and soft tissue trauma can be complicated to get your head round but there is another, very obvious problem when a horse lands toe first, which most owners will already be aware of: shock absorption. 

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realised that there is one part of the hoof which is supremely well designed to shock-absorb, even when the entire bodyweight of the horse lands on one outstretched foot. 

In fact, shock absorption is the "DUH"oh-so-obvious explanation of why horses need to land heel first. Its something which should be immediately clear to anyone who has ever picked up a horse's foot  - and its doubly apparent when you pick up a healthy bare hoof.

Come on children - can you guess which bit of the foot has evolved to shock-absorb? Is it the flexible, rubbery bit at the back which has superb proprioception and is able to expand, contract and adapt to uneven terrain or is it the hard pointy bit at the other end? 

No gold star, I am afraid, if after looking at a real, live hoof on a real, live horse you think horses have evolved to land anywhere other than the palmar hoof.

Certainly no gold star if you are an "expert" who is happy to state, as Katie Jerram did in a showing magazine about spotting a promising horse: "I want the toe to come down slightly before the heel does...I don't want to see the heel come down before the toe, as this puts strain in the tendons" Really Katie - and exactly which tendons would those be? 

Try picking a horse with a decent landing, Katie - you never know, he might last a bit longer, like dear Ginger (above and below) a former rehab who not only struts his stuff on the beach but went home to regularly win in veteran classes in his twenties even though his showing career had supposedly ended when he was lame with navicular syndrome and had a toe first landing. 

I'm not asking you to take my word for it - this isn't my idea, after all. All you have to do is look at a sound horse moving fluently and in the way it has evolved to move over millions and millions of years. 

In fact, you don't even need to look at a horse. You can watch your dog or cat or a sheep or cow or even a person walking about. Not one of them (unless they have heel pain) will be landing on the front of the foot and then loading backwards - though it would be fun to watch some people try :-)*

*There is sometimes confusion because we use the same term - heel - in both humans and horses but  anatomically the 2 structures are different. The horse's heel is actually closer to being the palmar aspect of one finger. 

Humans land heel first walking but human runners  - particularly when barefoot - often land midsole rather than on the heel. Horses landing "heel first" are actually still doing something similar to human runners - landing on the palmar aspect and breaking over dorsally. 

But the point is the same - whether you are a human walker landing on your heel, a human runner landing midsole or a horse, dog, cat, sheep or cow landing on the palmar aspect of the foot, the comfortable - and anatomically correct - way to move is then to roll forward and breakover at the toe. Not the other way around...

You'll find, if you look at enough horses, that a horse who is unwilling or unable to land heel first is a horse with palmar hoof pain. 

This why owners often report that becoming shuffly down hill is one of the first things they noticed in horses later diagnosed with navicular syndrome or DDFT/impar ligament damage.  In fact, a toe-first landing is often the first sign of problems to come. 

This is also why - very often - the horses who come here aren't landing heel first when they arrive. Its not rocket science - with a lameness which blocks to a palmar digital nerve block this area is painful so the horse won't engage it if possible. No coincidence then that a change in landing is frequently the first sign of improving soundness.

But don't take my word for it - let the horses demonstrate. 

Steady progress - Mina's 8 week update

 Mina arrived here 8 weeks so time for another update  - I posted about her at 5 weeks but there are of course more changes happening all the time.

She arrived in reverse shoes and having been on box rest and on 2 bute per day with lots going on in her feet.

I posted an early update on her because so much changed in her first week here and since then I am glad to say that she has continued to improve.

Its equally interesting to compare her feet at 5 weeks (above) and at 8 weeks (below). They weren't bad feet to start with  but they have certainly improved and changed with work. 

Lateral shots -nail holes gone even though they were fairly high up the foot and a pretty chunky looking hoof at the moment. 

Where's Wally? Nearly there...

Many of you blog readers will already be familiar with Wally, the smart dressage horse who arrived here in February. 

If you search the blog for Wally you will find a lot of posts, not just because he has been here longer than most rehab horses but also because he decided to add to the mix by throwing in a new problem - a LH suspensory strain - on top of his original front limb lameness. 

Our own vets did a great job of treating that and, combined with the fabulous good vibes from the blog readers, at 20 weeks things were looking good. 

So back to his feet. Thanks to his wonderful owner, I have the luxury of having Wally here for 6 months - long enough to just about grow in a full new hoof capsule. These photos were taken at around the 5 and a half month mark. 

Looking at the sole shots the biggest difference between day one and today is the much healthier frog. Wally had a persistent and stubborn central sulcus infection when he arrived but after a few months its in retreat. Another critical difference is how much further back and more supportive his heels and bars are today. 

Looking at his toe things look a bit messy but a glance at the lateral shots explains why...

 

Day one, a long toe, under-run heel and weak, collapsed palmar hoof even though the hoof capsule didn't appear conventionally weak (nice strong hoof wall and a good hoof pastern axis, for instance). 

Today, you can see the last little bit of old hoof capsule at the toe together with a much stronger palmar hoof. I hope you can see that the natural strength that he is developing in the back of his foot is giving him more "support" than a remedial shoe ever would. 

The rest of his hoof capsule has grown down and the half inch of toe that is left isn't bothering him at all. It would make the hoof look prettier to trim it off, but as you can see from the sole shots, Wally already has his break-over in the right place and even though his palmar hoof is much stronger there is no need to put extra load onto it before Wally is ready - he will get there in his own time within the next few weeks. 

Jumping and more jumping - rehabs do it bare!

Great updates from the weekend again.

Lucy and Amanda have had another successful outing competing BE90:

"We had such a brilliant time yesterday at Skipton, with a fair amount of rain the night before the ground was perfect going again. 

We managed a 35.5 dressage, unfortunately had 2 down in the SJ but went clear XC, had a fair few time faults but super chuffed we made it round. Time was very tight only 4mins .18 secs and very few came in the time. 

It was a very hilly course with some steep down hill runs at some points but Lucy coped exceptionally well, very sure footed and balanced (who needs studs in this game???!!!). She faced some bold fences and jumped her little heart out, so proud!"

And Buddy and Krista also went jumping:

"What a day, Buddy's first XC ride.. 10 miles, 25 odd jumps and fabulous going. 

We've had our first XC fences since going lame and he was a super star and loved every second (even got a compliment on how capable his new feet are)!"