Day one: although Rose's feet have more structure than many horses who come here for rehab, this photo clearly shows that her toe is in fact quite long. The photo angle isn't ideal, I am afraid, but it is possible to see that her hoof pastern axis is weak as well.
At 6 weeks, a good new angle of hoof growth is clearly visible, which over time will bring the toe back.
A big change in frog strength - although it looks untidy in the recent photo, its more substantial. Frog shed in layers and tatty shreds when they are changing radically, so its actually not a bad sign :-)
For completeness, the RF, again showing a new angle change. There will also be a change in Rose's medio-lateral balance once she has grown in a complete new hoof capsule.
One thing that seems to be consistent when shoes come off is the difference between the "real" angle of hoof growth and the angle that the hoof has been forced to accommodate for shoes. Would you say that this difference "normal" for most shod horses, or just the ones that come to your farm, who have some sort of lameness issue? If it's "normal" for most shod horses, what sort of timeframe does it happen in? Obviously when you shoe a horse for the first time the angles should be correct... so how long does it take to get the angles like this?
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