Hooves and symmetry

So, here is the promised, more detailed post on hoof balance, symmetry and limb loading...it may run to several parts, but let's get started.   It really follows on from a post I put up in September: http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.com/2010/09/how-to-balance-hoof.html, which looked at the same horse. 

I also posted yesterday another photo of the same horse's hooves, for consistency.  This is how they look today:  

and below is how they looked the day the horse arrived at Rockley, nearly 2 years ago.  

On the face of it, much nicer when shod - symmetrical, balanced and (given that he was due for shoeing) basically nice feet.   Problem was that he was toe first landing, lame and only able to work on 2 bute per day.  

You have to forgive the photos, because at the time I took them, I was doing routine shots and I had no idea how important they would be - however, when you look at his limb conformation - especially with the benefit of hindsight - things become clearer. 

On day 1, even though he is not standing perfectly square, you can see that his LF overloads laterally.  Its more obvious when we put Wiola's lines on, which demonstrate how the limb loads;  although he isn't standing still, the difference between the LF, which is off laterally, and the LH, which is fairly evenly loaded, is clear.

As this horse grew a more supportive hoof caspule, it included a medial deviation on both front feet, though more pronounced on the left front.  

The reason for this is clearer when we put similar lines on again, showing the load to his new, more supportive feet.  The load is not perfect, and perhaps never will be for this horse, but the medial deviation at least means that load is shared more equally through the hoof capsule. 

Looking at his solar view at day one, in shoes, it doesn't look too bad, though the frog is non-weightbearing and the heel heights are slightly uneven.

Immediately out of shoes, the foot is a bit of a mess with weak hoof wall, a prolapsed frog - its also very flat.   If you look at the orientation of the frog and compare medial and lateral aspects, you can see that the lateral side the (lower side on the photo) is broader. 

By contrast, his later sole shot shows a much more substantial frog which has a key weight-bearing function and that there is no difference in hoof wall height.  Its interesting to also see how much more robust the frog and digital cushion are than when the horse first came out of shoes. 

Putting the same lines on, there is now much greater weight-bearing capability on the medial aspect (which is towards the top of the photos as you look at them). 

Now I would be the first to agree that this is a far from perfect hoof, and it still has, and perhaps will always have, weaknesses - but after all, its the foot of a horse who has had to compromise for many years.  

What's important to realise is that the solar shot shows that the hoof is actually loading more evenly, despite the fact that it looks "unbalanced" from the top.   When the hoof looked more symmetrical from the top, it was actually loading in a less balanced way.