When he returned it was clear that - despite 2 years of being successfully barefoot - several things had recently gone wrong with his feet, possibly due to an injury he suffered, possibly due to trimming, possibly due to some other factor we may never identify.
Although he has a robust caudal hoof and excellent hoof capsule, his landing had shifted in less than a month to being flat/toe first and his medio-lateral balance was off, resulting in lameness on his LF. As a result his frog had weakened - his heels may look high but in fact its his frogs which have atrophied.
Its interesting to see how much change can happen in a short time - particularly in his frog and his medial hoof (on the right in these photos). The speed of the change is at least partly due to the fact that Paul already had strong feet which were used to hard work - he just needed to be allowed to sort them out.
Now look at the difference in his frogs - this is why - with him at least - it was a case of building frog, not lowering heel. I have not touched his feet with a rasp or nippers or a hoof knife.
As his landing improves, his frog responds - these photos are just over 2 weeks apart...
and the photo below is today. It doesn't take long if there is a good foundation in place.
Both his owner and I thought that he would be quick to turn himself round and put himself back on the "virtuous circle" of a good landing which in turn will allow his medio-lateral balance to rectify itself; as he has done so his lameness has rapidly improved.
As always, better biomechanics means healthier hooves - and healthier hooves means better biomechanics.
I have a lot to catch up with, so there will be more soon.
Nic, could you please explain your comment "at this stage, his bars and the ridge on his sole is absolutely crucial to the stability of his hooves". How can you tell?
ReplyDeleteI'm asking in part because it's "normal" here to trim the bars flat with the sole. Common theory says that the bars can easily lay over if not trimmed. I'd like to better understand when the bars should NOT be trimmed!
Jen, as usual with hooves its a case of sometimes but not always. Its common practice to trim bars here too, but personally I rarely do so.
ReplyDeletePartly its because our climate is much, much wetter than yours, so bars (like the rest of the hoof) tend to have a high moisture content and realistically over here they tend to be soft and wear away easily.
With this horse, the ridge of sole is very new and goes right down both sides of the frog - a classic sign of an unstable foot which needs the bars for support.
In addition, what you can't see from photos but can see clearly in real life, his hoof has a steeper side and more shallow side and the ridge is more pronounced on one side than the other - again a classic sign of an imbalanced hoof. This is something I am going to talk about a LOT more in future blog posts because its a really important area :-)
I am flabbergasted & encouraged bythe improvements in Paul's hooves in such an incredibly short time. Well done Nic. I read all the blogs with avid interest. If only I could successfully persuade our resident farriers here in UAE to do the same! Can't wait to read Mr. Knightley's next update :0)
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