Wednesday 8 August 2012

Interesting hooves

We had 2 new arrivals last week, Baloo and Eliza, both of whom came with very interesting hooves. I had a manic weekend so no chance to sort out their photos till now but finally here they are.
Spot the difference - here are shots of Baloo's LF (above) and RF (below).
No prizes for guessing which is the foot he is sounder on. 
This is the angle to compare from - LF above again and RF below. Its striking from this angle that the LF is loading fairly evenly despite being under-run but the RF clearly isn't.
Despite this, Baloo is landing heel first though he is loading the lateral side of his foot so its a case of finding out what is happening and why...
Here are Eliza's feet - very different and with another range of issues. Obviously there is a very under-run heel and long toe but there is also distortion of the hairline at the quarters.
The sole shot of the same foot shows lots to work on - a weak frog, under-run heels and in particular a huge ridge of sole running round the frog which is often a sign of thin soles and unbalanced hooves.
 The caudal shot confirms what we can see from the other views - weak, under-run heels and a frog which is desperately lacking stimulus. 

More on both of them soon...


6 comments:

jenj said...

My goodness, those ARE some interesting feets. It will be very cool to see how they change.

I found your comment about the "ridge of sole running around the frog being a sign of thin soles and unbalanced hooves" to be very interesting. Any thoughts as to why that happens and what the purpose is?

cptrayes said...

oooh my, I wouldn't want those feet in my stable :-((

It will be fascinating to see what becomes of them in the next few weeks.

C

Nic Barker said...

Jen, I can only guess but its something I see in horses where the soles are very thin and or the balance is wrong so I assume its there for stability and to protect P3, given where it appears.

It also goes once feet are stronger , which is the other reason for my suspicions.

C - not pretty, for sure...(!)

M's mum said...

Yep, interesting feet for sure. Can't wait to see how these ones change!

Kristen Eleni Shellenbarger said...

I find the SAME thing (on my thin soled horse) re; the ridge of sole around the frog or in parts. It also scrapes off easily with the side of my pick so I wonder what it's purpose really is? Feet are so interesting it's crazy. I literally stare at them so much my fellow boarders think I'm crazy.

Andrea said...

Pete Ramey talks a little about it here: http://www.hoofrehab.com/thebars.htm

I see this on thin soled horses too - the horse is just desperate to throw down any sort of support that it can, and as the sole becomes adequately calloused and increasingly vaulted, it goes away. If the horse is putting it down, he needs it, and it will go away when he doesn't need it anymore.