I about fell over when I noticed these distinct ripples on my horses hooves yesterday. The farrier was already scheduled to come today so that was good. I asked him but he didn't seem too concerned and said they were just 'fever' rings. She is not ouchy, not lame, not overweight, maybe a bit of a hay belly. She gets no sweet feed- just less than 1 lb of pellets with some supplements and 24/7 turnout on pretty low quality pasture.
The rippley growth rings look to have started exactly when I bought her- almost 3 months ago. Everything in her world changed at that time so I am really hoping they could be from stress? (She was moved to different pasture, new pasture mate, increase in work, and changes in diet)
The thing that scares me is that I would think an 'event' ring would be just that- one abnormal growth ring. To me it looks like the hoof is growing in ripples right now.
I am so worried.
Note: hoof angle looks really upright but she was on uneven ground, it's not that upright in person, I'll do another thread about trim, but I'm just concerned about the ripples now. They are on all four feet but this shows it best.
The rippley growth rings look to have started exactly when I bought her- almost 3 months ago. Everything in her world changed at that time so I am really hoping they could be from stress? (She was moved to different pasture, new pasture mate, increase in work, and changes in diet)
The thing that scares me is that I would think an 'event' ring would be just that- one abnormal growth ring. To me it looks like the hoof is growing in ripples right now.
I am so worried.
Note: hoof angle looks really upright but she was on uneven ground, it's not that upright in person, I'll do another thread about trim, but I'm just concerned about the ripples now. They are on all four feet but this shows it best.