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Frog? Does this seem normal

8K views 47 replies 11 participants last post by  SonnyWimps 
#1 ·
I recently noticed (just today) as I was cleaning Sonny's feet that his frog...which was usually a dark color (black or really dark brown) had some pale whitish parts that kinda seemed odd.

I also noticed some rocks in the sole of his foot that made some holes in his hooves (not too deep of ones...but enough for me to take notice).

I cleaned the hoof as usual...cleaning every part and making sure there were no remaining rocks, or dirt

What exactly is the white on the frog? I know it's part of the frog...but is it normal? Something I should be worried about?
As for the rock holes...what can I do to treat it? He's not lame nor is it hurting him when I clean it

I have pictures which I will upload in a bit....just downloading them to the comp right now
 
#2 ·
has he gotten new shoes lately? when shoeing a horse you file the hoof and it turns white. the farrier might have thought his frog was a little long and needed to be shaved down a bit, or something along those lines...
my dad is a farrier, and sometimes he will trim a frog that looks as if it is long and gets irritated when walking.

about the holes... at this point i wouldn't worry about them.
try pressing on the holes, if they seem to hurt him, maybe it is stone bruise that indented his foot?
 
#6 ·
Is it white where you've been scraping? When it's been really wet around here our horses will get a little bit of "thrush" which makes their frog/sole soft. I say a little because it's not bad enough where it causes that horrible smell, but just soft enough to be able to scrape at it. (by the way, our horse's stalls get cleaned out daily and are pretty meticulous so sometimes thrush isn't caused by dirty stalls!) I keep a bottle of Coppertox in my locker and just put a splash on the bottoms of their feet. It dries it up within a day or two.
 
#8 ·
I don't see what white areas you are talking about. His feet look basically fine to me, other than he has lots of forward heel generally that is keeping his frogs slightly contracted, more so on his left side than his right. I'd be more concerned about that than any pale spots.
 
#9 ·
northernmama said:
I don't see what white areas you are talking about. His feet look basically fine to me, other than he has lots of forward heel generally that is keeping his frogs slightly contracted, more so on his left side than his right. I'd be more concerned about that than any pale spots.
what do you mean by "forward heels"?
 
#12 ·
SonnyWimps said:
what do you mean by "forward heels"?
I'm not all that good at explaining stuff without pictures and on dial-up I tend to stay away from uploading, but the jist of what I mean is: if you look at his two left feet (front especially), you'll see that where he is bearing weight on his heels is ahead of the frog bulb. Draw a line across the rearmost point of his weight-bearing "wall" and you'll see what I mean. It's really not bad and as you say it's been a while since the farrier was out so I'm sure this will be fixed again shortly. It's interesting how this is evident on the left but not on the right. Everyone is right or left-handed and this affects how we trim and clean, but I would hope that a farrier would have a better handle on this. Of course, it could be a simple thing like his feet just grow differently on that side; after all, most people have one foot that is bigger than the other. I wouldn't worry about it at all since his feet will be looked after again shortly anyway.

Oh, maybe I'll get ambitious and do a photoshop thing, but I'm not a professional, so all I'm giving is a personal opinion.
 
#13 ·
Here is a mark up on 2 of your pics.. Underrun heels are forward of the heel bulbs. They should be along the same line. Basically they are too long tho they may not appear tall.. Clear as mud?

These hooves need trimming, btw. Heels need to be backed up(filed down so they are closer to where the heel bulbs are. The walls are long also. Backing up the toes helps get the heels to stop running forward also.


 
#14 ·
Appyt said:
Here is a mark up on 2 of your pics.. Underrun heels are forward of the heel bulbs. They should be along the same line. Basically they are too long tho they may not appear tall.. Clear as mud?

These hooves need trimming, btw. Heels need to be backed up(filed down so they are closer to where the heel bulbs are. The walls are long also. Backing up the toes helps get the heels to stop running forward also.
Thanks for that much clearer explanation. I always seem to know what *I* mean, but can't seem to explain it! I hope this helps out on Sonny's feet.
 
#15 ·
I'll mention that to the farrier when he comes next and I'll take pictures afterwards of his job.
Do you think it will particually bother him though for me to be riding him with that? I see what you guys mean...
do any of you have any pictures of the way they actually "should" be?
 
#16 ·
here are some older pictures of his hooves (sorry they aren't the best pictures)


^^left front


^^left Back


^^Right front


^^Right Back

It does still appear the same way...how can a farrier fix it? Do you think it's just something that the farrier did wrong? Something I should that I should switch farriers because of?
 
#17 ·
Sorry, I can't see much on those older pictures except for one and that one does, yes IMO, seem to be the same. As for riding him, sure go ahead. Switch farriers? Hmmm... why don't you talk to him first about it and see how you feel then. IMO, a farrier or vet or trainer etc. should be open to questions and constant learning. If that is the case with your farrier and you haven't had any issues with him to date, you may be well-advised to stay with him. Long heels are a common thing and definitely Sonny's are well within the "trim-back-to-shape" range. The other thing I noticed was his bars; if you want to know more about this search out barefoot trimming advice on the net. After you look at several different sites with many different people's opinions and photos, you'll get the idea of what we're talking about. In Europe there are accreditations for barefoot trimmers, but all I've seen in Canada is self-certifying which means doodly-squat.
 
#18 ·
Many horses are even shod that way as there are substandard farriers(and trimmers as well) out there. I think they just do not KNOW that it is rather easy to fix really. Back up the toe from the front(top) rather than making it short on bottom, which only makes the horse sore. I have a great barefoot trimmer. She is currently taking a few months off as she is preggers. My roan mare came to me with badly underrun heels, tho her hooves are at least round. She tends to get fat round feet with flares. Amber has been working on this for a while and she is coming along nicely, but it does take time and diligence. It is best if the owner can tweak every couple of weeks for optimization. IE faster results. ;)

You can click here http://www.barefoothooves.net/ for her site and google for many other barefoot trim sites to view what a correctly trimmed hoof should look like. I also have some sole shots(imagine that, lol) I will throw some up of Heidi's feet.

Oh here is my photobucket folder full of trimmed hooves, 5 dif horses so you can get a feel for the work. http://s89.photobucket.com/albums/k229/appyt/Hoof trims/

Here is one of Heidi's fronts taken in February.
 
#20 ·
Nice feet, Appyt! I've had my mare for 2 years off the track now and just when I think I have her all good, something new crops up, but her heels have widened by a whole inch since she arrived! It's shocking to place her shoes against her feet now and think how she was on the track!

It certainly is a labour of love and, you're right, weekly maintenance makes all the difference.

SW -- let us know how it goes with your farrier, ok?
 
#23 ·
northernmama said:
Nice feet, Appyt! I've had my mare for 2 years off the track now and just when I think I have her all good, something new crops up, but her heels have widened by a whole inch since she arrived! It's shocking to place her shoes against her feet now and think how she was on the track!

It certainly is a labour of love and, you're right, weekly maintenance makes all the difference.

SW -- let us know how it goes with your farrier, ok?
Thank you. This mare was raised outside and not shod at a young age. TG.. She was briefly shod by the previous owner. I love those nice round feet. If you went to my photobucket you no doubt saw Abe's feet. He is a retired show horse(not shown by me) who no doubt was shod young and tight. :( He still has narrow feet but not as narrow as they were when I got him.
 
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