Hoof issues- very upset and need advice

Letting the foot grow long is completely opposite of what should be done for a horse with white line issues. The excess length acts like a hangnail with the horses weight on it and pulls the white line apart even more as the hoof tries to self trim. Don't do that please. Best to keep the horse well trimmed and a well rolled wall. Turn the horse out 24-7 on somewhat abrasive and well drained terrain and avoid excess sugary forage or feeds.

I would recommend cleaning said foot completely out, treating with clean trax, possibly filling the holes with Vettecs pour in CS padding or dousing the holes with thrushbuster or strong iodine....and then casting over that. That will add compression and strength as well as treat and not allow more crud to get in the holes as is grows out. I would leave any major resection as a last resort personally.


4 to 5 weeks is pretty common in the summer to be trimmed from most horses.

Sounds OK. If he has underslung heels, very likely got 'run out' toes too, which has put more stress on the laminae around the toe region & allowed the infection into the stretched white line. While cracks are frequently due to insufficient or imbalanced trimming or such, your trimmer may have trimmed his walls appropriately for his normal environment, which was just too long or such for riding on pavement.

Yeah, nutrition could be a factor & horses with well balanced nutrition are said to be *less susceptible* to infections, but the cause is bacterial/fungal and it's an 'opportunistic' infection, meaning it only invades unhealthy/compromised feet.

DimSum, looked at your link & I used to think of it as 'common knowledge' that horse's hoof growth slows down as they age. Now I'm not so sure. Healthy, well functioning hooves grow much quicker than compromised feet and well used - lots of exercise - grow much faster than 'paddock puffs'. I've also had some experience rehabbing 'slow growing' feet, who's owners report faster growth than they've seen prior to getting me(not apparently related to season, diet, etc). I think good circulation is a huge factor, & re what they said about heart rate, I think it's probably more about aerobic exercise/circulation.

Oh & hoof horn - wall, bars, sole - grows out from the laminae as well as the outer wall growing down from the coronary.

Legends, every horse & situation is different, but it's more ideal to trim hooves frequently enough to *keep* them well maintained, rather than to leave them to overgrow substantially & then have to 'correct' them every trim. 8-10 weeks is IME, a bit too long. It's even more important IME to be diligent with maintaining feet if there are problems to be addressed.

Keeping good hoof balance is important. That tends to mean shortish toes AND heels If the horse was trimmed well & uses his feet properly, he shouldn't need a stack off the toe & not off the heels. Horses that don't use their feet well frequently land toe first & so are opposite - wear their toes down down & need heels trimmed. For eg. The hoof that is pictured has a shortish looking toe but long & crushed forward(underslung) heels.

I disagree, and that's about as far as I'll go, LOL!!

There is a reason why overgrown feet flare :)

Ok, I got some photos of his feet. Sorry I havn't posted them sooner- my 5 year old was attacked by a dog yesterday, so we spent most of the night in the ER.
His left front is still not the best, but keep in mind that when I got him, his heels were very underslung, toes were way too long, and he had very flat feet and contracted heels.
Right hind


Right front


Left hind


Left front

I don't think you have much to worry about. I also see no need for resecting . Get a FARRIER that can give you a full service on whatever your horse needs .

I've never heard of trimming that often, either. I guess I could see filing, but not clipping the hooves that often. I'ver never had a farrier suggest less than 6 weeks between trimmings. I think your guy is sore, too, bc there isn't enough hoof left. The hooves and the teeth grow out bc God made the horse to run on rough dirt and rocks, which wear them down, and they eat grass, which is very hard on teeth, and their teeth keep growing (until they reach 30yo) to accommodate this, too.
Btw, the ridges on the picture that look like tree rings, with the notch cut out can occur bc of changes in diet and going from wet to dry. When I have made rapid changes to my horse's diet I have gotten ridges in ALL of my horse's hooves.

I think my farrier does a pretty good job considering how much she's improved his feet. He has never been sore after a trim. My farrier believes in little and often, which I agree with. She only nips the feet once every two trims usually. The others are rasping and balancing (and nipping if need be). This schedule works good for him. Since he walks funny due to conformation faults, any longer than 4 weeks and he starts getting wry feet and flares.
Does it look bad, or am I just overreacting?
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With lack of heel his confirmation may always cause you problems. The 1st picture of bottom of foot had an unusually large frog. Quite odd looking to me.

I think low heels like that are also prone to navicular.