looooong hooves - recovery time?

Nothing horrible about what you describe at all! You sound like a good horse owner if you are willing to do what is best for the individual horse. Nothing at all wrong with trying to stay barefoot if the horse can do it. I sure wish both of mine were barefoot. Darn shoes are expensive.

His feet are long but I am sure with a couple of trims you will be happy and so will he.

Thanks, I get nervous and second guess myself a lot when it comes to the horses but so far so good lol.

Pete's DVDs are truly fantastic! They're also not cheap tho. But considering they're effectively his whole 3 day clinic for you to have & to hold, very worth it, I reckon.

I agree with Barefoot(as usual) that his feet aren't anything like as bad as I imagined from the post. They look to me as if there isn't that much to be taken from the ground surface, but acres to be 'backed up' to relieve what look to be very disconnected walls. I'd take the heels down gradually over a number of trims.

I'd also pay attention to his diet & ensure he's getting no grain or sweet feeds which may lead to further laminitis.

I've put him on Nutrena Safe Choice (a pelleted feed), alfalfa/timothy hay, and MSM supplement. No sweet feeds. I'm going to be putting him on a hoof and coat supplement (from smartpak) as well.

I'm looking into boots, but I'm concerned that if I buy boots for him now they're going to be far too big for him soon. Are there some boots that aren't going to break my purse if I have to rebuy them?

Ah, brings back memories!

About a year ago, I think - I discovered that Nelson's feet were not being done properly by our "current" *at the time* Farrier. I had no idea, I trusted this Profession to be doing his job correctly, and I had no idea about feet and how things should be done, which was my fault for not educating myself.

Nelson's feet were cracking all the time, and he wasn't able to keep a shoe on if his life depended on it and it was getting to the point, where a new shoe couldn't even be put on, because there was no where to put the nail. He had 0 growth, no heels, and extremely thin sole - and when I would ask my Farrier, he would shrug his shoulders and say "That is just how he is and we have to deal with it." or "He's a TB, what do you expect?"

The day the light bulb was turned on for me, was when Nelson, once again, threw a shoe and I needed it put back on but my "Current" Farrier couldn't come out because he was out of State on Vacation, so I was able to get another to come.

The replacement Farrier walked into the barn and took one look at Nelson and asked when was the last time he was done. I responded about a week - or was it a month ago? Meh...I cannot remember. Anyways, he responded "looks like 6 months ago"

So he knelt down on the floor next to Nelson's front left hoof, and drew in the dust where his breaking point should be and his angles should be - and they were faaar off from what they should be.

He examined Nelson's pasturns, his shoulders and his hips - everything was off from where they should of been

So he did corrective shoeing for Nelson, and it took the whole winter. He pulled his toes back, and he angled his feet to where they promoted growth. He opened the frogs up and he continued to stress how important blood flow is.

So Nelson went from this:







To a whole new foot. Nelson now has blood flow and hoof growth. He now has heels growing and he is moving better than what he was before.

When the new Farrier cut back his toes, there was so much bruising and blood, it was horrible. All that pressure was being compacted into his toes from his feet being cut in improper angles.

~~~

You do not need hoof suppliments if you find a Farrier who will cut your horse at the proper angles, balancing and promote blood flow.

Blood flow is the primary key, most important.

I'll have to get some new pictures of Nelson's feet now that it has been close to a year since we found our new Farrier.

I dont believe that a farrier should ever cut back enough toe to cause bleeding...

I would never buy a horse with hooves that were grown out like that. But hopefully it well get all worked out

I sure hope thats not hoof dressing on the horses skin. That is really bad for them.

Hey, don't hold us in suspense, MIEventer, show us the results?! Great that you seem to have found a good farrier. It's a pity it takes this sort of experience(I bet the old farrier told you he had genetically weak feet or some such??) to find out how little not only we horse owners, but many of the professionals we trust, know about hoof function.

It was happening upon some info to doubt, & ultimately rehabilitate a couple of 'incurable' (by many 'experts' previously consulted) lame oldies I had that got me into this profession in the first place. That is why I think it's so vital for us to do our own research, learn as much as we can, so we can make informed decisions on which approaches, principles, 'experts' we will follow. To that end, hoofrehab.com is a great resource to start with.

FWIW, I would have advised keeping shoes off & using boots & pads for those feet until they were healthy. It was probably appropriate to relieve the walls(not just at the toe) immediately, including rolling/backing up to the white line, not rasping into the sole. I may have slightly lowered those very long, underslung heels, but would be taking them down only gradually over a number of trims. If the toe & quarters are prevented from stretching forward, this will reduce the pull on the heels, allowing them to begin growing more vertically. I would almost invariably(I'm sure there are exceptions to that rule too) take drawing blood(or even pink) as a farrier error.

Back to OP, I forgot to mention that considering his weak, contracted thrushy frogs, something like Vettec Sole Guard may be the best thing for getting him comfortably using his heels for good hoof function & circulation.

Ah no, when the Farrier brought his extreme long toe back, there was alot of bruising and blood underneith his sole that was showing through - DUE to the long toe, NO sole and NO heel.

So all the pressure that was being pushed into his toes, was the result.

That had nothing to do with the new Farrier who found it.