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Looking for opinions on these hooves.

3K views 20 replies 3 participants last post by  princessfluffybritches 
#1 · (Edited)
I want to know over all what you see and how you feel about them. Horse is around 18. Is worked lightly. Gets hay and pasture. Bit of an air fern.

I would like to give some of my thoughts/questions I've come across. His front and back feet are more upright on the medial side, and seem to spread out/flare on the lateral side. When looking at the sole view, especially on the fronts, the lateral side seems wider and I feel like the wall grows a lot faster. Is this simply his way of movement or trimming fault?

Also I noticed up around the front of the frog he tends to build a lot of sole. It follows the line of the bars.. but doesn't really look like bar material. I tried cleaning it out really well, but it seemed to just pop right back up like it wanted to be there so I left it alone. I just realized though I didn't get a picture.

It looks to me like his toes are still long and stretched and his heels could come back under more. Especially in the front feet. Its been at least three weeks since a trim.

Front Legs (Right First)

Right Lateral
 

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#5 ·
Bravo on the back feet!!!! Nice and healthy.
LF. I think either the way the horse stands, or the hairy legs make this hoof look like it has a real odd angle. But, after using my trusty little angle thing, the angle looks good, but you have some toe distortion. If you lay a straight edge on the front of the hoof, you will see that the toe/flare needs to come off.

Medials are always straighter than lateral sides.

The RF. The periople (sp) and the coronary band make the hoof look crooked, or it is uneven. You want the coronary band nice and smooth and straight without jams. If you look at the band, it will tell you where you need to trim a bit more. Also , time to back up those toes. Lay down on the ground in front of the horse and look to see if the coronary band is dipping on one side. You'd be surprised at what you see at ground level.

Then there's the problem with camera distortion. The first pic of the RF looks good, the second pic makes the toe and angle look to long and low. Only you have hoof in hand, and can find the truth.
 
#7 ·
Princessfluffy! Thank you! I planned on trimming today so I will make sure and take after photos. I think I get what you mean about the right front. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't seeing things. :lol:

What's funny.. I trim the back feet hardly ever, they just take care of themselves.
Well at least someone likes me! LOL. I always consider self trimming a really good thing. :D
 
#10 ·
Right, firstly, nice observations! I agree with you, and it is common/normal for the lateral sides to be more sloping, esp in fore feet & not necessarily a problem. Agree toes are long all round & agree with your obs that you think the ridge of sole extending around the frog apex should stay. Don't know about any research done on that specifically, but it is common in heavy breeds(is he Friesian?) & I surmise that it's to give more support under the sole of big heavies.

Sole pics are necessary for a more accurate idea. Can't give more than rough guess without. Toes appear a bit long all round, esp it seems, the left hind. Front heels appear too high. Notice too that you can see the daylight under the left fore, in the pic of the left hind heel. Poss not a problem if horse is always on yielding terrain, but is obviously very peripherally loaded on concrete. And if on hard ground & for whatever reason can't lower heels, I'd consider using frog supports for a while.

Can't tell for sure without sole pics etc, but it appears that the fores at least, are more flared on the medial sides. Can you see the difference between the *sloping* wall on the lateral side v's the *flared* inside? Assuming it is as it appears, I'd be thinking the internal structures(pedal bone) is dictating that the lateral side 'should' be like that, due to the way horse loads his feet, but that the medial side flares need treating.

Well at least someone likes me! LOL. I always consider self trimming a really good thing. :grin:
Hey I like you too fluffy!:hug:
...& agree with most of what you say, most of the time. I do however think that using a 'trusty angle thingy' is a dangerous habit to get into & with only those pics to go on, I'd hesitate to say anything at all about angles particularly. Excepting that hairline angles give some idea too as to how much/little to 'respect' apparent pastern/toe wall angles.

Re balance & camera 'distortion' it appears that the medial right fore heel is higher than the lateral side, but the heel shot of that foot shows it's possibly skewed the other way, or that the camera is on an angle. If that hoof is more skewed, it's also very possible it's a body issue & it should stay that way, at least until/unless a bodyworker makes it otherwise. Re 'self trimming', body issues are probably relevant there too, as you haven't trimmed hinds & RH looks pretty good but LH looks long in the toe/too sloping.
 
#11 ·
Right, firstly, nice observations! I agree with you, and it is common/normal for the lateral sides to be more sloping, esp in fore feet & not necessarily a problem. Agree toes are long all round & agree with your obs that you think the ridge of sole extending around the frog apex should stay. Don't know about any research done on that specifically, but it is common in heavy breeds(is he Friesian?) & I surmise that it's to give more support under the sole of big heavies.

Sole pics are necessary for a more accurate idea. Can't give more than rough guess without. Toes appear a bit long all round, esp it seems, the left hind. Front heels appear too high. Notice too that you can see the daylight under the left fore, in the pic of the left hind heel. Poss not a problem if horse is always on yielding terrain, but is obviously very peripherally loaded on concrete. And if on hard ground & for whatever reason can't lower heels, I'd consider using frog supports for a while.

Can't tell for sure without sole pics etc, but it appears that the fores at least, are more flared on the medial sides. Can you see the difference between the *sloping* wall on the lateral side v's the *flared* inside? Assuming it is as it appears, I'd be thinking the internal structures(pedal bone) is dictating that the lateral side 'should' be like that, due to the way horse loads his feet, but that the medial side flares need treating.

Hey I like you too fluffy!:hug:
...& agree with most of what you say, most of the time. I do however think that using a 'trusty angle thingy' is a dangerous habit to get into & with only those pics to go on, I'd hesitate to say anything at all about angles particularly. Excepting that hairline angles give some idea too as to how much/little to 'respect' apparent pastern/toe wall angles.

Re balance & camera 'distortion' it appears that the medial right fore heel is higher than the lateral side, but the heel shot of that foot shows it's possibly skewed the other way, or that the camera is on an angle. If that hoof is more skewed, it's also very possible it's a body issue & it should stay that way, at least until/unless a bodyworker makes it otherwise. Re 'self trimming', body issues are probably relevant there too, as you haven't trimmed hinds & RH looks pretty good but LH looks long in the toe/too sloping.
Not Friesian, but Morgan. :) And he has a lot of heavy breed qualities. He has great bone, a big neck and a big head with this compact body. Plus he is short. He is cute, I swear.

Alright.. so I have some confusion/questions now. I trimmed him last night and I have those current pictures. When I was lowering his heels I noticed that the lateral looked lower than the medial but was still farther away from the sole. Like from the sole view the medial was shorter and the lateral longer, but from the ground it is the opposite. I try to make the heals the same height according to sole. Is that incorrect?

What do you think should be addressed immediately and in what order?
 
#12 ·
Alright, last nights photo's. Which I'm noticing.. it doesn't really look like I did anything. :-|

I really wish there were good farriers around here.. but honestly his feet look so much better since I started doing it myself.
 

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#14 ·
Take some sole pics as well. I was getting screwed up with my heels too until someone said that one heel was a bit more curved than the other. The other thing is that the flared side always seems to look longer. And my horse has crooked ankles but they are built on level hooves.

So I will take Loosie's advice and have some chocolate and chill.
 
#15 ·
Awww, thanks for mutual like! I would have to think our differences are mostly based on photo distortion, and looking at things from different directions. I think, with most of us, we all agree on the result we want .

Yes, I use hoof angle. I like to know what I've done, and keep track of it. It also gives me a good double check and helps me keep track of trims month to month

The angle thingy is just a 45 degree piece of paper that I feel helps me with sort out some distortion on a posted picture, and just used to help figure if a pic of a hoof is above 45 degrees or below 45 degrees. Hopefully not below.

I'll have to see what hair lines do for me!

Highon equine, to take level pics, put horse on level surface. Hold camera propped on pinkies on the level surface.
 
#16 ·
Yes, I use hoof angle. I like to know what I've done, and keep track of it. It also gives me a good double check and helps me keep track of trims month to month
Yep, measurements, comparing angles, pics, etc, are indeed a good idea I reckon, *for observation of changes & very general guidelines. Just generally not(ELPO & such guidelines different IMO) as a 'template' for trimming.

HoE, I'll get back to you, but in the meantime, yeah, sole pics & more 'square' views of hoof on ground. I know good pics can be difficult. If you don't have hard, flat surface, standing the horse on a piece of plywood or such is helpful.
 
#18 ·
Okay I have sole and new heel shots on level ground! And I swear I am not trying to overload you all with pictures.. Oh I included a few full body. Idk if that will help anything. The first four are Left, the rest right.
 

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#19 ·
I see what you mean. See his crooked pasterns and the outer flare skew what is real. Looks like both from the front look like they are short on the medial side according to the coronary band. From underneath , the heels look the same length and might look higher on the outside because the quarter may be higher, not necessarily the heel. If the heel was left alone, but you take a few swipes on the quarter would that make a difference? Also, take a light swipe on the medial toe. Wait for other replies.

The right hoof looks good. I personally would not back the toe up, I think it's appropriate but give it a nice roll.

I've learned that sometimes the toe quarters are uneven and makes the heels look uneven but it's not really the heels.
 
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