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Messed up hoof

8K views 20 replies 8 participants last post by  mls 
#1 · (Edited)
How would you fix this hoof? The hoof is cracked, lopsided and has a dip in it. This horse is from a ranch that did their own farrier work(c*** work). I need tips before my farrier comes out. I want to know what's going on and how to fix this hoof, so I am prepared for what he will be suggesting. The other hooves look bad but not as bad as this one.
 
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#2 ·
Its really difficult to tell from that picture. It would be easier to see the whole leg with the hoof. It looks to me like the horse is built upright. If you can take a picture of the leg, hoof and even better, an underside shot it would be easier for the people with knowledge to reply.

The horse is flared and looks like it may have to much heel.
 
#4 ·
Here is a great reference to try and figure out angles.

LOOKING FOR BALANCE

If you look at the horses left foot and look at the right foot- you can see it has more heel on the right. The horse doesn't have a lot of toe but its angle is bad. Flares happen when- the hoof is out of balance or its too long. It looks as though because its out of balance its putting more weight on the inside of the foot. It may be the picture but it also looks swollen in its pastern.


Of course the whole horses build/conformation is also a big factor in determining how to trim/shoe properly also.
 
#5 ·
It looks to me like the horse has a clubbed foot. Your farrier will be able to give you the best game-plan because he will be able to get a good feel for what the angles should be and how the horse moves on the foot. Likely, the 'dip' that we are seeing is due to flare in the hoof wall because it hasn't been trimmed properly. With good trimming and quite a bit of time, it will look a lot better. However, I seriously doubt that it will ever look like a "normal" foot.
 
#6 ·
You are right there is more wear on the inside of the foot. I've seen earlier photos of this horse and there was no club foot.
I have a good farrier but need opinions from other sources such as here. Because you never know my farrier may not be correct or may have a bad plan. So then I may have to switch farriers.
 
#7 ·
Thats not club footed... It high heal and weak wall causing flaring out and that odd shape.. That foot is way to up right and its actually not really a hard fix.... start by lowering the heel and taking some more off the outside. This will allow for better weight distribution. Its hard to tell but if his inner hoof wall is rolled under then you will want to take some off the inside as well cause you want to see his hoof unroll. Its hard to say where to go from there though, its all a matter of how his hoof reacts to your trim....

My old gelding was pigeon toed and club footed in his front end, and I had him shod (trusted my farrier)... and it kept getting worse. One day I just took his shoes off and did it my self.. working on his feet once a week to even him out best I could.. he was more balanced and had better movement... landing heel first...

With any horse, and especially a horse with hoof problems it takes time to work through, but I think weekly minor adjustment help more, cause your not cause extra undo stress to there tendons and stance. If there have poor trimming there muscles and tendons will get use to it over time. So massive change will cause great discomfort and more problems you will have to correct later.

His foot looks like that cause he has a weak hoof wall, high heel, and poor trimming job causing flaring and then when the flaring was not addressed it started back up the hoof wall that is why you see waves. He needs to be bare foot with a good almost (to much) of a mustang roll to remove any pressure off the outer hoof wall. Then rasp off some of the waving to help the new hoof wall have a path to follow. He also need a good break over point (ie rasping the front of the hoof flat to allow his foot to tip over when he is steeping) With out a good break over point you will again put pressure on the outside wall (avoid this). The rasping heel and side walls will balance his foot (make sure it flat side to side and front to back when you look down it) If his whole foot seems to be leaning to the outside thats cause the outside wall it to long causing his weight to rest on the inner wall and the inside wall is also to long but slanted under cause it to look short, you will need to trim both the outer and inner wall but more so the outer to let his weight come off the inner wall allowing it to grow back out to the right angle. You may even need to over trim the out side wall a little ie. the inside wall it slightly higher to allow the inside wall to grow out with less pressure.

If your not going to handle his feet your self, you should still educate your self to know when you farrier is messing up. Cause this is how problems like this happen, just a lack of knowledge.

Cheers Tanya

Hope that helps... that just what I would do, but I am not a professional.
 
#10 ·
Thats not club footed... It high heal and weak wall causing flaring out and that odd shape.. That foot is way to up right and its actually not really a hard fix.... start by lowering the heel and taking some more off the outside. This will allow for better weight distribution. Its hard to tell but if his inner hoof wall is rolled under then you will want to take some off the inside as well cause you want to see his hoof unroll. Its hard to say where to go from there though, its all a matter of how his hoof reacts to your trim....

My old gelding was pigeon toed and club footed in his front end, and I had him shod (trusted my farrier)... and it kept getting worse. One day I just took his shoes off and did it my self.. working on his feet once a week to even him out best I could.. he was more balanced and had better movement... landing heel first...

With any horse, and especially a horse with hoof problems it takes time to work through, but I think weekly minor adjustment help more, cause your not cause extra undo stress to there tendons and stance. If there have poor trimming there muscles and tendons will get use to it over time. So massive change will cause great discomfort and more problems you will have to correct later.

His foot looks like that cause he has a weak hoof wall, high heel, and poor trimming job causing flaring and then when the flaring was not addressed it started back up the hoof wall that is why you see waves. He needs to be bare foot with a good almost (to much) of a mustang roll to remove any pressure off the outer hoof wall. Then rasp off some of the waving to help the new hoof wall have a path to follow. He also need a good break over point (ie rasping the front of the hoof flat to allow his foot to tip over when he is steeping) With out a good break over point you will again put pressure on the outside wall (avoid this). The rasping heel and side walls will balance his foot (make sure it flat side to side and front to back when you look down it) If his whole foot seems to be leaning to the outside thats cause the outside wall it to long causing his weight to rest on the inner wall and the inside wall is also to long but slanted under cause it to look short, you will need to trim both the outer and inner wall but more so the outer to let his weight come off the inner wall allowing it to grow back out to the right angle. You may even need to over trim the out side wall a little ie. the inside wall it slightly higher to allow the inside wall to grow out with less pressure.

If your not going to handle his feet your self, you should still educate your self to know when you farrier is messing up. Cause this is how problems like this happen, just a lack of knowledge.

Cheers Tanya

Hope that helps... that just what I would do, but I am not a professional.
Are you for real? How many club feet have you re-habed this way? Do you know what causes club feet, "all" the causes? How about the possibility of damage to the coffin bone due to a lack of sole depth ,a direct result of mechanical rotation in the hoof capsule? OMG:-:)cry::?
 
#9 ·
Glad to help.. I learned most things I know by doing it wrong and messing up first LOL So I have slowly learned better and easer ways through many bumps, scraps, buries, blisters, and miles of rope burn.

Good luck, I totally think that foot is fixable, but I really would not shoe him (if you need more protection get cavallo or old mac boots, they do not damage or bite the hoof wall, that very important to help him along). In a year he should be fine.
 
#13 ·
If it isn't a club foot, then there is something else going on in either the tendons of the leg, the pastern joint itself or the hoof capsule. For that pastern to be so much more upright than the other one really concerns me.

And hearts, don't mind them. While we, as a community, can be rather blunt and opinionated at times, we always have the horse's best interests in mind :). There are some instances of snarkiness, but we are a very good community in general.
 
#16 ·
Here is a video explaining a club footed and how it may be treated. This is a much younger horse, this means there is a higher chance of recovery.



I don't think thats what your horse has... but that just my opinion, the help of a hands on "professional" is what you need to help you set a path to recovery. I am careful with the word "professional" for the reason that just cause a person has done some schooling, and has a piece of paper does not make them good at there job. I would trust a person with experience, and a passion for horses before I would trust someone with just paper work, but no heart. We all have delta with a so called "professional" at some point in our lives who did not care or know what they were doing. For your horses sake, trust yourself and if it does not seem right to you its probably not... trust yourself and learn as much as you can from many points of view... that will allow you the best options to make a informed decisions. I never do something to my horses unless it is explained to me and it makes sense to me, other wise I wont make a decision until I have learned more. Its not worth putting my horses health or wellness at risk cause I am to lazy to learn.

I really do hope your horse will be fine, there feet are really one of the most important parts on their body, and its always a little scary when things go wrong.

Your totally on the right track anyways by asking questions and not being blindly lead....

Good Luck
Cheers Tanya
 
#18 ·
Its flared because the horse is out of balance, yes. What is happening the dip (flare) that you are referring to is actually the hoof wall pulling away from the coffin bone. So basically the horse is trying to self trim in the "dip" (flare area). I do not see club. I see way out of balance due to the horse having a very high heel, and who knows it could be due to a injury and it has had to carry itself that way to relieve pain somewhere. Its too hard to tell.

Example: I rescued a shetland pony once. Her feet were horrible. The owner said to me- I dont know why that foot (left hind) looks so bad. It was a lot longer than the other feet. I knew why. Because she wasn't using it and hadn't used that foot in a long time, as it was at least 3 inches longer than the others.
 
#19 ·
Yukontanya and Bntnail can't we all get along. Lol. Here is the thing with questions about feet or anything else. You ask 10 different people you might get 10 different ideas. Every horse is different so are the feet and what may work for 1 person may not work for the other person.
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