Yes, he's a full percheron. His feet are actually really big, I promise. Almost as big as mine, and I've got pretty big feet. Haha They're the size of a small dinner plate. I'm hoping that this farrier is good because I don't want to find another one....

Full body pictures with the horses standing squarely would help as well. That will give a bit more information of how all the angles line up and how to trim the foot to meet the horses needs.

They are definitely in need of some better quality groceries to rebuild those hooves all nice and healthy. There's nothing you can put on the outside of the hoof that will help, and many goops can actually cause even more problems. Good solid healthy feet come from a good overall healthy horse.

Here's a picture or two of them. I know they're not standing square, but this is all I've got right now to be able to post.
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Your perch looks like he's had some Laminitis problems in the past. He'll likely need some corrective trimming for a while to get his hooves back into shape.

The trotter's front right looks like it's a bit club-footed. If it is, it will never look quite right, although it shouldn't cause lameness and a good farrier can make the best of it. Toes do look too long, but you have to see the sole to really know what's going on there.

A farrier who won't answer your questions and discuss your concerns with you doesn't need your business.

Look for a farrier who is familiar with modern barefoot trimming techniques, not just shoeing.

The new farrier came today. He was so patient and explained things to me very well. He told me that their feet weren't horrible, but could use some work. So he rasped the toes to help bring them back some. He also rasped the perchon's hoof on the outside to help with the small surface cracks he was getting. (Look at the fourth picture and you can see how it started to help smooth his foot too instead of it having divit.) He had to trim a ton off the percheron (almost an inch) even though the old farrier had been out 2 weeks ago to "touch them up." He actually knows her and was her farrier until she flipped out about the price to put pads on their feet, which was just the price of him purchasing the pads, not even doing the work. He also explained to me that the crack in the perchon's hoof will never actually grow out because dirt gets worked up into the very small crack, which is only big when it gets toward the bottom. He said the only way to really get rid of it is to cut it out, which would be expensive and possibly very painful for the horse. He told me to just keep an eye on it and make sure he doesn't favor the foot or start limping. The old farrier was convinced that she could trim it out eventually. I feel like he knows his stuff pretty well and was good with the horses. Here's some picture updates. Think they're looking better??? (I apologize for the quality of the ground they're on and the picture. I know they're not great pics again....)
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They all look a lot better to me. Stick with the new farrier. Sounds like the other lady became a farrier because she didn't like paying a farrier. She's probably self-taught. There are a lot of them around. Not saying some of them aren't pretty good, but when they get outside the ordinary, sometimes they lack knowledge and experience.

Thenrie... I don't know what her deal was, but we'll definitely be sticking with the new guy! Even if he is more expensive lol

They look a lot better from the new guy, though I tend to disagree with him on the crack. If you keep it cleaned out(pick the dirt out then brush with the pick brush) and apply some anti fungal product. It's a crack from where either an abscess blew out or there was trauma to the coronary band. It just takes a while to grow out because it has to grow down with the hoof wall.

And paying a little more for a trim is much, much better than paying hundreds or thousands if your horse goes lame, IMO. Trust me, I learned that the hard way.

Think of it this way, the crack could always be worst. And even if it dose not grow out no need to panic. My mare has a back crack and it will never heal.

Before shoes


After shoes :)

Thats a growth line from a coronet injury. A scar. These never go away. The OPs is from an abscess from what i can see and will grow out if fungal issues are kept from taking oppourtunistic hold. If dirt is causibg a problem, the hole can be cleaned and.filled with sometibg like equipak cs to.keep crap out. It should be grown out and healed up. Those turn into white line disease pretty easily meaning if you dont deal.with. it, you may have a big farrier issue and.possibly a sore horse or worse, lame, down the road anyway. Holes need to be dealt with if they are not growing out witb proper trimming. That floor is pretty dirty and poopy from what we.can.see so just asking for infection if it isnt there already. It would be good to clean it really well and try to keep poop and mud byildup from getting too bad till you get these feet in better shape.
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