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Hoofcare & Information for Barefoot Soundness

Linda Cowles Hoof Care - Serving the greater SF Bay Area and Northern California

Chickapea

October 21, 2008

October 30, 2008

November 6, 2008
December 11, 2008
January 17, 2009
February 3, 2009
February 20, 2009

We raised quite a stir at the Western training barn where Chick is boarded when Penny announced that Chick was going barefoot. There were quite a few barefoot horses there, but they all had "good" feet.

Chick was viewed as a terminally shod horse whose feet were so horrible that they were literally a life support system for her. A teenager, Chick had been shod continually since she was 18 months old, and had special "navicular" shoes for over 8 years.

To quiet everyone's fears as well as to ensure that we knew what we were all in store for, we made the decision to get a full set of x-rays of the navicular foot along with a full vet work up and lameness exam prior to removing her shoes, and to have boots and cushioned padded insoles ready to protect her feet immediately after the shoes were removed.

Chick had x-rays taken by her prior owners vet several years ago. I had heard great things about one of the areas equine vet clinics, Cotati Large Animal Vet, and about one vet in particular, so I asked Penny to consider using them for the new work up. She agreed, and we trailered Chick the few miles to the clinic to get an assessment & x-rays, and to remove her shoes.

I had never personally worked with Dr Steve Wood, but he came highly recommended by several of my larger clients for his "make no assumptions" and quiet analytical approach to assessing the root cause of a problem. That's what I felt we needed now.

I've seen many horses diagnosed as "navicular" when the changes are insignificant and the heel pain ends up being the result of something like a severely under developed digital cushion or bad case of thrush, and was curious how Steve would assess these feet.

We got there, I took a few initial pictures, then Steve spent 10 to 15 minutes watching Chick walk and trot in the round-pen, and was patient as I worked, first taking photographs of her movement, then trying out my new video recorder to capture her gait.

Then he performed a series of blocks to isolate the cause of her lameness, quietly and carefully answering each question. His initial assessment, prior to x-rays, was that her problems could originate above the hoof, not specifically in the navicular region. I was pleased with his thoroughness and quiet, patient way of standing and carefully watching the horse move. We had lots of questions, which he answered thoroughly but simply.

Before Shoe Removal These shots of Chicks shod

Movement Assessment

These pictures were taken before we starting blocking to isolate the source of her discomfort. Note her distinct toe-first movement and the base-narrow movement of her hind feet. When you look at the second hoof shot, above, you can see the medial/lateral imbalance in her foot. The Lateral (outside) wall is shorter than the Medial (inside) wall due to chronic imbalance. When the horse walks on the outside wall chronically, the pressure on the edge of P3 causes coffin bone remodeling; the bone in the area under pressure decalcifies and begins to re-calcify a landing that is ground-parallel, resulting in a mitered coffin bone in that area.

If we make her feet comfortable and stop the tendency of her walls to over-wear Laterally and under-wear Medially, the coffin bone should regenerate on the lateral edge to some degree. I don't think there has been any significant scientific research to prove this, but barefoot practitioners are seeing antidotal experience.

Row Walk or Rope Walk?

The term "Row Walk" (sometimes called "Rope Walk") is a term used to describe the narrow-based movement of farm horses used to pull equipment in fields without trampling crops. Some horses, life drafts, have been bred for this movement, but most horses develop it while trying to avoid using their frogs or lateral cushions for weight bearing. Walking on lateral (outside) walls defeats "hoof mechanism" (the expansion and contraction of a hoof as it shifts between passive and maximum weight bearing) and is more comfortable for undeveloped feet or feet with any thrush.

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X-Rays & Pulling Shoes

I'll put the x-rays up on a separate page.

We didn't put markers on the hoof wall or use two blocks to balance feet because what we were looking for didn't require either. We were looking for navicular or arthritic changes that would be causing Chick's discomfort.

We took x-rays before and after removing shoes so that we could compare her angles... this was just to satisfy our curiosity...

Chicks feet looked even worse without shoes than they had in shoes... after pulling shoes off of over 700 horses, she has the most contracted heels I've even seen... tragic. I know they'll rehab, but its sad to see them be so distorted. This is what happens when horses never get a break from shoes.

Chick was very interested in the shoe removal process, and kept turning to watch. She kept licking, chewing, sighing and shaking her head, so glad to get the tight old shoes off.

Giving Up Metal Shoes, Not Hoof Protection!

We walked her to the trailer barefoot and she did fine. Once there, I fitted her with Old Mac's and pads, and her transition formally started. Once the boots were on, she took Penny for a long walk, circling the parking area at the vet clinic, taking nice longs strides and enjoying her unfettered yet well protected feet for the first time since she was a young filly.

They walked easily for ten minutes, with Chick calling all the shots until Penny finally had enough. Chick wanted to keep walking! Penny was ready to take her tired "Chick Book" (her nick-name for her check book) and go home.