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Hoofcare & Information for Barefoot Soundness

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

Rosey

Club Foot Turn Around

5/22/2008 - Remove Shoes & Setup Trim

8/12/2008 - Wall Flare --->>> Tight Wall Connection

11/26/2008 & 5/12/2009 - Making Progress
7/21/2009 & 8/11/2009 - Major Changes!
11/3/2009 - Real Results 18 Months Later

Rosey's front right foot went through a lot of changes in the first 3 months, and I don't honestly understand why. The picture below left is from immediately after shoes were pulled, and the two shots to the right are mid-trim 8/12, 3 months later. The tight wall growth at the top of the foot is very obvious.

When I'm bringing back toes on feet that have comfortable heels and ok digital cushions, I bring them back to within about 1/8 inch of the toe callous. On the pictures below, I outlined the callous made by the pressure of P3 pressing against the sole, and as I brought the toe back, I watched for the darkening of the lamellar connection... when I start to see a slight reddish tinge I stop.

NOTE: Bringing a toe back this far on a foot that has poor caudal development ( soft digital cushion, weak lateral cartilages) can backfire. I bring toes back like this on feet only if the owner agrees to keep the horse booted and padded 27x7 until the horse is really moving well.

Post trim, below, shows how I am thinning the wall to encourage it to wear faster. I typically only trim 1/4 to 1/3 inch above the ground, and in this case thinned the wall higher to try to acccelerate the rate of wear in the toe wall vs the heel. The quarters are starting to relax, but have a long way to go. I don't show the solar view (the pictures were fuzzy, taken on the wrong setting) but I keep the wall 1/8 inch beyond the sole except at the toe, and am lightly beveling the heel - barely touching.

This gelding was probably grained as he was is a show barn, being prepared for sale, and he has signs of mild laminitis, most noticeably the wall flare and spreading out of growth rings at the heel on the club foot.

One thing I notice in feet that are transitioning from a rich diet to a low-carb diet is the wall integrity... the wall at the bottom of the hood is flared and soft looking, the wall at the top is tighter and denser in appearance. I use wood as an analogy... pine is soft and teak is dense.

The Club Foot

This foot concerned the owners more than it did me... I was more focused on the low-heeled white hoof. The club heel was staying down, but we hadn't had the sole shed out yet. Before I trim a club foot I check the heel purchase to see if its being used aggressively, or if the horse is weighting the toe. In Rosey's case, he was using the whole foot well and was landing on his heel.

I am really conscious of the frog on high heels, because a thrush infection is one of the main reasons a high heel stays high. In this case, Rosey has a healthy frog considering he just came out of shoes.