Posted by Scott Chaney on April 19, 2001 at 21:37:51:
Hey All-
Well, as usual, you all came through. I'll be as honest as I can and tell you what else I know about some of the issues you raised.
Yes, the "slight red tinge" is blood. Like I said, none of this showed up in the prior shoeing and in my searching for the healthy area, I skimmed him a tad with the outside loop curve.
Of course, after seeing the advance stage of this insult, a patch was off the table.
In addressing the balance of the hoof, I must add that the horse's conformation is such that if trimmed lower, he will be much more broken back than he is already. His medial/lateral balance comes from an angular pastern deformity that does not allow his hoof to land properly and incorrectly loads the medial side of the hoof... and it sores him.
Just for the sake of information, his hoof angle regularly falls in the 44º-46º range with an obvious broken back condition. To elevate him to fit his conformation would take....?
I will however, pass all of your ideas (varied as they are) to the owner to show the wide range of opinions in dealing with this issue.
Funny how this all fits in to a "new" word I learned this week... "respect". It comes for a latin root that means "to look at again or with new perspective" with an open mind. As we take the time to 'relook' an issue, we gain respect for it. It's when we refuse to be willing to take another look and keep our minds closed that we lose our respect.
Please remember my thanks to you all,
Scott
shoesofiron@cs.com