matryoshka
06-27-2005, 11:23 PM
I'm trimming a horse for a friend. The gelding has been diagnosed with navicular, and is typically not very sound. He's turned out 24/7, and is more sound some days than others. He had is shoes pulled about 12 weeks ago (kept pulling them himself anyway).
As of about 4 weeks ago when I first trimmed him, the hoof walls had cracked and reshaped themselves. The right front hoof was developing into a club. All 4 feet had seriously contracted heels, and back of the frog was recessed beyond the sole on all feet. Thrush, too.
I trimmed to the live sole and didn't try to correct the club foot. I don't think I removed enough toe from the LF foot and should have brought the breakover back more. The bars had grown all around the frog on both front feet. I trimmed these back somewhat, hoping it would allow the heels to expand and encourage the frog to come into contact with the ground. Also treated the thrush and instructed owner to treat it, too. He walked off more comfortable after the trim than before. Okay so far, I thought.
When I trimmed him today, his RF was even more clubby, with much more heel, and he didn't want to stand on it for long--no dishing in the toe, it is simply worn off. He puts most of his weight on his LF foot. I notice that when he grazes, he puts the LF forward and stretches the RF back like a foal. There was a lot of pink in toe area of the white line in the LF foot. This concerned me. I did a better job of bringing the toe back without touching the toe callus. The heels had spread a bit since the last trim, and he had more frog, which looked healthier. Again, the bars had grown all the way to the point of the frog, so I trimmed them back carefully.
I think I made a mistake with the clubby foot. The amount of heel alarmed me, and I trimmed it back fairly aggressively (broke my own rule about removing live sole). I was concerned that the amount of heel was tipping his foot so far forward that he'd be practically standing on the tip of the coffin bone. The frog commisure was very deep at the heel. While I didn't try to bring this back to a normal angle, I tried to get it back enough to encourage some frog contact.
He was sore when I started the trim and sore when I finished. :( He's not pointing and doesn't head bob, but he's not comfortable, either.
I've definitely got to have another farrier or experienced trimmer look at the horse. I'm way out of my depth. I wanted to get opinions from the experts on this forum about how to handle the club. Should I just let it go clubby and not worry about how high his heel gets? The horse is retired, and the owner simply wants him comfortable. She'd love to be able to trail ride him at the walk with maybe a little trotting. I seem to be heading in the wrong direction with this. I've seen clubbed feet before, but I've never had one formed in front of my eyes. What should I do? :confused:
Thanks in advance,
Pam
As of about 4 weeks ago when I first trimmed him, the hoof walls had cracked and reshaped themselves. The right front hoof was developing into a club. All 4 feet had seriously contracted heels, and back of the frog was recessed beyond the sole on all feet. Thrush, too.
I trimmed to the live sole and didn't try to correct the club foot. I don't think I removed enough toe from the LF foot and should have brought the breakover back more. The bars had grown all around the frog on both front feet. I trimmed these back somewhat, hoping it would allow the heels to expand and encourage the frog to come into contact with the ground. Also treated the thrush and instructed owner to treat it, too. He walked off more comfortable after the trim than before. Okay so far, I thought.
When I trimmed him today, his RF was even more clubby, with much more heel, and he didn't want to stand on it for long--no dishing in the toe, it is simply worn off. He puts most of his weight on his LF foot. I notice that when he grazes, he puts the LF forward and stretches the RF back like a foal. There was a lot of pink in toe area of the white line in the LF foot. This concerned me. I did a better job of bringing the toe back without touching the toe callus. The heels had spread a bit since the last trim, and he had more frog, which looked healthier. Again, the bars had grown all the way to the point of the frog, so I trimmed them back carefully.
I think I made a mistake with the clubby foot. The amount of heel alarmed me, and I trimmed it back fairly aggressively (broke my own rule about removing live sole). I was concerned that the amount of heel was tipping his foot so far forward that he'd be practically standing on the tip of the coffin bone. The frog commisure was very deep at the heel. While I didn't try to bring this back to a normal angle, I tried to get it back enough to encourage some frog contact.
He was sore when I started the trim and sore when I finished. :( He's not pointing and doesn't head bob, but he's not comfortable, either.
I've definitely got to have another farrier or experienced trimmer look at the horse. I'm way out of my depth. I wanted to get opinions from the experts on this forum about how to handle the club. Should I just let it go clubby and not worry about how high his heel gets? The horse is retired, and the owner simply wants him comfortable. She'd love to be able to trail ride him at the walk with maybe a little trotting. I seem to be heading in the wrong direction with this. I've seen clubbed feet before, but I've never had one formed in front of my eyes. What should I do? :confused:
Thanks in advance,
Pam