Vertical crack with coronary involvement?

[ThrghbrdJmpr]

Hello! I have a 10yr old thoroughbred gelding that I am very worried about. I got him about 4 months ago and he had a hairline vertical crack top to bottom in the front center of his right hoof then. I was told not to worry about it it would heal and grow out by both the farrier and the vet. Well here we are 4 months later and the crack has changed substantially, is still extending from the coronary all the way dosn, has not grown out at all and is actually overlapping itself in spots. Also at the top of the crack the coronary itself appears pushed upwards a little. My farrier keeps saying don't worry it's fine, but I AM worried and am grawing moreso. He wears shoes on the front only and keeps them on well. Both front feet dish inward and flatten out significantly at the bottom. He is developing more vertical cracks in his left foot also although they are still very small. He's wearing regular steel shoes. I apply Hoofsaver twice weekly because it is quite dry here right now. He has moved recently and went from a much wetter environment to a dry one. I am not sure what to make of this, but I am very nervous about the coronary deformity and the fact that it has not grown down at all in 4 months, when there has been obvious hoof growth. HELP!

[caballus]

My preference would be to pull the shoes and get those toes way back ... and the walls down level to the sole callous. The flares indicate excessive pressure from the walls and the changing in the crack indicates the excessive pressure from the toe AND walls together. I'd also check to make sure the heels are down where they belong so the center of weight bearing is in the proper place of the hoof. As long as the toes are left and the walls are left the hoof will continue to crack and the existing crack will deepen.

--caballus

[ThrghbrdJmpr]

The toes could definately come back some, I'm not sure how much farther back you could go otherwise. The hoof is not really beyond his sole much at all because we have been cutting him back as far as possible. I did take photos yesterday from all angles and will post them as soon as I can. His heel are pretty low, probably borderline underslung. I'll get the pics up soon. Thanks!

[caballus]

Underslung is actually LONG heels that through the leverages and pressure of weight bearing have begun to grow forwards instead of straight. (This further indicates that the toes are too long.) Once trimmed up will grow more upright rather than slung forward. Many times I hear, "oh, the heels don't grow so we had to throw on shoes." when actually, I look and find 4 INCH long heels that have underslung and rolled over to form false sole. Nasty business. Also, the toes can come *back* right to the white line to get that pressure off. I've even trimmed back into the white line to bring toes back in order to get a good breakover and balance. Mind you, I don't mean *shorten* the toes from the bottom but bring them back toward the frog so the entire hoof will be shortened - more "round" when looking at the sole/bottom of the hoof rather than oval shaped. As the hooves grow you would allow for more wall to develop so that an even-thickness wall, all the way around, will be noticeable in a few months.

Will look forward to seeing the photos!

:) cab

[ThrghbrdJmpr]

I guess I didn't describe underslung very well in reference to his heels. I say low because the bulbs are on the ground and they are actually long, not as severe as I've seen in other horses, but he is underslung. I understand what you're saying now by bringing them back. I was thinking of it in a different way. Thank you for explaining that further to me! I appreciate the help and suggestions!

[ThrghbrdJmpr]

I finally got photos of his feet to post. Plase let me know what you think...

[caballus]

Well, here are some ROUGH sketches of how I would trim up these hooves AFTER pulling shoes:

http://www.barefoottrim.com/Untitled-1.JPG
http://www.barefoottrim.com/Untitled-2.JPG
http://www.barefoottrim.com/Untitled-3.JPG

[danverschild]

Yikes! How long have these shoes been on??

[Trodelphin]

yeah those shoes look like been on too long no support at heels by about an inch or two
:(

trodelphin

[FrankLaursen]

I agree the farrier is right don't worry about the crack I would be more worried about the issues you are going to have if the farrier thinks this is a reasonable shoe job get yourself a farrier that will trim that foot properly and applied shoes to a standard that would be good for the horse and support him/her

[ThrghbrdJmpr]

That shoe job was about 4 days old when I took those photos. He always left him long toes out with the shoes way under his heels. When the man decided to tell me that the horse also had laminitis (after he has never taken a lame step, except for a major stone bruise) I switched to a new farrier. While his feet are still very much a work in progress they look nothing like this now. The new farrier has actually done most of what caballus suggested. The old farrier said he was afraid to do too much with his coffin rotation as bad as it was. I calld him after I had Hawke xrayed to tell him there was in fact no rotation and he needed to go back to school. Thanks for all the help and support from all of you!
Angela

[Moses Shaw]

any chance we could see some recent pics of hawke's feet to see how they have responded ?

[ThrghbrdJmpr]

I'll take mycamera with me next time I go out there. He's spending the winter and summer with a young friend of mine as I'm pregnant and can't ride till the fall. I'll be going to visit again in a few weeks. I'll take some then. Thanks again!

Angela