solid soles

[tracerjack]

I have been trimming by own horses for about 30 years. I have had one or two horses during that time where the bar growth and sole are one solid sheet. I can get the nipper under the sheet at the toe, and this sheet practically pops off. There is always soft crumbly sole between this sheet and the new sole. The ground where I live is entirely sandy loam. I ride recreationally, 2x a week for 1 hour, so the horse have always been barefoot. I have a 24 year old mare now whose hooves do this. I have always wondered why this occurs.
Sally

[wundahoss]

Hi,
It sounds like what you're talking about are folded and very long bars that have grown over the sole. The flakey material underneath is just dead excess sole material with nowhere to go.

Folded underrun bars are sometimes even seen in the wild in constantly soft or wet conditions. This is because there is not enough abrasion to wear the bars down.

Unfortunately, this *can* sometimes compromise the foot and may also lead to abcesses due to pressure on the sole from the bars.

I would advise to get a hoofknife to them & cut them back so that they are upright and no longer folded over the sole. Keeping the bars upright, through trimming them to level with or just a bit longer than the sole will eventually cause them to straighten and strengthen so that they can do the job they are designed to without undue pressure on the sole.

Hope this is helpful to you.
wundahoss

[Dave Purves]

Many people call this a "retained" or "false" sole. The majority of horses that I see this in are stall bound most of the time. They don't get out to run around and allow the sole to exfoliate. The flakey stuff is dead sole and the remains of fungus. The area between the false sole and the new live sole is a wonderful breeding place for fungus. Some horses I see this in are way overdue for a trim, some get trimmed every six weeks. I like to take my nippers and fold that sole back and cut it out, then trim normally.
good luck
Dave Purves CF

[tracerjack]

Thanks for the info. The two horses that did this were both in their middle twenties when I started to see this. It had to be the soft soil and their slowing down in activity. It still amazes me that the bars can flatten into one solid sheet. I keep looking for a separation somewhere, thinking there should be something at the tip of the frog, but it's solid from toe to heel and side to side. I'm glad I asked about it; I'll keep the sole cleaned off, and the bars straight from now on.
Sally Luntao