sole being pushed in?

[wrightdanes]

Barefoot 5 months now. Encountering new issues. The walls are MUCH thicker at the toe and very thin at the heels and quarters. At the quarters and forward, the sole looks like it's being squished inwards, and dirt has packed up into the wl. Is this something that's growing out or something new? Horse is sound on gravel. Currently trimming back overlayed bars and working on evening out the heels. I'm addressing this issue by more agressively rasping back the wall at the squished area, trimming the squished area down (this is sole, so I'm a little apprehensive...) and rounding the rest. Any thought?

[THamilton]

Is there any way that you could post a large picture? that thumbnail one shown did not show much detail.

Thanks,
Tony

[belhaven]

Just some thoughts....often structures will grow to share the load when other structures are weak or missing.

You mention the walls are thin at the quarters and heels...and you mention you are trimming overlaid bars...often that is defeating the purpose...

This photo is hard to comment on much, but it appears the heels are weak or lacking 'heel purchase'-in this case the bars can and will overgrow to share the load until the heels get stronger.

If you remove or lower or whatever to the bars and they grow right back, nature is letting you know the horse needs that structure at that moment.

just something to think about.

[wrightdanes]

Have to agree with you about the bars, they regrow overnight. I left them alone for three weeks and they seem better, but then the new problem started.

http://photos.yahoo.com/wrightdanes Bigger picture

On the third picture I drew an arrow on the picture where you can see the pushed in sole. I also outlined the bars and the uneven heels (working on that slowly...)

The second picture is of the horse's conformation (long in the back, short in the neck, and long toes - but we love her)

The first picture is what this all looked like in June 2006 - wow it's amazing what 9 months of pathetic trimming and shoing can do to a hoof.

[belhaven]

Hmmmm...Well...I certainly wouldn't take my word as golden! And all disclaimers apply-photos can be deceiving, etc...but here are just some thoughts that jumped out at me.

I am not sure that I am seeing 'pushed in sole'---it might just be a natural remodeling of the hoof shape....for good or bad...or what it needs right now. I use different 'landmarks' to balance the foot...one is having a an even thickness of 'hoof' from the junction of the sole and white line. Until your eye gets really good, it can help to use a sharpie pen to draw that line, then you can balance the foot easier. This might help rebalance this issue?

What do front and side shots show-is there a flare at this spot? I bet there might be...

From this photo, it looks like the bars still need to grow in and get stronger-and there does seem to be a lack of 'heel purchase'-you want good strong heel purchase as that is the first 'landing zone' when the horse has a slight heel first landing (important from healthy and proper stimulus!)

I wouldn't worry so much about making the heels even to the line you have drawn-I have had better luck just balancing the height of the heel to the sole on that heel's side (as opposed to making the heels even to each other)...sometimes one heel may end up a bit forward of the other.

The inner wall (the unpigmented wall) looks thin all around...I have been taught this structure is an important part in buffering impact...when it is lacking you can get sore feet and chipping and breaking etc. I have found when it thins out in the quarters it is allowing the foot to 'scoop' naturally in the quarters...

The frog has some tattered sides that could be cleaned up to prevent fungus or bacteria growth-I trim mine with a 45 degree edge down the side of the frog...it also isn't the most 'full' of frogs and may benefit from a product called CleanTrax..works wonders.

And the foot looks like it could use a stronger bevel or mustang roll..relieving the outer wall from being the primary weight bearing structure-this will also give more proper stimulus to the inner wall which will help it get stronger.

Again, these are just comments from what I have been taught and what has worked for me...there are lots of different ideas on what is the purpose of each structure, etc...

But heck, at the end of the day you said he is sound on gravel-that is a pretty good test of how things are going! :D

[wrightdanes]

Thanks for your comments. The condition of the frogs is strange, I think they may have gotten burned by the heat of the desert sand and when the monsoons hit, they sloughed off. This horse's toes were way to long in shoes (but hey, I wasn't as educated back when we got her shod...) and we've been working on decontraction and pulling the heels back from being run under. It's been just recently that I've seen these changes. I'll try taking more photos this weekend - five days after I shaved off the rippeled sole area. The trimmer also said to put coppertox or thrush buster intot the wl separation areas.

[THamilton]

I believe what you are seeing in regards to the frog, when you mention that it was "burned" is not that at all. The frog can act like a callus on a human in the regard that it gets built up and then sloughs off. Most of the time owners do not see this occur. When they do it is just hanging there or looks shredded. This is usually after some moisture has caused it to become loose.

Tony