Prissy - how'd I do?

[in_the_zone]

Prissy came to us yesterday and she hadn't seen food or farrier as of recently. You can see in the pix that she has had shoes on in recent past due to the nail and clip holes. The new owner is unsure of her history but says she may be recovering from founder. Could that be where the sole looks like it has split in the no touchy zone at the toe? The vet who came yelled seedy toe/white line disease (and shoes!) scaring the wits out of the new lady who isn't familiar with all these terms. Anyways, the regular farrier isn't scheduled to come out until January, so I offered to do them. Note on the pix: The pastern angle on the after side pix is not actually like that. She was unfortunately standing on a downward slope and I didn't notice until I got home and uploaded them onto my pc.

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/556255844kOVHWZ

[Thomas_Ride&Drive]

How comes the owner hasn't had the vet take x rays if previous founder is suspected and why hasn't she told the farrier that the horse can't wait till January so to come earlier?

Aside from that what do you think you've achieved or improved in doing what you've done?

I'd personally have said there's nothing that's improved and the balance is still poor. They're uneven and the flares are still there.

The owner would be better off getting a farrier out quicker.

[Forgewizard]

Well, the hoof certainly is long in the toe and contracted in the heels.

A couple of your heel shots show how you did remove a considerable amount of heel, which is o.k., but one of the shots shows heel on the left being rasped at an angle downward towards the frog commisseur. Was this intentionaland why? I prefer to try and rasp them level.

Also Id have taken the toe back more.Getting rid of the pull at the toe on hooves like these will be critical to helping that hoof get back under the limb in a proper form.

I'd have at least beveled ot the toe cracks or even chased tem a bit with my knofe. Then recommend the owner clean them out with peroxide and white vinegar to kill the infection.

I can see why the vet was hollering seedy toe, W/L and shoes. Proper shoes would help this horse as would proper central support.

There are some unevenhoof growth rings on these hooves, but whether that was just from a laminitic episode or a systemic change or environement change only time will tell. A founder can be proved by X-rays.

[Leslie Reinke]

The flares on the toe and inside need to be adressed. From the pictures it looks like the heels are not even/level. What is a no touchy zone?

[in_the_zone]

No touchy zone is the toe callous.

Yes, the heel is angled in a bit and it wasn't on purpose. I'm very inexperienced and clumbsy with the tools. The new owner doesn't have a lot of money and she bought this horse because it's health was quickly deteriorating when she found it. I figure the afters are better than the befores even if they aren't perfect. I was hoping to get some opinions on how to improve my trim. I'd like to believe that I was helping this horse the best I could until the farrier can address the issues in January.

[Peggy Dolan]

Well you can't say you didn't try, and alot of folks would not have the gumption to post, so good for you. If you and the owner find yourselves in a position that you just have to wait for the pro, it's not up to me to fuss. Now that you've got yourself into this, you can probably work your way out. Having this horse moving, out to pasture, light work, etc... will give you a wear pattern on the feet to aid your efforts. That toe should roll off pretty quickly if this horse is moving around. That would be the area that you can have another go at. Also work on your medial/lateral balance. Sight down the foot with the leg dangling, not held up rigidly. Also set the foot down on a flat, hard surface and get down at ground level and look at both sides of the foot. Use the hairline and measure the left and right side of the foot. Sometimes this is helpful, but not gospel because the medial wall is sometimes a steeper angle, plus you've got flares that can mess you up.
Overall, less is more, and waiting for the farrier "should not" cause any long term damage.

[calshoer]

I think everyone here is being a bit too critical. The trim aint perfect, could use more cleaning up of the overlaid bars and may be a LITTLE out of balance but is a good start.
Geesh the horse is obviously just recently barefoot... she will wear down her hooves more if given the chance and even up her own feet if they're a little off right now.
I don't see any sign of founder.
Just mechnically long toes and somewhat contracted heels propbably from poor previous shoeing. The laminae at the ground surface fo the foot are just stretched,not laminitic. The shape of the growth rings on the foot are not indicative of founder. There is a little spot of seedy toe in the center of the toe but it's probably no big deal. It is there because of the long toes. With regular scheduled trimming and some topical treatment it will probably go away soon.
The roll that has been trimmed into the toe was kept ahead of the sole callous, just being safe. I'd rather see not quite enough roll on a bare foot toe than too much which would make the horse sore.
It will roll itself more if it needs to now that it is barefoot , as long as the horse has access to hard dry ground and plenty of movement.
I say its on the right track now that it is out of apparently poor shoeing, and dont worry too much about it.
Do clean out the seedy toe area until all the black and chalky seedy material is gone and treat it topically with something. If the toes are kept back where they belong it will eventually grow out.
Patty

[Red Amor]

Yeah too right Patty
I got to admit when I saw the photos I thought :eek: bloody oath but then thought
The lass didnt come here to be ***** caned she came to us for help

[in_the_zone]

Thanks all. I did get some good comments here and I was able to go out this afternoon and do a couple touch ups. I backed up the toe just a little bit more. I also flattened out the heels without taking off too much additional height so they weren't angled in so much. Cleaned the bars out a little better too. I tried to work on the evenness and balance issues as well. The hair line tip helped and I hope my eye is a more educated than it was the first time around.

Anyways, the good news is the horse is moving around the pasture instead of standing at the water trough by the gate with her head down. I lunged her for a couple circles before and after trim and she is striding out much better instead of having a little choppy trot. The bottom line is she feels good! That's all I really wanted for her.