Help with hoof balance

[ingathompson]

I am looking for help with a horse that when you look at the horse from the front, the walls look to be the same length, however, when you pick the foot up, the lateral hoof wall is 1/2 inch longer than the medial hoof wall. The coffin bone gives the appearance of being rotated. I want to start shoeing with the natural balance method, but I worry about evening out the heels to the coffin bone and having the pastern joint tweeked? Help? The horse shoes no sign of lameness, but she will wear off the lateral walls if left unshod.

Inga

[Donnie Walker]

You should be safe if you balance the foot to the live sole plane, starting at the widest part of the hoof. The outer wall will not necessarily be matching in M/L length, depending on hoof conformation. You state the coffin bone "gives the appearance of rotation".
Is this observation the result of a radiograph? If so, did the Vet not give an opinion. Perhaps you could post the radiographs if you have some, and also a few pictures of the hoof. How old is the horse and how long has this been occuring. There is a lot of wisdom lurking within this forum, but more information would certainly be in order.

[ingathompson]

Thanks for your reply. I don't have x-rays, but I will give you the rest of the history. The mare is 7, and the feet appeared normal until I started to drive her on the pavement(not a lot) at the age of 4. She had always been barefoot. Then I started to notice that the lateral hoof wall was completely worn down and the lateral and medial hoof walls were different lengths. All from an amateur perspective, because you don't really look at these things until you notice that something isn't quite right. So I started having her shod in the summers and he did shoe to the sole(I guess) and the hoof walls were still different lengths and she would wear through a very thick shoe on the lateral side by the time she needed to be reshod. So, this spring, I had a guy who did corrective shoeing work on her(this is her second shoeing) and he put a wedge on the lateral side to straighten her up(when you looked at her from the front). Now the shoes wear even, but the lateral wall is 1/2" longer. The man who did the corrective shoeing can't shoe anymore(health). So all this has made me start to study and now I am the underinformed owner,in a very remote area, who has just enough knowledge to be dangerous. The Natural Balance seems to be a good way to go and I am now looking into it.

Thanks for your help,

Inga

[calshoer]

Some good close up pictures of this horse would really help me to help you. If you can take some directly from the sides, the front, the sole ,down back of the hanging foot as you would sight it traditionally, and from behind the foot it will help a lot.
I get the feeling she may be naturally toed out a bit and someone along the line has tried to lower the lateral side in a misguided attempt to straighten the feet. This would result oin a medial "sheared" heel ,which would create the visual confusion you see. The medial wall may not really be longer than the lateral wall relative to the SOLE, but it may have a shoved up heel bulb which is why the wall appears longer on that side.
At any rate, trusting the actual sole plane is always the safest bet, and will level the coffin bone medial laterally to the ground. If this IS a case of sheared heels, the "longer" apprearing medial wall will eventually get more the same length of the lateral as the medial heel bulb settles down into where it needs to be.
At any rate I am assuming a lot here , so please if you can get some pictures. Here's some tips how to take them:
And PS please have someone HOLD your horse, standing on the same side as you ,when you take the pictures from a vulnerable position kneeling on the ground close to the horse. And if you use a flash or the camera has a motor, be sure to flash it a couple of times away from the horse so she can get used to it and the sound of the camera. ;)
Patty