4y/o gelding with split hoof

[hoofhearted]

hi there, let me introduce myself jules and my shire gelding Samson, Sam is a four year old full shire gelding who i noticed on friday had a crack of about 1" in his front offside hoof which is not unusual around the time i need to get my farrier out, my sharer did him on saturday, but when i went to do him on sunday evening the split had grown quite extensively, Sam sees his farrier about every 6-8 weeks in the summer for a trim (his is in his slippers lol) and i do not intend to get him shod unless off course it would help his feet in any way. now my farrier is on holiday for two weeks and i have had to find another to see to sam until his own gets back, sams foot seems to have pancaked, could this be something to do with his growth as he is still a young lad! and the fact that he is getting heavier, or could the split be because his paddock is dry and so is the weather (unusually for england!)
wonderful site by the way found it quite by accident

[caballus]

Hi hoofhearted! The split is caused from leverages and pressure. If you look at the solar view (bottom) of the hoof you'll probabaly see that the wall is longer than the sole. Meaning ... the wall of the hoof is taking the brunt of the weight of his body. Take a look at the dinner platter below:

http://www.barefoottrim.com/physiology/variou8.jpg

you'll see that the rasp is on a flat plane across the hoof. The Walls are of equal height as the sole callus. This way the wall and the sole callus can share the burden of the horse's weight and leverages during movement. You'll also see that the hoof is very balanced from side to side and toe to heel. The dirt line between the walls and the sole are caused from the hoof being left like this:

http://www.barefoottrim.com/physiology/variou10.jpg

See the difference? Leaving walls higher than sole callus is like asking a horse to walk on its long fingernails. Just as if you or I were to do so, the nail would begin to rip from the nailbed from the pressure. The nails would crack and split etc. The same thing is happening to your horse's hoof.

It wouldn't take much for you to get ahold of a good rasp (Save Edge is a good one) and rasp the walls down to the sole level. Just hold the rasp FLAT on an even plane and "push" or "pull" the rasp (depending on if you're rasping the inside or the outside wall) to bring the wall down level with the sole. You want the bottom of the hoof to be on the same plane, inside and outside (medially/laterally) so he has a flat, level surface on which to walk. Then, much as if you are rounding off your own fingernails, rasp around the edges of the walls to make a nice "roll" all around the edge. That will help stop the crack until your farrier can get back to fix the rest. On the other hand, maybe you'd want to find another farrier or a skilled, experienced barefoot trimmer to do the job? Go to: http://www.tribeequus.com and under the "Resources" (I think that's what its called) section you'll find a listing of trimmers all over the country. Give someone a call who's close by you to help you. No reason you can't trim your own horse's hooves! Take a look at these other sites, too - http://www.barefoottrim.com http://www.barefoothorse.com http://www.ironfreehoof.com ... these 3 are good ones for educational purposes. http://www.hoofrehab has some photos that are great examples of healthy, solid, WORKING barefoot horses.

Give it shot, though, yourself ... you can do it!

:) -- Gwen

[Red Amor]

Get a handle on the bloody rasp or cut the tang off and grind it safe

[hoofhearted]

thanx for the help and advise guys will look into getting a rasp, and maybe get my son to have a go!!! he worked with race horses in newmarket and has some experience with feet lol :p