Phil Armitage wrote:
A agree. I see a lot of horses put together that way and you aren't going to trim it out of them.

The photos, to my eye, present a horse that is jamming and high medially on both fronts, more so on the left. Use a set of calipers to compare medial to lateral height at the heel quarters. Given the fairly good symmetry of the solar view the issue appears to be long term medial/lateral imbalance more than conformational irregularities. Agree with others who have indicated bringing the heels back and trimming for improved m/l balance.

I'd be careful shoeing this one full in the medial quarters. First glance suggests the need for better medial support but I agree with Jay and Bruce that you may create excess load and have a tough time keeping the shoes on. Once the heels are properly trimmed back you may need to make some adjustments to HPA, particularly on the right fore.

Cheers,
Mark

There you go Patrick, put 4 farriers in a room together and you will have 5 opinions.

Each one may be right in his/her own manner, and each one will address what he?she see's in his own manner.

Aren't you glad you posted the pictures.
You are getting educated thoughts from some pretty skilled farriers. (excluding me) I'm a plumber...

Good thread guys !!!!!

my 2 cents worth

Right on Bruce, I am enjoying and learning in leaps and bounds. Its going to take me a while to sort thru all the information provided. Yes, I am glad I posted. I would like to use these resources more.

Plumbers are skilled too......

I believe that a view of the horse from the front is necessary to assess where the problem starts in order to determine realistic expectations.

I generally find in hooves like that that the medial side has been trimmed too high over a long time.
If you radio graph the foot now you may find that P3 is level M-L, but that is because every time the hoof is trimmed high on one side, P3 has to settle inside the capsule. In settling, it regains level while shearing the wall on the high side in the process.
Therefore, the solution in my experience has proven to be fairly simple. Trim to the sole plane, get the heels back equally and as far as practical,then shoe with reduced breakover. over several shoeings the foot regains symmetry. The act of trimming the high side will create width on that side of the sole surface of the foot foot, removing the necessity of fitting a wider shoe. And if the foot is not centered under the leg, thats the way the horse is made so dont try to change bones , because you can not. .

think a good basic trim of bringing back the heels and beveling the toe in the trim, then making a shoe that fits with a rockered toe will ease the break over and relieve the stress. (It will also help back up the toe)
Balance the hooves medial/laterally and keep the flairs off.
Bruce

calshoer
Re: Asymmetrical front feet
I generally find in hooves like that that the medial side has been trimmed too high over a long time.
If you radio graph the foot now you may find that P3 is level M-L, but that is because every time the hoof is trimmed high on one side, P3 has to settle inside the capsule. In settling, it regains level while shearing the wall on the high side in the process.
Therefore, the solution in my experience has proven to be fairly simple. Trim to the sole plane, get the heels back equally and as far as practical,then shoe with reduced breakover. over several shoeings the foot regains symmetry. The act of trimming the high side will create width on that side of the sole surface of the foot foot, removing the necessity of fitting a wider shoe. And if the foot is not centered under the leg, thats the way the horse is made so dont try to change bones , because you can not. .

calshoer wrote:
Aren't you contradicting yourself? If trimming to the sole plane results in a M/L level P3 AND P3 is level now, then won't you be leaving the medial side high?

Mike Ferrara wrote:
Look at the medial heel-bulb...