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Hoof Photos & Case Studies
All photos on this page are of horses trimmed by me. Please do not copy without permission.
Libbey ~ 18 year old chronic founder ~ I rescued her March, 2007
Some of her case history:
- Chronically foundered – living with cows in a junky pasture eating old grocery store produce and corn sileage – owners said Libbey never came to the water tank because the bull beat her up, instead she ate snow or drank out of puddles. They decided to seek help for Libbey after 2 years, when she finally got down out in the field and couldn’t get back up.
- There is significant damage to both front coffin bones with at least 30% demineralization.
- My vet gave her a 50% chance of ever being sound enough to run around or be ridden.
- Never had a hoof trim until 16 years old
- I got her March, 2007 – she was EXTREMELY intolerant of trimming and foot work. She protested it vehemently to the point of rearing and laying down and shaking like a leaf.
- I had extreme difficulty trimming the hind feet at times and often they would go months without a trim while we just worked on training and desensitizing. Today I can trim all 4 feet with no trouble at all, she picks them up automatically for me, and doesn’t even need to be tied.
- The first few months she had very over-developed hindquarters and stood camped under constantly. Today she stands square, or even with more weight on the forehand, as horses normally do.
- I was not present for Libbey’s very first trim so I have no pictures, but the toes had to be cut off with a hacksaw.
- Today Libbey can walk on gravel with only the occasional headbob. Obviously I keep her off of it as much as possible though.
- This spring we suffered a significant setback due to cold nights/hot days, and also a hoof supplement containing biotin that she reacted very badly to. She was back on bute 2 grams a day just to be able to walk. This continued for 2 months and I thought I would lose her. Now she is back to her old happy self again, though this insult is VERY clearly evident in her feet.
March 2007 - August 2008
View each row of photos left to right to see the progression. CLICK THUMBNAILS FOR LARGER VIEWS!
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The above photos are a TINY sampling of the hundreds and hundreds that I have of Libbey and her case history. To post even a fraction of them here would consume considerable time and bandwidth.
Her case is somewhat interesting and complex, and as such, there have been setbacks along the way. There have been days with tears and days full of joy.
I have learned more about compassion, discipline, dedication, heartbreak and victory from this horse than I could have ever imagined. From her I have learned that you never give up, even when the world throws you aside and fails to recognize your worth. Sometimes life’s grandest lessons come from the most unlikely of sources.
4 1/2 year old QH gelding. Feet were extremely upright and small in circumference for the size of the horse. There was a lot of vertical hoof depth that the horse didn't need. The first two photos are the day I pulled his shoes. The 3rd photo is a hind foot after about a year of trimming. This horse has since been sold so he is no longer on my book. I have other photos to upload but haven't had the time. I will get them on her soon.
Micah:
He's such a beautiful guy he just HAD to make it onto the website! He is a trail riding horse and has been shoeless for a long time. He goes in Easyboots for rocky trails, as he has fairly flat feet with thin soles. He's brand new on my book and this was his first trim. The owner will be walking him in closed cell foam pads to help stimulate new sole growth. On this first trim I didn't even touch the bottom of the foot. He had flare and toe to come back from the topside but for now he needs every bit of foot depth he has. The heels are a bit underrun but he's got great hard frogs and a nice open foot. The last trim he had by someone else was short and he developed a stone bruise. My approach for him is to increase the vertical depth as much as possible by only establishing flat planes and heel purchase without reducing hoof height. This is a case where it's all about balancing but not necessarily "trimming."
These beautiful, healthy feet belong to my Arabian endurance horse. She is very sound on all surfaces, and her feet wear like iron. She has never been shod, and never had any pathology. More frog substance is always a good thing, but regardless of any circumstances or cultivation attempts by me, this horse just doesn't grow big full frogs. She is trimmed every 4 weeks but it's a very light trim - just a touchup. This horse is clubby on the right front, and the left hind. I was told by a farrier when she was a baby that "it is what it is" and you cannot change it. I am sure tempted to believe him! On the hind foot especially, I can drop the heels down to bring the pastern bones into alignment and 2 weeks later the horse has grown enough heel to be clubby again. So I trim to the live sole plane, leave her be, and the horse is sound and happy. Each horse has a specific conformation they are born with and you can only mess with this "so much."
The photos below show a healthy hind foot. Not the best, but not terrible either. The hoof has a lot of concavity, thick walls, and decent frog, though in the first two photos, the frog is lacking some health and substance due to the horse being stalled during the winter. The frog looked better when the horse was turned out 24/7. The frog is medial to the axis of the foot in this photo, but I did go back and fix that. One swipe with the knife centered the frog up nicely. The foot has nice heel purchase, and the boney column is very nicely aligned when viewing the limb laterally. There is still some stretch to the white line. This horse is a sound trail horse.
The third photo shows the hoof the first time I trimmed the horse. Note the overgrown and laid over bars, poor heel purchase, and retained sole. The horse was gimpy on the hinds on gravel and concrete, I believe due to the sole pressure from having no concavity. Also note the severe flare, with thin wall. The mechanical force and separation on these hind feet was HUGE. The white lines were extremely stretched and full of bruising. It's taking a while to get this under control, but the horse is sound, and there is improvement.
And photo 4 is the right hind solar view of the same horse.
The comparison below is of a hind foot, for the purpose of showing the effect of high toe planes. Leaving the toe plane high prevents you from bringing the toe back under the horse where it belongs. Removing toe height gives you more wall mass to work with, meaning you can use a 45 degree cut to back the toe up. I prefer this method and style to some of the trims that dump the toe off from the dorsal side, leaving ragged teeth marks on the wall, and creating a total of 3 angles, instead of only two.
Friesian Sporthorse Crosses. This was from my first trim on each mare. These mares were suffering from laminitis due to a bad batch of hay. One of the mares had a severely long/overgrown toe creating mechanical leverage and pain. I backed up the toe as much as I felt safe in one trim, and we will continue to work on these over the next couple of trims.
Monster:
The following radiographs reveal that this horse has a thinner sole than is optimal (around 10-15 mm for a light to medium riding horse.) I have been trimming this horse for two years and NEVER touch the sole with the knife. EVER. The x-ray beam was not centered perfectly so the view is somewhat distorted, which would lead some people to say "you can't tell anything about the sole from these shots". However, given the lack of depth at the frog's apex and sole's ability to slightly flex under about 25 psi of hoof tester pressure, it is clear that the soles are indeed thinner than optimal. Also, taking into consideration the entire overall picture, the horse is ouchie on larger gravel and rocks. She's fine on asphalt, smooth stone, and even gravel if the base under it is softer. Clearly she's not in any chronic pain, but there is a measure of discomfort to be considered with certain types of footing. I believe there is a genetic component, as typical rehabilitation efforts have proven to have only minimal positive effect. This horse is ridden in boots and pads when the trails are known to be rocky. The large degree of natural concavity in her feet is a major plus in this situation.
Monster's hind feet showed severe flaring and incorrect trimming. This mare was unable to be ridden on any surface except soft grass. These feet were trimmed by a farrier a few days before I took the first photos. The last three photographs show what the hooves look like today. The diet has been corrected, the trim is now balanced and all sign of flaring, scooped quarters, growth rings, and associated discomfort are nothing but a memory. I have been trimming this horse for about 2 years now. She competes in 25 and 35 mile Limited Distance rides with the hinds bare. The only sad part of the story is that this mare's front feet have soles that are thinner than optimum despite my never mechanically thinning them. She wears hoof boots and pads on the front on trails with rocks. I've noticed the soles do thicken and toughen up during the heat of the summer, but the wet spring and fall means the boots come out. All horses are unique in their genetic makeup and some have "issues" that other don't have. This is one issue I manage with this horse with the use of boots when needed. She's always been a big mare with the typical tiny Quarter Horse feet. I believe there's a genetic component to the thin soled issue that will never be resolved through rehabilitative measures. All attemps to encourage thick soles simply exfoliate out when the wet weather returns.
Ike:
Aged gelding - hind hoof. He is sound and happy. The owner is having some saddle fit issues but is working hard to resolve it. I have a lot of pictures but just haven't gotten them uploaded yet.
Lolly:
This cute little girl is a yearling donkey with GREAT little hooves! Her owners are dedicated with a Capital D! They walk her daily on the asphalt and spend tons of time with her. It's hard as heck to get photos of this little girl's feet because she's such a wiggler. For now this is all I have.
You can CLICK HERE to see photos fo my horses, the farm, the dogs, and other fun stuff.
©
All content is express property of Vickey Hollingsworth - 2007
Contact with questions or comments.
Copyright 2007
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