When confronted with a “neglected” chronic founder hoof, I really think the shoer needs to get aggressive and trim the hoof to look as normal as possible in size and shape. I think the “old school” technique is how the trim needs to be accomplished, but may need to be applied repeatedly during the trim session until the desired result is achieved. Basically, even though the toe, in severe cases, is up in the air the trim starts with trimming the heel. Because it is the heel that has typically grown long and drives under the horse, pushing the toe out and up. The frog may not have sloughed off so you will need to continue trimming the frog as well. Then trim the toe, which may require cutting or sawing the extra, out-of-proportion part off from the top. When I say get aggressive I mean, don’t think you have gone far enough and the hoof wall is still over, let’s say for safety reasons, 4 ½ inches long. Many people are worried about quicking the horse, but the quick doesn’t grow out with the sole, frog, wall, etc. (Like a dog’s toenail may) The blood capillaries stay close to the coffin bone, which doesn’t grow down either! It may rotate or drop, but it is still connected to the short pastern which is connected to the long pastern which is connected to the cannon bone, etc. I think if a person thinks of the whole anatomy and what a hoof should look like, they are more apt to get aggressive and trim the hoof enough to actually help the horse’s condition. The final part of the trim should be the removal of any toe flare.
Please see Feb 19th entry for review of terminology related to this topic.
Someday I would love to post some before and after pictures.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Sunday, March 8, 2009
"Fake" Sole
It seems since moving to Nevada I have seen many more cases of horses with, what I call, “fake sole”. I think it may be due to the sandy conditions, but it could be any one of a variety of reasons.
What I call “fake sole” is when the horny (or dead) sole does not slough off and takes on the appearance of a sole near the quick or live sole. Meaning it is solid and shiny, etc. The frog can even look healthy and solid. In other words to the untrained eye it seems like the hoof (from the stand point of sole appearance) has been trimmed to its proper depth. If left unattended this foot will grow out of balance. Usually the unbalance properties are in the form of a longer than normal hoof wall. (Did you know that even on Draft horses, the length of the hoof wall from the coronary band down the front of the wall to the ground at the toe usually doesn’t exceed 41/2 inches? And typically on riding horses it ranges from 3 to 4 inches?)
A shoer needs to evaluate the hoof as a whole and get to the true “bottom”, even though it may seem that to go further in paring out the sole would surely result in quicking the sole. I know, I get hesitant even though I am confident I need to trim more. No shoer wants to go too deep and get blood. This is not good for the horse or for securing cliental. But you have to go the distance that the horse needs or again the hoof will start to distort from its true balance.
I will list some of the things I look for to determine if I am dealing with a fake sole and need to trim more off.
· The hoof is just too long even though the sole looks like it can’t be trimmed anymore.
· If you use the apex of the frog as a guideline for the positioning of the toe breakover point, and you eye ball that things are in proportion and the frog looks clean and intact, but it blends into the sole. It is probably stretched and not in proportion with the true frog.
· As you pare away the sole look for any dark fissures especially around the bars. Usually if you start paring these out you will notice some flaking of the sole and realize it can come out.
· Are the commissures real deep? You can usually nip out the bars and find the “bottom”.
Like I said, even though I realize something is not right it is still scary to start removing sole, bars, and wall when things look so solid. But if the farrier constantly reminds himself what a properly trimmed foot is suppose to look like and, moreover, considers the anatomy of the hoof the shoer can have the confidence to trim the hoof to its proper depth. Don’t worry about being slow and cautious. Sometimes it is better to be safe than sorry, so if you can’t get yourself to go where you think it should be try and trim the horse again in less than 6 weeks and maybe some of these signs will start showing themselves more clearly.
Again, these are just some of my thoughts I am journaling on this blog mainly for my own record, but if a shoer or horse owner finds this site I hope they will enjoy some of these essays.
What I call “fake sole” is when the horny (or dead) sole does not slough off and takes on the appearance of a sole near the quick or live sole. Meaning it is solid and shiny, etc. The frog can even look healthy and solid. In other words to the untrained eye it seems like the hoof (from the stand point of sole appearance) has been trimmed to its proper depth. If left unattended this foot will grow out of balance. Usually the unbalance properties are in the form of a longer than normal hoof wall. (Did you know that even on Draft horses, the length of the hoof wall from the coronary band down the front of the wall to the ground at the toe usually doesn’t exceed 41/2 inches? And typically on riding horses it ranges from 3 to 4 inches?)
A shoer needs to evaluate the hoof as a whole and get to the true “bottom”, even though it may seem that to go further in paring out the sole would surely result in quicking the sole. I know, I get hesitant even though I am confident I need to trim more. No shoer wants to go too deep and get blood. This is not good for the horse or for securing cliental. But you have to go the distance that the horse needs or again the hoof will start to distort from its true balance.
I will list some of the things I look for to determine if I am dealing with a fake sole and need to trim more off.
· The hoof is just too long even though the sole looks like it can’t be trimmed anymore.
· If you use the apex of the frog as a guideline for the positioning of the toe breakover point, and you eye ball that things are in proportion and the frog looks clean and intact, but it blends into the sole. It is probably stretched and not in proportion with the true frog.
· As you pare away the sole look for any dark fissures especially around the bars. Usually if you start paring these out you will notice some flaking of the sole and realize it can come out.
· Are the commissures real deep? You can usually nip out the bars and find the “bottom”.
Like I said, even though I realize something is not right it is still scary to start removing sole, bars, and wall when things look so solid. But if the farrier constantly reminds himself what a properly trimmed foot is suppose to look like and, moreover, considers the anatomy of the hoof the shoer can have the confidence to trim the hoof to its proper depth. Don’t worry about being slow and cautious. Sometimes it is better to be safe than sorry, so if you can’t get yourself to go where you think it should be try and trim the horse again in less than 6 weeks and maybe some of these signs will start showing themselves more clearly.
Again, these are just some of my thoughts I am journaling on this blog mainly for my own record, but if a shoer or horse owner finds this site I hope they will enjoy some of these essays.
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