Saturday, April 25, 2009

Flare Part 2

Since a few of you commented that hoof in the last post with the splits. I thought I would follow up so you could see what natural trims can do in cases like that. This horse's coffin bone was on the ground. There was no sole protection for it as his soles were stretched paper-thin.
Here are a couple after shots. These were taken after a few trims, but his original problems developed mainly because he was a thoroughbred, and the knew of his opposite leg was blown out. So he put all his weight on this foot. The other foot really didn't look so bad, because he wasn't putting much weight on it. Of course, this hoof never should have gotten to this point so yes, he had gone out way too long between trims, but it was a cool case study.

Often horses that find them in his situation are put down, when they can be fixed.
But I didn't continue with him until we had him all the way back as the owner couldn't afford to keep him on as tight of a trim schedule as it would have taken to get that foot solid again, so I was always chasing those splits.

So this wasn't just a hoof problem. I see so many OTTB's (off-track thoroughbred) with the exact knee condition. Also many Quarter horses who were used hard when they were too young. So we can only do so much at the hoof to support a warped joint.

Just thought I would share that! Thanks for following!
Pat


2 comments:

Reddunappy said...

Thanks Pat for the answers to my questions, I answered yours about daubing at my blog. It really does look like a lot of fun! If we get to be there when we are at the State WAHSET meet in May, when cows are being run I will video it, my camera does awsome video!

Saryanna said...

is isn't quite on topic- but I guess it sorta is- I take agility lessons with my dog and trade caring for the instructors animals when she goes out of town for the lessons. Her horses are in DESPERATE need of a trim. It's at the point of neglect. The horses belonged to her husband who recently died, so I have a feeling she's not intentionally neglecting them, but that it's just too painful a reminder to get them a lot of TLC. I suspect she simply feeds them and doesn't do anything other than that. The feet are TERRIBLE. I mean bad bad bad. One of the girl's feet are so long that they are cracking up and chipping on the edges. When she walk she trips on her toes. The other isn't so bad, and I think it's because her hair seems to not grow as fast or as long as the one who has the chips and cracks, and so her hoofs just don't grow as fast (my poodles hair/nails grow much faster than my mothers- so that's just a guess, I am NOT a horse expert- I don't even have one!). I can't keep sitting by praying she'll call somebody out. It's to the point where I have to say something, even if that means offending her and losing my agility lessons. So my question for you as the hoof expert and someone who deals with these situations is, how should I approach this? I have class with her on Wednesday and plan to talk to her then.So what's the best way to tell her that it can't wait any longer without being rude?
I am embarrassed I haven't said something sooner but it's a tough situation. I am really bad about confronting people anyway, and this is more personal than just some random person who isn't taking care of their horses- this is someone I know loves her animals and wouldn't intentionally hurt them.
Sorry this got so long! But thank you so much in advance. I love your blog and get excited when I see a new one on my reader!
Thanks again!