Commenting on our first trim (photos here), Walt from the barefoothorsecare yahoo group has been really helpful;
There's a tendency to contraction in fores. Nothing severe, but it is a warning flag that a proper trim must be maintained. Head-on view looks as though the quarter walls are a tad too vertical, though photos can be deceiving. Some slight slope is very desirable; it would ensure that the hoof is probably getting some hoof mechanism. Compare fores' sole views to hinds', which show no contraction. The correction calls for allowing proper hoof mechanism, and that comes from the trim.
If your current farrier did the deshoeing, he did leave the feet in pretty good shape all things considered. I think he should become familiar with LIM principles -- you can print them out from the Files section and offer it to him to read. If he follows them, he'll be
relieving the quarters, rockering the toes, keeping the buttresses down to where they belong, applying a mustang roll, and keeping the walls trimmed to live sole level. I can't tell clearly, but the photos suggest that the walls can be taken down a bit; there may be some flaring in the hind quarters -- again, I can't tell clearly. Quarters relief and mustang roll should correct it over the course of a couple trims. Finally, forward and lateral balance is very important in the trim. The last photo (Left Fore 4) shows heel buttresses that are slightly out of balance. That's an easy but important fix.
The photos show the hinds to be beautiful feet, but I suspect some quarters flaring.
Overall, pretty good.
As for laminitis, very often it is nutrition-related. I would make sure the carbs,particularly sugar, are kept to a bare minimum, and I would give him a tsp of jiaogulan every day, for good measure. Carb-free diet, jiaogulan, barefoot, and plenty movement should go a long way in protecting against another laminitis attack.
Walt
Co-Moderator
If your farrier knows his way around the tools and the hoof, all it takes for him to do a proper barefoot trim (as opposed to a pasture trim) is a little knowledge of theconcepts. That's why I wrote the LIM Trim explanation in the Files section a couple years back. He will find it helpful, and he can ask all the questions he wants.
I am sorry, but could you clarify exactly what you mean by flaring
> in the quarters?
[Sure. A properly trimmed hoof has walls that are perfectly straight (but not vertical) from coronary band to the ground. When untrimmed or improperly trimmed, the walls will want to bend outward as they come close to ground level, ending up looking rather like the curve in the bell of a trumpet. Some horses with exceptionally thick and strong walls
will just end up walking on long walls without their flaring (until they're so long that there is noplace else for them to grow but outward), but many horses will start to flare when the walls are too long for too long. The quarters are the "sides" of the wall, generally between buttress and pillar. Look at a dial-type clock face, and note the area between roughly 1:30 and 4:30 on one side, and 10:30 and 7:30 on the other. On a bottom view of the hoof, those would represent the quarters, with the toe tip at 12:00.
Flaring can occur anywhere on the bottom edge of the wall. Most of the time, it's in the quarters, where it is easy to fix. When it develops on the toe, it's also easy to correct but it takes a different approach. If your girl is flaring in the hinds, it's in the quarters.
The fix involves two things, neither of which is rasping the walls straight. First, quarters relief is needed -- that means that between buttress and pillar, you rasp the wall into a very shallow arc that's no more than 1/8 inch higher at its peak than at ground level. That will allow hoof mechanism -- when the horse puts his weight on the foot, the buttresses and pillars lock to the ground and start to take up the weight load, leaving the quarters briefly OUT of contact so that as the weight load develops, the foot will expand outwardly in the quarters -- because it CAN. When weight is removed, the quarters will relax back into their "normal" shape. This constant movement inward and outward is part of what's called hoof mechanism.
Secondly, a mustang roll is called for -- that will take off the "sharp" edge of the flared wall bottom, rounding it off. It will look much better, but more importantly, it will prevent chipping and splitting.
After a couple trims, the flares have usually grown out.
Walt
Co-Moderator
I have posted some pics from the side etc and all four feet;
Hi, Fleur. Overall, these are very nice-looking feet, you're doing good work. The only important comments I would offer: one, the heels might be a tad too low. Your comment about ouchiness corroborates that possibility -- if you let them grow out another 1/8 inch or so, you will also be able to correct number two, quarters relief. The photos don't give a clear enough view, so I can't tell what you're doing in the quarters; but when the buttresses are very low, there just isn't room for quarters relief. While low heels are generally a good thing, quarters relief is of equal importance -- the two go hand-in-hand when trimmed properly.
Try letting the heels grow out for one full trim cycle (six to eight weeks should be about right), then rasp an arc into the quarters and see if it makes any difference in the way she moves. If you need a guideline, check the Photos page, album Walt, entry "Trim sketch -- quarters relief". Also make sure you're rockering the toes to keep
breakover back away from the tip.
Walt
Co-Moderator