I've posted a few photos in Manda's album that I took last Saturday,
less than a day post-trim. On one hand, this is the first time since
January 2007 that we've taken any sole. The good news -- we have a
somewhat better idea what we're looking at, but the not so good,
she's as thin soled as ever and I'll be booting 24/7 for the next few
weeks. Even in sole area we didn't touch, I'm seeing a reddish tinge
four days post-trim. Only body warmth, however, and no bounding pulse.

I've marked up the front sole photos so I can better explain what we
saw. I've put text on the LF sole photo, but as I'm only now
figuring out how to use "Paint" for mark-up, the text in the box is
impossibly small, so I'll reprint it here:

"We took the heels well down so the frog barely clears surface at
rest. The only real evidence of bars is in the area of the hatched
black lines, and then they're rather indistinct. The hatched yellow
area is where we hoped we were reaching for underrun bars, but what
little bar we found almost "dissolved" at the dorsal end of the black
hatches into clean waxy sole. In the process, we exposed the
soft "bruised" area in the red circle. We took no length from the
hoof walls at the toes, but the area to the outside of the pink line
(convex to the sole pre-trim) was rasped flat to approximately the
length of the walls, which were beveled more than rolled at the toe
because the wall is so thin there. Concavity begins at the sole/heel
side of the pink line. (See LF lateral, post-trim.)"

In general, I **think** the feet look better than they did: WL
separation is not as extreme as it was (see July & May 2007); but as
I said, she's still **very thin soled** and is booted most of the
time. When I don't boot her -- which **has** to happen from time to
time just to air and dry out her frogs & soles -- she definitely
moves less of her own volition than she does booted and tends to stay
in her matted, shavings-bedded stall.

I need to set up spring shots and dental work for her, so I'll get
another set of x-rays. The ones in the album are from last June.

So, that's where we are for the moment, I guess. I wish I had one of
those stories where the horse trots off almost sound and happy post
trim ... or any other time for that matter. I keep telling myself
what a wonderful education I'm getting :-\ And **that** is true,
thanks to everyone in the EC discussion group. :-)

Jeanette
Colorado

Jenny -- Thanks for your response. I'll try to answer your questions
and flesh out what we were doing with the last trim.

--- In ECHoof@yahoogroups.com, Jenny Edwards ...>
wrote:

> May I ask why you are removing sole at all? I would definitely not
> remove sole on a thin soled horse (I rarely remove sole on any
horse

We were attempting to do two things primarily:
1) Lower the heels more than we'd done previously. Even with only 2-3
swipes of the rasp to bring the heels to just below the level of the
frog, we rasped some sole at the heels. But I think the heels are
now down to about where they need to be.

2) Scrape off enough surface area to the sole side of the collateral
grooves to find laid-over bars which, from previous photos, appeared
to be there. As indicated on my marked up photos, however, once we'd
removed some surface material, the only indication of bars is back
near the heels and then what's there appears "immature," essentially
only a slightly different colored sole material where bars can be
expected to grow forward from the heel.

My farrier began working with the medial side of the LF and became
more and more conservative as she moved from side to side of each
hoof and from hoof to hoof. After the first couple nips and swipes,
we were able to see that we weren't finding what we thought we would
in the way of bar material. At that point, the goal was heels down
with L/M balance.

> Again I would never rasp away sole at the toe. It sounds like the
> sole is not like a smooth cup out to the edge of wall?

That's correct. The sole cups smoothly but shallowly, maybe 3/8"
depth at most, from the frog out toward the walls, but then -- from
about 1/2" inside the rim of the foot -- becomes convex to ground
level. What convexity was removed, a couple rasp strokes worth at
most, is on the plane of the lowered heels, still below the edge of
the hoof wall. Consequently, on her fores, she has minimal hoof wall
contact with the ground at rest.

We took no length from the foot, however, as according to comments
here and elsewhere her foot, vertically from coronet band to ground
plane, is too short.

(FWIW, we haven't touched sole on this mare's feet in almost 15
months, and we've really felt we needed to know what we're working
with, especially as had been suggested, we might be dealing with laid-
over bars pinching the corium. We wouldn't know until we looked.)

> comes up so far then kind of flattens off with bumps on top? And
> these bumps are being rasped off to make it level with the wall?

Although I certainly appreciate your effort, unfortunately, your
attachments didn't come through in the digested email and the diagram
you tried to post in the album didn't make it either. There aren't
multiple "bumps" on a single sole. If I were looking at the sole
plane in cross-section, I'd describe the resulting cut as an
elongated (and badly proportioned) tipped-over-S-curve with the
concave portion beginning at the frog and rising to the convex curve
about 3/8 - 1/2 of an inch from the exterior hoof wall. We brought
the toe sole level closer to the length of the walls which are still
beveled above sole by 1/16" or so.

I've been watching the toe areas on both fores because they've been
tinged with red for several weeks. Don't have any idea what that's
all about.

> this is the case then that is the foot trying to tell you that it
> needs more sole and is trying to grow it in. By rasping off those
> bumps you will never gain full sole thickness. You have to allow
this > "excess" sole to remain until it fills in (the bumps
disappear) and > you get a smooth cup appearance to the sole.

That may be. And given what we now know -- and I'm going to do
another set of x-rays later this month -- we're unlikely to touch
that part of her foot again for another 15 months...if the mare's
still around then. After all this time, I'm beginning to have my
doubts. :-\

> The yellow line shows how rasping off the bumps thins the sole
> (shortens the protection for the coffin bone) which is what makes
> Manda sore.

:-( As noted above, the diagrams apparently didn't make it through
cyberspace, but I have a pretty good idea what you're saying. As
we've not touched the soles on her toes in over a year, taking sole
away this once isn't the reason she's sore. And so far, no dietary
or environmental changes have made any difference.

We did expose that soft spot medial of the frog on the LF (red circle
on marked up photo in "Manda" album), however, and I **know** I can
get a reaction there just with the pressure of my thumb. So, as she
has been for much of the time since we pulled her shoes in January
2007, she's booted and padded.

Thanks again, Jenny, for your thoughts and suggestions. The last year
or more is beginning to feel like forever. Maybe things will look
better when warmer weather finally arrives.

Jeanette
Colorado