I have posted pictures of Classy wearing her boots and then pictures of
how her hooves look without them. They look basically the way they did
when the shoes were pulled. It seems to me that neither farrier took
enough off of the toes. Her Cavallo boots arrived, but are too small.
New ones will be ordered tomorrow. Linda and Classy

--- In ECHoof@..., "Linda Headley" <hooves@...> wrote:

I have posted pictures of Classy wearing her boots and then pictures

of

how her hooves look without them.

Can someone advise me what I should do and if you think she can be
rehabbed without shoes. I plan to call my vet tomorrow, but can't get
down to see him or his farrier until after school is out. Farrier only
comes one day a month and I can't take any more sick days. Thanks!!
Linda and Classy

Linda Headley wrote:

I have posted pictures of Classy wearing her boots and then pictures of
how her hooves look without them. They look basically the way they did
when the shoes were pulled. It seems to me that neither farrier took
enough off of the toes.

Sure looks to me like there wasn't enough taken off the HEELS.

Can't say more than that without a set of pictures that show each foot from all angles, including soles. Recent xrays would help make it easier to give any kind of trim recommendations.

-Abby


--
**************************
Abby Bloxsom
www.advantedgeconsulting.com

Hi Linda,

Do you have recent x-rays of Classy's feet (sorry, new member, I
haven't read back through all the messges yet <G>)? If so, then
they'll be very useful in telling you just what needs to happen with
her feet balance-wise.

Looking at her photos, it looks like the new growth at the top of the
wall is much steeper, which would suggest that she has a fair bit of
rotation from her last founder episode that is now growing out.
That's great, it's growing out and the new wall will be strongly
attached (if you keep it from being damaged further). In addition, it
provides a good guide on where the front of her foot 'should' be now,
so even if you can't get x-rays, you've got a guide on how far back to
bring the toes to balance the internal forces of the foot.

Abby was right that her heels look quite 'long' at the moment, mainly
because of the rotated wall that is growing out. If there's any
excess heel above the level of the live sole, chances are you can
bring those heels down at least a little bit, however you definately
want her to be comfortable on the rear of her feet so if she's
marching around happily and landing heel first, I'd only adjust them
little bit by little bit.

I'm guessing that the sole underneath the leading edge of the coffin
bone could be quite thin at the moment, so it's very important that
you not thin it there at all. However, the long toe wall that is
levered out from the coffin bone will be dramatically altering the
forces within the hoof capsule, and it sure won't be helping the DDFT
surgery at all. While I have no experience in trimming horses that
have had a DDFT surgery, I would suggest that her toes need to come
BACK so that the breakover point is just in front of the leading edge
of the coffin bone. This will re-balance those forces.

How you choose to do this (shoes / boots / pads / trimming) depends on
your own personal philosophy - I'm a barefoot trimmer, and I've had a
very high success rate working on foundered horses using barefoot
methods, so I do know what I do works; the main thing is to find what
works for you and Classy.

If you don't have x-rays and are planning to get some (highly
recommended <G>), then make sure the vet places markers on the feet so
that the x-rays are useful as a trimming guide as well. You'll need
at the very least a marker down the toe wall from the hairline to the
ground, and a tack in the true frog tip. Also useful would be a
marker along the hairline from toe to heel, and maybe a marker at the
bottom of the collateral grooves. These will show you clearly on the
x-rays where the external landmarks of the hooves are (they often
won't show clearly or at all, otherwise), and you can then use those
as guides on what needs trimming where to bring the foot back into
balance.

Bringing the toes back can be a pretty scary experience for those who
aren't realy confident of their knowledge of the inner workings of the
hooves, especially in cases like this where there is considerable
distortion of the exterior hoof capsule and potentially remodeling of
the inner structures as well. A highly experienced hoof professional,
and/or x-rays, will help you a lot in knowing what needs to be done
and how, to get Classy back on the road to recovery.

Claire Vale
New Zealand


--- In ECHoof@..., "Linda Headley" <hooves@...> wrote:

I have posted pictures of Classy wearing her boots and then pictures

of

how her hooves look without them. They look basically the way they

did

when the shoes were pulled. It seems to me that neither farrier

took

enough off of the toes. Her Cavallo boots arrived, but are too

small.

New ones will be ordered tomorrow. Linda and Classy