Hi Dee,

Have added mark-ups to Saphira's album:

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/echistory8/photos/albums/1713798251

Regarding the pigeon-toed stance, it can be conformational but many more times it is pathological - need to work with your hoof pro, a good body worker and your vet to determine which scenario is the cause/contributor. In Saphira's case, there are definitely hoof issues that are causing an inward twisting to the hoof capsules as the current break over point does not align with the center of her cannon and pastern. It is also evident in how the heels and central sulcus align. More on that later. Muscle issues will contribute as tightness in the adducters (and other large muscles in the shoulders/chest) limit correct movement.

The general scenario is that Saphira's toes are too long, heels have migrated severely forward (esp behind), bars are quite overgrown. There are some medio-lateral imbalances. The xrays show a bit of distal descent (aka sinking) so there isn't any extra height in the hoof capsule to work with as the bony column is sitting slightly deeper inside than it should. Sole depth was barely adequate when the xrays were taken. General goals are going to be to back the toes from the top, bring the heels back under the bony column and tame the over-exuberant bars so they don't dominate the landscape. There has been some progress made on several fronts since the last set of pix, so kudos on that

LF dorsal: The medial wall is a tad taller than the lateral. The yellow lines are showing some of the points to look at when assessing M-L balance - they should be horizontal, not consistently dipping toward the outside. Note how bunched up the area of the coronary band is on the medial side vs the lateral side. Purple is where there are uneven (high) points in the hoof capsule. The bulges in the coronary band are current points - following the horn tubules down from these areas to the ground will show where the wall needs to be adjusted so that the bulges can relax. That there are bulges occurring all the way down the hoof capsule tells you these have been in place for some time.

LF lateral: Green line follows the angle of new growth coming in under the coronary band. Blue is where the heels should be to properly provide support while yellow is where they are currently. Red is the distance they need to come back to be functioning at their best.

LF sole oblique: Lime is the excessive bar height - it should be passive to the wall/frog. Pink is where the heel buttresses currently reside, yellow is where they should be, even with each other and with the widest part of the frog. They have migrated so far forward, and have been there for a long enough time, that the digital cushion and frog have also pulled somewhat forward and under and have buried the actual base of the heels. Need to work to back the heels and uncover their true location. Best not to slice too much frog away, rather lightly (as in o1-2 passes of the rasp) rasp the heels flatter once every week or two to gradually get things moving back without losing valuable depth in the back of the foot and without cutting away living frog material. Each time the heels are moved back, the resulting ground contact will work to remove excess frog and on the next adjustment you should be able to remove some dead/exfoliating material. Orange is migrating sole that has bunched up under the toe, covering the white line. Most of this will disappear when the toe is taken back  - any that remains can be flattened level with the walls.