Hi Jen,

 

I've added mark-ups to Sparkles' album:

https://ecir.groups.io/g/CaseHistory/album?id=273699

At the time of the radiographs, it was possible that her heels were higher than needed -but hard to tell when you take rads while the pads are on. Ideally, you'd shoot the rads without anything on her feet, on a flat surface, so you can see what the bones are doing without any outside influences. That's just background info and she has been trimmed since those were done, so now we work with where she currently is.  High heels could tip her forward onto her toes so that she squishes the front half of the pad down more. If she is sore anywhere on her feet, she will rock her weight onto her toes to alleviate the pain - even if it's in her toe, because a horse can't selectively heel walk and raise the toe up off the ground. They will tilt onto the toe for any type of pain, which would also wear the pads down that way. If she doesn't want to weight her heels, that could again cause the pads to wear in that pattern. Lots of possibilities, so we need to parse out what is actually happening, then work from there. Good idea to change out the pads and watch how they wear. You can also double up the thickness, adding another layer under the first as the first layer conforms to the bottoms of her feet - making custom molds. Make sure to note which pad is which and put the same pad onto the same foot each time.

I marked up the Feb radiographs just to show what needed to be done at that point - I know there have been trims since then, so they are no longer representative of what the feet are doing now. At that time, the trim wasn't that far off. The toes needed to be brought back so that the breakover moved closer to the tip of the frog. There wasn't much extra vertical height overall as there is sinking, so the hoof capsules need to be taller to accommodate the extra bones that are residing inside. The fronts did not need the heels to be lowered, while the hinds were difficult to assess as there were wedged pads on them that may have been causing or were exacerbating the bony column rotation that was present in the hinds.

 

 

Goal is going to be to tweak things - no major changes are needed. Currently, just need to bring all the toes back at ground level a bit more - hinds more than the fronts. Add rockers to the backs of all the heels but DO NOT lower the heels anymore. Also, no frog or sole trimming. The heels on the hind feet are too low relative to the height in the front half of the foot. As there is likely not enough sole depth to just lower the fronts, bring the toes back more, esp. at ground level rather than just flattening the dorsal wall. The overall idea is to coax the hoof capsules to stand up straighter and become situated back further under the center of the legs.

 

Each hoof gets balanced to itself and what that hoof needs. It doesn't matter whether it "matches" any other hoof. Strive to have an equal amount of sole depth on both the medial and lateral side of each individual hoof. Have a read here for more:

 

 

 

Use the collateral groove depths to help you determine whether there is too much/too little material available in any particular area. Be careful not to lower an area that is correct just to make it match an area that is too low - that just means now you have two areas that are too low: two wrongs don't make a right. If a part of the hoof is the way it needs to be - don't touch it - it's OK to have parts of the foot that didn't get trimmed.

 

LF lateral radiograph: The pink line shows how the bony column should be lining up and ends where the breakover should be at ground level. There should be no hoof capsule in ground contact beyond this point. The green line follows the angle of the new growth coming in under the coronary band toward the ground. It runs parallel to the pink line. This is only a visual, it is NOT a trim line. The blue line along the bottom of the foot was where it needed to be trimmed, with slightly more being taken off the heels than in the front half of the foot. The blue line in the toe was where the toe needed to be backed up to. Blue Xs were extra material. Yellow line #1 runs thru the coronary band , #2 points to the extensor process. They should be overlapping - the distance between them denotes the amount of sinking.

 

LF lateral: The green line is the same as the one on the rad - it follows the angle of the new growth toward the ground. It is NOT a trim line, just a visual for you. Blue area is where to bring the toe back a bit more at ground level by rolling it under rather than just rasping the dorsal wall back more. Orange line shows where the heels need to be - it runs parallel to the orange line and to the alignment of the bony column within.

 

LF sole: Solid blue line is where to put the breakover, then roll the rest of the toe ahead of that out of ground contact. Orange hashes at the backs of the heel buttresses are where to add rockers to the backs of the heels while leaving the rest of the heel alone. Nothing off the frogs or the soles.

 

RF lateral rad: Same discussion as for the LF. If the nail was placed properly at the coronary band, there is more sinking in the RF than there was in the LF - distance between lines 1 and 2 is greater.

 

RF lateral: Same idea as the LF, except that there is a bit more toe to back up.

 

RF sole: Follow the example of the LF.

 

LH lateral radiograph: The general discussion is the same as for the fronts but need to note that there is actual bony column rotation present. Unfortunately, because there was a wedged pad attached to the foot when the shot was taken, it's hard to tell if the pad was casing all the apparent rotation or if it was just exacerbating it. It would have been better to see what was actually happening without the distortion caused by having the padding in place, as the trim needed to be based on the actual hoof mechanics at that time.

 

LH lateral: Both hinds are standing tucked somewhat under, rather than squarely. The toe is to far forward and the heel is more underrun than on the fronts. Need to bring the toe back,  esp. at ground level, in the blue area. The green and orange lines show where the dorsal wall and heels would be if the hoof capsule were standing up straighter and centered more under the leg.

 

LH sole: Same idea as the fronts. Back the toe at ground level so that you establish the breakover at the solid blue line. roll the blue hashed area out of ground contact. Add rockers to the backs of the heel buttresses at the orange hashes, while leaving the rest of the heels alone. Nothing off the soles, frogs. Need to allow the frogs to keep the calloused frog as protection for the waxy, immature frog below. Only trim off areas that are already loose or have dead flaps hanging, while leaving the rest of the frog intact.

 

RH lateral rad: Same idea as the LH.

 

RH lateral: Follow the discussion for the LH.

 

RH sole: Same idea as the LH. There is a lot of visible bruising growing out in the white line and parts of the sole - all those red/pink areas.

 

Use padded boots - no wedge pads - if she's at all uncomfortable at any time. Experiment to find what type of pad she finds the most comfortable. Make sure there are aggressive bevels added to the treads of the toes and heels on any boots she is wearing so that they are mechanically correct.

Although Pete is talking about the Easyboot Gloves here, the general principles are the same for any boot that you use. Fit is the most important thing when choosing which boot. What pad depends on what the horse prefers - which can change over time: