Hi Lavinia,

my trimmer has been coming every 3 weeks since beginning of April. These photos were taken the day of the last trim. I feel we have progressed in some areas. I guess I need confirmation that trimming is being done according to the mark ups. I show the photos of markups to the trimmer and hope she understands them and wants to help out. She is defensive. She says she is addressing them but it takes time. I know this sounds very reasonable.

I don’t really know if I should look for another trimmer. At the rate of 3 week intervals it is certainly draining on my pocketbook  Do we continue with 3 week intervals in the winter months as well?  Pilgrim is always tender footed for about 5 days after she comes.    

I don’t really think the flares are being addressed in the trimming. Maybe they are. My trimmer says the flares are there because something is off in Pilgrim’s body making him load his feet a certain way. I have had a chiro/acupuncturist come out 3 times since End of May. Pilgrim presents well - no more muscle tension/pain in lumbar sacral area  He was definitely sore early in the spring - likely to slipping/goofing around in the wet/slippery pen  Are Pilgrim’s trim requirements pretty straight forward? Could his trim now be maintained at 5 weeks with another farrier with mark up guidelines?

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Hi Suzanne,

Since you've already had your complimentary set, please send Lavinia a private message requesting markups.

Also, you have 149 photos in your album.  None of them are named correctly (except the markups Lavinia uploaded the first time).  When I sort by "name" your most recent photos are from April 2022.  I found your Sept 12 2022 photos on page 5.  Please rename everything by clicking on each one, select "Edit", and type in a new name formatted like this:
YYYY-MM-DD_LF lateral.jpeg
Leave the file extension as it is, and save it.

That will allow us to find your most recent uploads in the proper order by sorting by "name".  Thanks!

--
Kirsten and Shaku (EMS + PPID) and Snickers (EMS) - 2019
Kitimat, BC, Canada
ECIR Group Moderator
Shaku's Case History
Shaku's Photo Album

Snickers' Case History
Snickers' Photo Album

Hi Suzanne,

Thanks for fixing the photo names!  I have your photos downloaded now for Lavinia.

I did notice there's a few more IMG files that could have the names corrected, mostly older radiographs.  Can you re-name them the same way you did the hoof photos, with the date and the view, please?

I think his hooves are looking pretty good so your trimmer is going in the right direction.  You could tell her he's quite tender for 5 days after the trim and "as an experiment", would she try leaving his frogs alone this trim to see if that helps?  Its more important that the hoof walls get offloaded, and to leave the frogs alone so they can help support his weight, so you could tell her its the lesser of 2 evils or something like that.

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Kirsten and Shaku (EMS + PPID) and Snickers (EMS) - 2019
Kitimat, BC, Canada
ECIR Group Moderator
Shaku's Case History
Shaku's Photo Album

Snickers' Case History
Snickers' Photo Album

Hi Suzanne,

I've added mark-ups to Pilgrim's album:

https://ecir.groups.io/g/CaseHistory/album?id=90935

As we touched on before, the trim has improved in several areas but still needs some work in others. Toes are in a better place but not quite there yet. The heels aren't as underrun as they were, with the coronary band having relaxed some as it's not being pulled down and forward in the heels. It appears as tho the feet are trying to develop some concavity, with the area closest to the frog becoming a bit more recessed. The flaring is growing out but hasn't been completely eliminated yet. You can see the difference between the way the newer growth is tighter to about halfway down the hoof where the older growth is less connected and flaring as you travel the rest of the way to ground level. This means that you need to keep those walls out of ground contact until the tighter growth reaches all the way down. Continue to back up the toes so that the breakover shifts even closer to the tip of the frog - which will require backing thru what appears to be the white line at ground level. To help the heels stand up straighter, make sure to take those walls in the heels out of ground contact while leaving the bars as they are so you don't lose the current vertical height there. Here are a few links to more info:

See esp. figures 2 and 3:
https://www.hoofrehab.com/HeelHeight.html

https://www.hoofrehab.com/Breakover.html

Here are the links to some of the work that Kirsten has been doing with Shaku, who has also had issues with underrun heels for some time:

 https://ecir.groups.io/g/CaseHistory/album?id=82559&p=Name%2C%2C%2C20%2C2%2C0%2C0

https://ecir.groups.io/g/main/message/282986?p=%2C%2C%2C20%2C0%2C0%2C0%3A%3Acreated%2C1%2CKirsten+and+shaku%2C20%2C2%2C140%2C93447214

The frogs are being over-trimmed - they need to be left alone to allow them to develop a good layer of calloused frog. If there is a ridge of raised sole/bar material around the perimeter of the frog, leave it in place until it begins to crumble away on its own as that is the foot creating more depth where it needs it the most. Ditto for any uneven areas anywhere on the sole - don't clean them up just to make everything appear smooth and even.

LF dorsal: Green lines follow the angle of the new, healthier growth down toward the ground. Blue areas are remaining flaring that needs to be addressed. The yellow line follows one of the growth rings around the hoof. Note the undulations in it - the higher spots are areas where the wall is longer than in the adjacent areas. Follow the horn tubules to the ground in those areas and you will find the areas that need to be adjusted to correct the imbalances.

LF lateral: Pink line shows the angle of the bony column within. Green line follows the angle of the new growth coming in under the coronary band toward the ground. This is where the dorsal wall should be but hasn't made it yet. Orange line shows where the heels need to be so they are under the horse, supporting the bony column.  Both the green and orange lines will be parallel to the pink one once the hoof capsule stands up and is pushed back under the leg where it belongs. Blue area is where to back the toe up.

LF sole: Picture is blurry but it's still possible to see what needs to happen. Solid blue line is where the outer perimeter of the foot should be. Everything outside of this should needs to be taken out of ground contact or removed entirely. Blue hashed areas all the way around are where the toe is too far forward and where flaring wall material is still making ground contact.Nothing inside the red area should be touched. Orange hashes are at the backs of the heel buttresses, where they should be rockered.

RF dorsal: Same idea as the LF. Most of the flaring is on the lateral side.

RF lateral: Again, same discussion as for the LF. Pink line shows how the bony column aligns, green and orange lines are visuals for where we are encouraging the foot to return to. Blue is where to back the toe.

RF lateral sole plane: Green line is the same as in the lateral view - the dishing in the dorsal wall is much clearer here. Blue hashes along the wall in the heel denote to take it out of ground contact. Blue area at the toe is the laminar wedge material that is still present and along the sole is where to back the toe up to. Orange lanes show where to rocker the backs of both heel buttresses.

RF sole: Same as in the LF. Solid blue line is the perimeter of ground contact, with the blue hashed areas being the material that needs to be removed from ground contact. Leave everything inside of the red area untouched. Orange hashes are where to add the rockers.

LH dorsal: Green lines follow the angle of the healthier growth toward the ground. Blue areas are remaining flaring that needs to be taken out of ground contact and/or removed.

LH lateral: The leg is further forward, rather than standing squarely under him, but that is likely where he is comfortable at this time. It would be much more difficult for him to stand squarely, as his heels are too low relative to the height in the front half of the foot to pull the foot further back. Once the hoof capsule is back under the leg, it will allow him to stand with the leg more upright. Pink line shows how the bones line up, while the green and orange ones (dorsal wall and heels) highlight how the hoof capsule deviates from this. Blue area is where to take the toe back to, esp. at ground level.

LH sole: Same idea as the fronts: bring the flaring inward to the solid blue line.Leave everything inside the red untouched. Add rockers along the orange hashes. Lime lines indicate some flaps of frog that can be removed.

RH dorsal: Similar to the other 3. The yellow line follows the coronary band. Note the upward bulge in the medial dorsal wall. Again, follow the horn tubules to the ground in that area to see where the wall is longer than the adjacent areas so that the imbalance can be corrected.

RH lateral: Same idea as the other three. Back the toe in the blue area.

RH sole: Same discussion as the other three.

The goal is to have heel-first landings at all times. Landing flat at the walk is acceptable but toe-first is never a good thing, so boot and pad as needed if you see that.

--
Lavinia, George Too, Calvin (PPID) and Dinky (PPID/IR)
Nappi, George and Dante Over the Bridge
Jan 05, RI
Moderator ECIR