Since the mare was such a good sport on Sunday, she deserved Monday off. Since I didn't really
do anything Sunday (aside from dispense carrots) I didn't deserve a day off, so I made grain baggies, cleaned up my tack locker and decided to give the girl a trim.
(as a side note, my mom stopped by the show for a few minutes on Sunday. She hasn't been to a horse show since.... ohhhhh 1998? so it was sweet of her to come. But I nearly died when she asked "someone else is riding your horse? who are you Ann Romney??" Aside from obvious points for relevancy, if you know my mom this sentence coming out of her is nothing short of hysterical)
But back to Monday's trim. P2's feet got a few small chips and since it's been a couple weeks since I touched them, I figured it was time for a baby trim. Only after I 'finished' her front feet did I realize I didn't take any "before shots" but that's an accurate reflection of how organized I've been feeling :)
However, I
did still have my camera in my purse form the show, so I managed to snag some "afters." This was harder than you might think since I forgot to swap out the lens from my telephoto. So all of the solar views involved me holding P2's foot with one hand/leg/whatever and the other hand desperately trying to balance my camera, angle it correctly and hold it far enough away to get the whole hoof in one shot.
Why I seem to be incapable of taking normal photos of my horse's feet, I do not know. But it's a trend that seems to be holding steady.
Anyway, her feet:
I think P2's feet are "good." She grows quite a bit of hoof, and doesn't seem to do anything
too crazy with it. She does produce a bit of flare on all four feet fairly predictably. On her hinds, the flare is isolated to the medial side of each foot. Up front she spreads the flare around a bit more evenly, but it's most pronounced on the medial sides as well. Mostly I just wanted to take a teeny bit of growth, back her heels down again and smooth out the edges.
I don't quite know how to handle the flare. My vet tried to assure me that I don't really need to worry about it (in the amount that P2 seems to display), but when I'm staring at her feet It bugs me. Also, the difference between her tighter wall on the medial side, and the stretched wall on her lateral side is hard to ignore (consistent across all four feet).. So I sit there and furrow my brow at it but I don't actually do anything - because anything more than my 10 rasp strokes to even things out scares me...
As always, would love your comments. Her angles on the fronts look a little funky to me, and I still see that flare, but her hoof shape is pretty well balanced and her heels/frogs all seem to be doing their job.
Also - Prairie tends to wobble and lean on me less if I have her in the wash rack instead of a normal cross tie section which is dandy, except the mats are wet so her feet are "stamped" with some moisture. Ok, enough talk, here are the pics:
 |
| Head on shot of our front feet post trim |
 |
| and her rear feet post trim.. |
 |
| Left front lateral |
 |
| left front lateral (again) |
 |
| Left Front Solar (in focus, but missing part of the wall) |
 |
| Out of focus but whole hoof... (whoops) |
Right Front....
 |
| Right Front lateral |
 |
| Right Front Lateral |
 |
| Right Front Solar |
 |
| Right front solar again |
Left Hind...
 |
| Left hind lateral |
 |
| left hind lateral |
 |
| Left hind solar |
Right hind...
 |
| RH Lateral |
 |
| RH Lateral |
 |
| RH Solar (out of focus again, whoops!) |
 |
| RH in focus but missing toe... |
Okay. There you have it.
Your mom and I made it a verb. Someone asked where you were. We said, "Oh, she's off Romneying it." :0) I <3 Your parents!!!
ReplyDeleteThey are very nice tootsies - the only thing I can pick on really is I *think* she has a slight bull nose to her hinds. Possibly.
ReplyDeleteThat flare should grow out with regular trimming - just don't let her go too long between trims, certainly no more than 4 weeks (depending on her growth).
The difference with her steeper medial side and stretched wall on the outside is normal! Some notes I took at a hoof clinic:
"MEDIAL LATERAL BALANCE
Horses don't have straight legs. Symmetrical is not sound. Movement brings legs closer to the midline. HORSES LAND LATERAL (outside) SIDE OF HOOF FIRST SLIGHTLY. This is normal. Medial side is steeper, takes most of the forces on landing. Guiding landmark is the sole plane for front of foot, but frog is best anatomical guide to balance the back of the foot. Hind feet when resting lateral side of hoof on ground is loaded and medial mostly unloaded. Balance according to frog."
So the hoof lands outside first, however it snaps the inside down on the ground - this sort of jams up the medial wall so it is steeper. Totally normal - don't worry! :) Good eyes to notice that. :)
Have you read my hoof blog? I'm going to start updating it more often but I have already written a few articles in layman's (i.e. what I understand!) terms with pictures and stuff if you are interested. :)
http://theglorioushoof.blogspot.com.au/
That's fascinating. I know i've popped on your blog before, but now that I'm *really* trying to educate myself I need to go back and read the archives. Love how you phrase things, makes sense to little 'ol me.
DeleteAnd you're right. The hinds definitely have a bit of a bullnose... that's a fact :)
Her feet look very nice! Kudos to you for doing the trimming.
ReplyDeleteLisa is the expert and her blog is an excellent resource. I thought the hinds had a slight bull nose, too. I also thought the medial wall looked a little high on all four feet post-trim, but it is very difficult to tell if I am not seeing the feet in real life. Due to the neat mechanics described in Lisa's comment, I tend to think of the horse wearing the outside (lateral) of the foot more than the inside, which makes flare more likely on the inside (medial). At least, that is my reasoning and it goes along with what I see in horse feet.
That Romney stuff is too funny. I like the verb.
Val, you make me blush!
ReplyDeleteRandom question: did I leave my Kindle at your house? I can't find it, and your place is the last place I remember having it.
ReplyDeleteFor the flare and chipping a stronger and/or more frequent bevel will help prevent then from becoming worse. (keep in mind I'm not expert) However I think her hooves look great!!!
ReplyDelete