This foot has always worried me, but I'm getting OK with it. The outside doesn't have the flares of the LF and the bottom of the foot/sole changes so fast. It's definately in a period of transition.
October and fondly remembered drier days:
2 1/2 weeks ago:
Yesterday, before trim:
Yesterday, after Trim
(yes, I know I got her quarter high. Darn it! The sole is uneven and the white line isn't tight there and I ended up rasping the wall to the sole, but too high.)
(much better than LF)
How I see it:
Flares are not nearly as bad on this front foot. The white line is still very seperated at the quarters, the foot is not round. The crevice in the frog is not as deep, but the crevice between the bars and the side of the frog is very very VERY deep. Sole continues to exfoliate more and more with each trim. I struggle with getting the side to side balance correct with this foot.
I've always been leary about taking too much heel off this front because the LF is so heel high. However, I could see yesterday clearly what needed to come off, so I did it.
I have been noticing lately that Boomer's bar/frog crevice seems much deeper than usual. Any idea what causes this? Is it cause for concern? What are you doing about it?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure. I know that Karen commented on her blog a while back that it isn't desirable and her horse Bo has deeper ones than Chief....that led me to believe that some of it is just how the horse's hoof is shaped?
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's a combination of the sole shedding and the frog shedding this time of year?
I really don't like it!
I've been scrubbing her little feet with Dawn dishsoap if I catch a whiff of anything....that's why some of the pics from 2 weeks ago her feet look so sparkling - pics were taken right after a scrubbing. I'm hoping that as long as I keep up with her feet/trimming/getting the miles on her/keeping on top of any thrush or fungus etc, that things will just sort of "sort" themselves out...
I wonder if it has anything to do with wearing shoes. I know Karen's horse Bo has worn shoes more recently than Chief. My horse just had shoes on for 6 weeks that were taken off a few weeks ago. Before he had shoes on his crevices seemed more shallow. I have noticed the frogs look like they are thinking about shedding. I haven't seen or smelled any thrush, but I've been treating with coppertox every few days when it gets really wet as a preventative.
ReplyDeleteMaybe OhHorseFeathers will stop by and give her expert opinion!
ReplyDeleteThe crevices seem less shallow when the shoes are actually on. Might be because my farrier cuts off a lot more bar and sole when setting a shoe, than I do trimming? So maybe I'm just seeing it now as the foot tries to return to normal? mmmm....It will definately be interesting to watch.
Farley has had shoes off for 4 months and if anything, the crevices are DEEPER than they were 2-3 months ago. I wonder if it's just a transition thing that will eventually go away once the feet settle a bit?