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| Joined: | Fri Jul 2nd, 2010 |
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I asked a lot of questions, as each horse was very different and the science to shaping towards a balance hoof is very interesting.
TWH mare - near perfect hooves, fat pump heart shaped frog, little need for boots, racks fast and natural on any ground, transit to barefoot was quick, nearly self maintains the shape with movement and riding... but, as was pointed out to me, her breeding and genetics probably had a lot to do with those nice feet. And that I could not hold all the other horses up to this near perfection.
QH gelding - quickly gaining a nice barefoot, still trimming the bars to shape accordingly to his natural foot. He can be rode in just front boots now, but I will sometimes ride in all four, or no boots on soft ground. Front hooves shaping up round, back hooves still need to get rounder, less oblong. We will get there! But his mystery lameness era that showed up repeatively during his 6mo shod period is gone.
Both of these horses are 4.5 yrs old.
QH gelding - 10yrs old, nice natural round foot, nice frog, good maintance staying round, but tender footed without shoes when rode. Needs boots on the front to ride. His sole is flat, and hopefully over time and further trims, it concaves.
QH gelding - 10 yrs old, average nice foot bare, but is chipping off inbetween the trims where the old "hoof" has not grown out completely yet. Rasping needed to bevel out again inbetween. Frog is not super-pumped yet like the other three, but looks good shaping up. Can be rode on soft ground without boots, but must have boots on rocky ground as will show tenderness.
TWH gelding - 11yrs old... this is my Rain, and his case of contracted heels and deep sulcus thrush is one of two worst cases my trimmers has ever seen. His condition was overlooked by prior farriers because his performance was super when shod, and even barefoot has rarely shown tenderness. But from summer to now, every day has been a process of picking the hooves, dealing with deep thrush and infection draining, applying a thrush remedy, plus herbs and supplements to build his immunity and promote healthy hoof growth. Today made his third natural trim, and my trimmer was very happy to see his frog healthy again and also creating new growth to shape and fill in the contracted heel areas that finally opened up so the new frog growth pushes in and flatten the back of the frog like the palm of your hand as it should appear. He is rode on soft ground, barefoot for now, but kept on a sandstone, hilly pasture with grass. Overall, the hoof wall is strong, holding a round shape, and the sole is concaving.
So while I initially felt worry because my thinking was drumming up worst case scenarios with each horse's particular transit process and needs when ridden, it was when I turned my thinking towards the learning curves with an outlook on gaining valuable knowledge, that I ceased to feel worry or see any end results as the worst case scenario. Instead I got a sense of 'all is okay', and this learning curve is getting us there, but I will understand now the science of a balanced hoof.
Just like Lakota turned her gelding around to "goes sound as a dollar", we all work towards getting to that point.
