Question
floyd's foot
Floyd is a 3.5 year old gelding, two month ago he was
showing lame in his front right at a jog. he had never
been shod. I rode him regularly on gravel flat rock for a
bout 5 hours a week. this kept his feet trimmed for me
but i noticed his toe callouses were blistering, they
formed cracks but Floyd never showed any signs of being
sore. i put shoes on him in september and they have been
on for a month to let his feet grow out, then he started to
show lame again. We noticed his front right had a cut in
the coronary on the inside right front, he does tend to hit
his front with his back. The crack is still there 2 months
later, only a 1/4 growth from coranary and seems to be the
source of discomfort. the vet did not think so however,
and is thinking it could be navicular. we treated him for
some thrush in the foot that tested showed was sore, that
is cleared up but we still have the lameness.
AnswerHi Tom. Thank you for your inquiry.
Sounds to me like your horse was probably abscessing back a couple of months ago when he first showed up lame. The horizontal crack is where the abscess blew out forming a "scar". This will "grow down" the hoofwall as the hoof grows and eventually will get to ground level. You farrier or trimmer will be able to help keep that area rasped so it doesn't get chipped off drastically as it gets closer to the ground. The crack won't go away until it has "grown out".
There are some other things that I notice that might be going on in the hoof including general imbalances. Enough imbalance to cause the hairline to be curved (indicates excessive pressure) and heels are that appear to be long and forward. That well may be what's causing some of the discomfort. Imbalances and long heels certainly can cause a horse to be sore in the hooves. It also appears that the heel bulbs and the lateral cartilages are not evenly developed which is another sign of medial/lateral imbalances. The toes are dubbed that leads me to believe that the hoof was trimmed to fit the shoe; not the shoe formed to fit the hoof. This causes issues - think of trying to force *your* foot to match a shoe and not the other way around.
As far as forging (hitting the fronts with the hinds), that CAN be eliminated with correct trimming and properly fitted shoes if you choose to keep him shod. Either way, barefoot or shod, the trim must be correct for the individual "hoof in hand" on the individual horse ... meaning *your* horse. I don't see that the forging would cause the coronary band crack as the hind hoof would be hitting the back of the front hoof; not the side. More likely than not the heel bulbs of the fronts would be showing evidence of trauma, not the sides of the hoof.
All in all it seems in my opinion that the hooves need re-evaluation as to correct balancing and leveling on an individual base.
I hope some of this is helpful to you.
--Gwen
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