Flared hooves

[Azrael]

I know a horse who is lame, and it's probably because his feet weren't trimmed for a really long time and got all flared. He's had shoes on now but is still lame, but his feet are still a really flat shape and the bottom bit looks flatter then towards the top, so not back to normal. If his feet got trimmed so they came back to normal would he be likely to be okay or is there other stuff that could have got damaged from having feet like this? This isn't my horse, so please don't tell me off for not looking after his feet!

[LindaAd]

What's the story, Azrael?

The sort of questions you're asking, I think only a farrier who'd seen the horse could answer, and if he's got shoes on, then he must have seen a farrier.... Sometimes these things take time to improve; maybe the farrier's working on it>

[Azrael]

He has seen a farrier, he's not mine I do know the owner but not well enough to be asking lots of questions. I just got curious whether foot problems like this can cause other problems.

[virtuallyhorses]

It's actually unlikely that the horse is lame due to the flares themselves, since although this is unsightly and unhealthy it will have occured equally to all hooves and the horse will have adjusted to the poor hoof quality and shape as they grew. It is more likely that the lameness is something else which has happenned to one foot or leg or to some other result of foot neglect such as an abcess etc.

With regard to flares in general, if the feet have been left for some time it will take the same or more time to get them back to health - it's certainly not a one trim fix. The longer a horse's feet have been left without attention, the longer it will take to get them back in shape after the farrier starts to see them again.

This is why it is such a disaster for the poor horse when they are put out in the field for a 'rest' and the feet are simply left. Once the owner decides to put the horse back in work the feet are often such a terrible mess that it can be several months before the horse is rideable and the cost of remedial work is considerably more than if they had the horse regularly trimmed while in the paddock.