My barefoot ponies - are their feet looking good?

[Laura+Phantom]

Phantom and Cassie have been shoe less and fancy free for 6 - 7 weeks now but they've not done any work, they're having a break. Picking out their feet though i'm amazed at how clean their soles are looking, I mean i've never been able to see the cleft of frog so clearly before, what do you think? I know it's time for a trim but I might take them for a walk on the roads to start to introduce them to hard ground and that should level them off a bit.

Both are front feet, native ponies, ages 11 and 12, always been shod. Cassie's always had better feet than Phantom.
Also - they're not perfectly clean!

Phantom:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v115/LAUZ45/Phantom/phantombarefootsole.jpg

Cassie:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v115/LAUZ45/Cassie/cassiebarefootsole.jpg

Opinions? :)

[coss]

They look alright to me but i'm no expert ;)
Definitely need a trim though, there's a fair bit to come off by the looks of it.

[Kimo]

I've been trimming mine for a year+ but I'm still no expert so take this with a grain of salt. From what I see, they both need a basic trim. Phantom's bars look overgrown. It's good to get them trimmed back because I've heard it can be painful for a horse when the bars fold over. Cassie's bars are long, too. A basic trim will fix all this. You can always buy a hoof knife and pare them down between trims.

As they stay barefoot, hopefully their frogs will get wider and do more work for the hoof. Right now, Phantom's look like my mare's when I first got her--a bit wimpy. Cassie's are wider and look a little healthier.

They both appear to have some sole that can be trimmed off. You see that lumpy, bumpy, flaky look to the soles? That's "probably" dead sole that is safe to trim off a little, but your farrier can do it. My mare moves 100% better when I shave off the dead sole.

In the end, if they walk okay and look okay, they're probably okay! Best of luck keeping them barefoot. I'd never shoe my horse again.

It's always interesting to train your eye. I find the photos on this page are good for comparison with my horse's hooves:

http://www.thehorseshoof.com/helphealth.html

[coss]

i notice how most of those photos show a "black" hoof, my mare's hooves are all white. her sole grows and nothing else seems to :rolleyes:

[Yann]

They're both ready for a trim as you say! :)

Again no expert but they don't look that bad, Phantoms feet are long and a bit contracted at the heels, which are quite underrun. A period out of shoes and good trimming will help this tremendously. You can expect to see a gradual thickening of the inner wall in both feet over time. Are their hoof walls straight from the coronet band to the floor all the way round? If not this also needs addressing, farriers often leave a bit of flare in pony feet to give them more to nail into, but it's not desirable in an unshod foot (or a shod one for that matter).

Cassie's feet look great :)

[hackedoff]

Hey I'm no expert either but I have 3 unshod pones. I'd say they both need a trim esp Phantom, he also needs some shaping I would guess he has some flare, the hoof should be rounder but he has super hoof wall thickness considering the time out of shoes. Cassie's are a fab shape, she should transition really well, well done you. One top tip- feed oil for hoof condition linseed is best if your neds dont react to it (turns my Wizard into Itchy Ernie) but any is good.
Best of luck
Hackedoff

[Laura+Phantom]

Thanks everyone, I think it's already such a drastic change in their frog size, it can only get better! Cassie has never, ever lost a shoe, she has really strong feet, so i'm interested to see how she'll do being ridden on the roads. Phantom's feet are much softer and more brittle so I think he'll take longer to make the transition.