Ugly feet but they’re working well?

[Kite_Rider]

Belle has been without shoes for about six months now, mostly because she’s not ridden so much and she’s on the track.
Farrier is due this week, her feet look terrible, all the extra length has chipped itself off on her fronts, it looks like she’s had a ‘mustang roll’ from a really dodgy farrier! And her hooves are most definitely not level, yet she’s sounder than she’s ever been without shoes, she’s even comfortable over the gravel drive.
Question is should she be level? Or is she growing the feet she needs? I’ll be asking the farrier his thoughts on Thursday but not sure how worried I should be, if at all.

 

[Mary Poppins]

I think that many people obsess about the 'look' of feet and have the perception that healthy feet are 'pretty' feet. When Ben went barefoot his feet looked a complete mess. They were all odd looking, chipped in places and as time went on it was evident that he was growing the feet that he needed to support his big, wonky, arthritic body. After 3 years his frogs had doubled in size and were properly connected to the ground. If he walked through a puddle and left footprints you could see just how much connection there was. Like Belle, he grew the feet he needed and was so much sounder and more comfortable without his shoes. In the whole 3 years he was barefoot, he was never trimmed. With the support of my vet we let nature do its thing and it is one of the best things I ever did for him. My vet compared a farrier 'levelling' the feet to a human wearing a pair of sturdy boots. It's all good if your body is in perfect condition and your legs can fit into the boots, but if you have something wrong in your body and need to turn one foot out the the right, forcing your feet into the sturdy rigid boots is only going to cause problems elsewhere. We need to accept that horses are not all in perfect health, and by letting their feet grow in their own way, we are helping them to support themselves.

Horsey people have strong opinions about shoes/barefoot/trimming, and I know there were some people who did not approve of my methods. But at the end of the day, soundness and comfort for the horse have to be the top priority. If Belle is sounder than ever and comfortable, I would leave her feet well alone.

 

[Jane&Ziggy]

Sid is lucky after years of shoeing to have very even, even handsome bare feet (though they are obviously invisible under his feathers). But when he was transitioning they looked awful, chipped, with chunks out of them here and there, patchy frogs and odd lines where the moisturising-Plimsoll line moved up and down. My trimmer never turns a hair even at big chips because he can see that the underlying structure is sound. I wouldn't worry.

 

[Jessey]

If they’re working for her they don’t need to be pretty, I trim (rasp) my lot frequently, but it’s mostly just keeping the raggedy bits in check as they live on sand so don’t self trim well.
Feet do need to be balanced, but that doesn’t mean perfect little tea cups, they need to be balanced to the horse.

 

[chunky monkey]

Chunky has fronts, barefoot back. He grows unlevel on the backs. My farrier just trims to balance him back up. Hes always grown uneven. Farrier is not concerned because with correct trimming he can balance him back up.
There is a fair chance that some of his uneveness is due to the way he holds himself and walks due to his back pain from possible ks and now his arthritis.

Im very lucky with both my boths both rarely ever chip.

 

[chunky monkey]

Only thing i would question would be your comment on rolled toes. Maybe just take a close up photo now before farrier comes so we could see how much roll. Id like to see to compare with mine.

Chunky use to square off the toe in the carriage when trotting. Only did at trot, never at walk and never being ridden in trot, and only in his later career carriage driving. We put it down to the way he was holding himself at trot whilst driving, so again arthritic changes.
So depending on how much roll could indicate arthritis, but there really isnt much you can do.

 

[Kite_Rider]

Only thing i would question would be your comment on rolled toes. Maybe just take a close up photo now before farrier comes so we could see how much roll. Id like to see to compare with mine.

Chunky use to square off the toe in the carriage when trotting. Only did at trot, never at walk and never being ridden in trot, and only in his later career carriage driving. We put it down to the way he was holding himself at trot whilst driving, so again arthritic changes.
So depending on how much roll could indicate arthritis, but there really isnt much you can do.

It’s hard to describe what I mean really, it’s not squared off in anyway it’s just chipped away where the wall had got longer than the sole by quite a bit. I’ll try and remember to photo later so I can show you what I mean.

 

[carthorse]

I'm not barefoot but neither am I anti if it works for the individual. The fact that you say she's sound and happy over gravel makes me think that whatever she's doing to her feet suits her. and that's what matters. Maybe get a rasp yourself so you can smooth off any sharp edges in between visits? I've seen some pretty nasty cuts, human and horse, from sharp edges.

 

[newforest]

I would say if it's not broken don't fix it, if she's happy leave her.


Mine has however taken a huge chunk off her front that's left a big split and bruising. That needed dealing with and she's sore. She's doesn't normally take off such a huge bit.
This hoof always grows out of shape, and the diagonal back hoof has a conformational fault.
She's balanced to her.