Barefoot help please .. lots of pics

[daisysp8]

Ok. So coby has never been shod. He is a rising 5 (some point this year) Welsh D/Cob/Friesian. He is predominantly on grass (poor grass) and hay, he`s a good doer. He lives out 24/7 with access to a stable (rubber matted) .. this involves walking over grass and concrete, he prefers being on the concrete eating hay. He gets a small scoop of fast fibre for his supplements ... Magnitude/Linseed/Vit E and selenium.


I`m in North Lincs, and most BF trimmers are a good distance away. I`ve had quotes from £65 upwards, which on top of the farrier fee`s for my other pony, i can`t afford. It`s more like £105 for them both every 5/6 weeks .. and again, i cannot afford that. But i`m trying to do my best. So for now we just have a farrier trim. My farrier is ok, but Coby has a toe split (crack/seedy toe/WLD?) and (i think) an uneven front (right) hoof ... the farriers suggestion is just to put front shoes on ... I don`t want to ... but i feel there is something not right with this front hoof.


I clean thoroughly once every 2/3 weeks with hibiscrub, to keep any thrush at bay. I use a salt solution (in a spray bottle) the rest of the time when picking feet out daily.


Ok, here`s the photos .... the first few are straight after the farrier trim, infact the farrier was still there, and wanted to know why i was taking photos. The other photos (of a clean hoof) are the ones taken today.


So front left (his left) straight after farrier trim, this is his 'good' front hoof:

These are taken today after usual clean/scrub/soak in salt water solution:

He does have a sore bit on the bulb of the heal ... i`ve just tried to keep it clean and it`s looking a lot better than it did:

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Now this is his front right hoof, again, the first few (skeffy ones) are whilst the farrier was there:

This one i feel (as you look at it) the left hand side of the hoof is taller that the right hand side ?

and this one i feel that the right hand side (as you look at the pic) flares out more than the left hand side, where the left hand side seems to follow the correct shape of the hoof ?

Here's the crack/seedy toe ? .....

Here`s the same hoof today, taken after usual clean/scrub/soak in salt water solution:

Now it`s this hoof that i feel is out of balance somehow ? ? (to my untrained eye, i don`t know what i`m looking for, but it just doesn`t feel/look right see explanations in bold above) ... My farrier can`t explain that why`s and where fores ... he just told me to put front shoes on as that will allow the toe crack/seedy toe/WLD to grow out. ?

 

[daisysp8]

Ok, now the backs ... which i feel are fine ?

Back left:

These are taken today after usual clean/scrub/soak in salt water solution:

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These are his back right, again the first few are straight after the trim:

These are taken today after usual clean/scrub/soak in salt water solution:

Soooooo .... in short, his backs appear to be fine, a good shape, he`s never footy on them.


His fronts go really *splat* with good grass, so that is kept very limited. He can get a bit ouchy over frozen rutty ground (like today), and also over stoney ground. We hack out in walk and trot (and walk out in hand), doing mainly road/tarmac work .. when he`s a bit sore he chooses the verges, and i let him use them. I`ve just taken some templates to get him front boots sorted out, to be on the safe side if he`s feeling footy.


So, i`m asking do these look ok ? am i right to be concerned ? what should i do/point out/ask for with regards my farrier ... and when are we going to get a BF person in North Lincs :help: :biggrin:

 

[sammyantha]

Gosh mine gets a trim every 8 - 10 weeks from the local farrier and it costs £20, and that's expensive :giggle: His feet look fine to me.

 

[Yann]

Not sure if a barefoot trimmer would add that much to your situation, it looks like a pretty tidy job to me, and the feet don't look that bad either, nice thick walls. He's also put a nice roll on the wall, which not all do. I suspect your problems are metabolic rather than trim related from what you say, it's possible to have perfectly good feet structurally and still have problems with footiness if that's the case.

Frustrating that he can't explain why the wonky fore is the way it is and why he's trimming it that way. How does the horse move and land on it? It might not actually be that wrong, and if so the uneven loading is what will make it tend to grow asymetrically.

 

[popularfurball]

As yann says

He has some pretty yummy feet! I would probably swap your salt solution for something like antibacterial wash (I use tesco own brand stuff - like tcp) diluted down. This has really zapped the thrush in my twos feet when keratex and sudocrem and numerous others didn't - I'm only scrubbing feet once a week with it (and often don't pick out in between that!) and its worked wonders

 

[Philfarrier]

Yeh you are right the foot is wonky, without seeing the horse and his movement i cannot comment, does he move straight? Also is you farrier qualified? A barefoot trimmer would not make a whole lot of difference, but a correctly balanced trim would