If anyone is interested just got emailed to me
'He did have a relatively noticeable heel first landing behind, and although this is what we look for in healthy movement it was slightly exaggerated. This tends to suggest some discomfort around the toe area, however given that he's recently had steroid injections this doesn't surprise me too much as it can be a minor side effect and is likely to improve over the days and weeks. It was pleasing to note he had no pulses suggesting that he has no inflammation within the hoof capsule.
Externally Ale's hooves don't look too bad, however obviously the x-rays showed up cause for concern. The aim will be to improve the angle of the pedal bone to between three and five degrees to the ground. This can take time, but I don't see any reason that it isn't totally achievable whilst keeping him barefoot. The relatively simple solution to begin with is to protect the heel from excess wear (and trimming) and allow him to grow more heel height. This will adjust the angle of the hoof capsule and should change the angle of the pedal bone internally. The pedal bone is also partly supported by the soft tissues at the back of the foot - These tissues are stimulated by exercise and pressure through the frog. The pads inside the boots should help with this and direct some force into these tissues when he is working.
Otherwise his hind feet look in really good condition - His wall quality is great and his frogs and white lines are nice and healthy. His soles are a little flat and thin, however this is also something that should improve with gentle stimulation using the pads inside the boots for exercise outside of the school.
From a trimming point of view I have no real concerns with what your farrier is doing - He is definitely going to be a horse that requires a conservative trim, leaving plenty of wall at his toe to provide him with some sole protection, whilst leaving behind plenty of heel to help adjust his angles as discussed above. It might even be worth suggesting that his hind feet are only trimmed every other visit - They may well look a little scruffy but the extra growth is what he needs at this point in time.'
Feel much better reading this
'He did have a relatively noticeable heel first landing behind, and although this is what we look for in healthy movement it was slightly exaggerated. This tends to suggest some discomfort around the toe area, however given that he's recently had steroid injections this doesn't surprise me too much as it can be a minor side effect and is likely to improve over the days and weeks. It was pleasing to note he had no pulses suggesting that he has no inflammation within the hoof capsule.
Externally Ale's hooves don't look too bad, however obviously the x-rays showed up cause for concern. The aim will be to improve the angle of the pedal bone to between three and five degrees to the ground. This can take time, but I don't see any reason that it isn't totally achievable whilst keeping him barefoot. The relatively simple solution to begin with is to protect the heel from excess wear (and trimming) and allow him to grow more heel height. This will adjust the angle of the hoof capsule and should change the angle of the pedal bone internally. The pedal bone is also partly supported by the soft tissues at the back of the foot - These tissues are stimulated by exercise and pressure through the frog. The pads inside the boots should help with this and direct some force into these tissues when he is working.
Otherwise his hind feet look in really good condition - His wall quality is great and his frogs and white lines are nice and healthy. His soles are a little flat and thin, however this is also something that should improve with gentle stimulation using the pads inside the boots for exercise outside of the school.
From a trimming point of view I have no real concerns with what your farrier is doing - He is definitely going to be a horse that requires a conservative trim, leaving plenty of wall at his toe to provide him with some sole protection, whilst leaving behind plenty of heel to help adjust his angles as discussed above. It might even be worth suggesting that his hind feet are only trimmed every other visit - They may well look a little scruffy but the extra growth is what he needs at this point in time.'
Feel much better reading this
