Flat footed flared and out of balance
Hello , everyone have a good thanksgiving ? Not too much chocolate i hope.
Ok , i confess , i was working sunday. How's that saying "No rest for the wicked" (-: A relatively new client and i've only shod this horse once previously to the photos. The horse has very flat feet up front. To be honest with you " I don't like flat feet ", they give very little in the way of forgiveness when it comes to shoeing. It always seems there's very little sole to peel out before the horse will be sore and when it comes to getting the foot level it seems there's usually not enough hoof growth to get it done properly. I haven't really done a study yet but it also seems most of the horses "I've" dealt with flat footed also have flares and certainly in the case of this horse below.
Look at that foot below , you might immediately say " how on earth do you deal with such a thing " and that's obviously a good question isn't it ? The foot is pointing in the wrong direction , it has alot of flare and just completely out of balance.
This horse being flat footed and thin soled made it difficult to work with. Being flat footed made it nearly impossible to get the foot level. When you look at the photo of the sole you'll notice one side looks longer and one side shorter. The side that is short was trimmed so deliberately in order to achieve level. In this case there was not enough foot to actually achieve true level , the short side needed to be close to 1/4 inch shorter to be perfect , if only 1/8 more were to be removed the horse would have started to bleed so it was definately time to stop.
In general this flat footed horse grew very little hoof between it's last shoeing so very little foot was able to be removed , combined with the thin sole and this is all not a very good combination to have to deal with .
One of the problems with the flared foot is when rasping alot of flare the hoofwall will become quite thin and nailing becomes weak, "Hold your breath the shoe will stay on". This is just one of the necessary evils to contend with - keep in mind the flare really needs to be rasped off. Sometimes horses feet are stubborn to make changes to, it's at that point where it becomes necessary to get more agressive , rasping as much flares off as possible. Keep in mind "again" when the hoof becomes so thin after rasping flares off it becomes much more of a risk to have a close nail , known as "quicking" the horse. All these issues need to be weighed and measured and decisions made for a careful and proper approach.
Since it takes time to make full changes to feet there are no before and after photo here - but 6 months from now there will be , and there will be a marked difference.
For now these photos are here just for a quick study to help train your eyes with what to be looking for in your prevention of lameness education. The red line is a guide to show the inside flare ( medial side ). Looking at the foot from this perspective also it's even obvious the foot is low (Short ) on the inside ( medial side ) of the foot. This is why in the other photo the outside (lateral side) of the foot is soo thin soled in order to work toward achieving true level - the lateral side of the foot had to be shortened considerably.
Photographs are not very good at depicting a flat foot you'll just have to trust me, this horse would be standing directly on it's sole if that foot in the picture to the right were to be on the ground. Again - the right side of the photo is very thin soled compared to the left side of the photo.
Someone emailed me for consultation and i immediately noticed by the way she was describing things she thought a level foot was when the sole was the same on both sides , it's just not so. So i explained to her the sole really has nothing to do with determining a level foot .
Ok. Stay tuned for the next post where there will be a great bone study with some quite revealing photographs showing the obvious reasons for making sure true level is achieved.
As usual happy and safe riding and always remember to www.Care4Horses.com
<----- click here for more articles i've written
Consultation for your horseshoeing questions and needs as well as behavioral issues at no cost "Free" just for the asking. Contact me: John@Care4Horses.com
Ok , i confess , i was working sunday. How's that saying "No rest for the wicked" (-: A relatively new client and i've only shod this horse once previously to the photos. The horse has very flat feet up front. To be honest with you " I don't like flat feet ", they give very little in the way of forgiveness when it comes to shoeing. It always seems there's very little sole to peel out before the horse will be sore and when it comes to getting the foot level it seems there's usually not enough hoof growth to get it done properly. I haven't really done a study yet but it also seems most of the horses "I've" dealt with flat footed also have flares and certainly in the case of this horse below.
Look at that foot below , you might immediately say " how on earth do you deal with such a thing " and that's obviously a good question isn't it ? The foot is pointing in the wrong direction , it has alot of flare and just completely out of balance.
This horse being flat footed and thin soled made it difficult to work with. Being flat footed made it nearly impossible to get the foot level. When you look at the photo of the sole you'll notice one side looks longer and one side shorter. The side that is short was trimmed so deliberately in order to achieve level. In this case there was not enough foot to actually achieve true level , the short side needed to be close to 1/4 inch shorter to be perfect , if only 1/8 more were to be removed the horse would have started to bleed so it was definately time to stop.
In general this flat footed horse grew very little hoof between it's last shoeing so very little foot was able to be removed , combined with the thin sole and this is all not a very good combination to have to deal with .
One of the problems with the flared foot is when rasping alot of flare the hoofwall will become quite thin and nailing becomes weak, "Hold your breath the shoe will stay on". This is just one of the necessary evils to contend with - keep in mind the flare really needs to be rasped off. Sometimes horses feet are stubborn to make changes to, it's at that point where it becomes necessary to get more agressive , rasping as much flares off as possible. Keep in mind "again" when the hoof becomes so thin after rasping flares off it becomes much more of a risk to have a close nail , known as "quicking" the horse. All these issues need to be weighed and measured and decisions made for a careful and proper approach.
Since it takes time to make full changes to feet there are no before and after photo here - but 6 months from now there will be , and there will be a marked difference.
For now these photos are here just for a quick study to help train your eyes with what to be looking for in your prevention of lameness education. The red line is a guide to show the inside flare ( medial side ). Looking at the foot from this perspective also it's even obvious the foot is low (Short ) on the inside ( medial side ) of the foot. This is why in the other photo the outside (lateral side) of the foot is soo thin soled in order to work toward achieving true level - the lateral side of the foot had to be shortened considerably.
Photographs are not very good at depicting a flat foot you'll just have to trust me, this horse would be standing directly on it's sole if that foot in the picture to the right were to be on the ground. Again - the right side of the photo is very thin soled compared to the left side of the photo.
Someone emailed me for consultation and i immediately noticed by the way she was describing things she thought a level foot was when the sole was the same on both sides , it's just not so. So i explained to her the sole really has nothing to do with determining a level foot .
Ok. Stay tuned for the next post where there will be a great bone study with some quite revealing photographs showing the obvious reasons for making sure true level is achieved.
As usual happy and safe riding and always remember to www.Care4Horses.com
<----- click here for more articles i've writtenConsultation for your horseshoeing questions and needs as well as behavioral issues at no cost "Free" just for the asking. Contact me: John@Care4Horses.com
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