to me what the foot looks like currently is quite bad. The jammed quarters are to me what is causing this crack.
The jammed quarters are caused by an imbalance and the hoof actually trying to balance itself.
I would get a different farrier out. if it has been that long with this farrier the crack should have been growing out by now.
Having been in a rough hoof position before, I can tell you that if you post photos of feet on the internet, it’s pretty challenging to get a consensus.
I think you’re going to have to get the vet out as soon as you can, take the advice of the respected professionals in your area, and do the best you can.
It might be a long road, but keep your head up and keep doing the best you can to make decisions in the best interest of your horse.
I can see that he’s trying to take the toe back, but it’s a rough job he has done on it. I would prefer seeing a little more shoe behind the heels. And what ever is going on with that coronary band isn’t good. It indicates a foot wildly out of balance. The recent appearance of the quarter crack is the last straw.
I’m not a farrier but have been fortunate over the years to have had some really good ones, who have been capable of explaining what they are doing, and why.
I’m not sure that I wouldn’t be looking for another vet, as well as a new farrier, because he recommended this farrier.
[QUOTE=2enduraceriders;7927529]
Very very easily! Because I can add and multiply. <<<He has done my horse 4 times now. … I keep him on a strict 6 week schedule.>>>
That is over 5 months. Long enough to regrow a whole heel twice over and 3/4 of even a long toe.[/QUOTE]
i don’t know.
it took my gelding, who was not in worse shape than this horse, six months to grow out his terribly imbalanced hooves. he was ‘race-horse shod’ through and through with severely negative palmar angles, extremely long toe and very underrun heels, and was not in the best of health. the first 3 months i had him i worked with an excellent barefoot trimmer, had to move a few states over and sadly couldnt bring farrier in my luggage. while time-frame is important, without knowing how terrible the feet were originally i think it is unfair to ostracize the current farrier.
OP, where are you? I know I would never use my vet’s farrier, but I have access to one of the best farriers in the country.
[QUOTE=LauraKY;7927667]
OP, where are you? I know I would never use my vet’s farrier, but I have access to one of the best farriers in the country.[/QUOTE]
I sent you a message.
I just clipped and tried to clean up as much as I could. Uploading photos now. Also took some of the other front hoof.
Thank you all for the input!!
Shaved and cleaned as best as possible. (Sorry for the mud)
Front left: http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y259/jenetmraz1/IMG_5887_zpsaf20f4d3.jpg
Front right:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y259/jenetmraz1/IMG_5893_zps4353136a.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y259/jenetmraz1/IMG_5892_zpsa3883633.jpg
[QUOTE=jennycash;7927733]
Shaved and cleaned as best as possible. (Sorry for the mud)
Front left: http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y259/jenetmraz1/IMG_5887_zpsaf20f4d3.jpg
Front right:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y259/jenetmraz1/IMG_5893_zps4353136a.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y259/jenetmraz1/IMG_5892_zpsa3883633.jpg[/QUOTE]
Oh, dear. I can only see the first pic (on my phone @ the moment), but if that is what my horse’s hooves looked like 6 months after the farrier started “fixing” them, I would be looking for a new farrier ASAP. And a new vet, since current vet apparently thinks that’s acceptable farrier work. Heels and toes are long, coronet is jammed, and everything is totally out of whack. Best of luck to you!
There’s a great video on thehorse.com called Adaptability of The Equine Foot–I highly recommend you watch it. :yes:
I agree with those who have said that you may also need a new Vet. if this is the farrier your Vet recommends, maybe after seeing this the Vet will change his or her mind. If not, if your Vet thinks this is acceptable, then IMO, you will need a new Vet too.
What are of the country are you in? Mentioning that may get some more helpful tips on whom to call.
You definitely need to have the Vet see this horse ASAP, keep him confined, and you may even want to bed his stall deep so he can lie down to take weight off of that cracking hoof. If you have a large Telfa pad, after cleaning the crack area from all shavings, manure etc, put that pad on it, then use duct tape around the hoof, not just to keep pad on, but to offer some support to the hoof wall. Be careful not to get the duct tape on any hair.
If your Vet is any good, I would expect the treatment would be remove shoes, use the styrofoam protocol, and possible hoof cinch or more duct tape to help stabilize that hoof wall. I am not a Vet, nor a farrier, but as others who have posted, I have learned a lot from those who are experts in those fields.
Good luck, and keep us posted.
5 weeks out on a regular 6 week schedule, and the feet look like this, tells me 6 weeks has been too long, for too long, and/or the farrier really doesn’t know what he’s doing, or doesn’t care. If he had seen after the first 1-2 6 week schedules he wasn’t making progress as quickly as he’d have liked/should have been making, he should have said the horse needed to be on a shorter schedule, or changed what he was doing, or both.
5 months of doing these feet and they should look a lot better than they do, regardless of where they started.
Left front looks better in this photo but still unbalanced and not shod correctly. And the right front also would benefit from a shoeing with more heel support.
[QUOTE=TheHorseComesFirst;7927539]
to me what the foot looks like currently is quite bad. The jammed quarters are to me what is causing this crack.
The jammed quarters are caused by an imbalance and the hoof actually trying to balance itself.
I would get a different farrier out. if it has been that long with this farrier the crack should have been growing out by now.[/QUOTE]
Agree 100%. That poor horse. I would get a new vet, too - or at least a second opinion from another (competent) vet. Where are you located?
Were the inside walls vertical as opposed to normally angled when you new farrier started?
If so, then, it is going to take a hell of a lot longer to straighten those feet out. When balance is that effed up, it takes a lot of time to get the foot growing so that there isn’t stress up there in quarter crack land.
With my big horse, ages ago, it was some idiot farrier trying to straighten out a paddle that ended up with his inside walls on both front feet growing vertically. That caused the initial quarter cracks. However, getting those walls back to how they were meant to be growing meant those cracks were stressed for months and months on end. Distressing, upsetting, and unfortunately, inevitable.
So, IF that’s what I’m piecing together from these pictures some months on, then, I’d not be too terribly quick to toss the new farrier. I certainly wouldn’t hesitate to get a second opinion from a vet/farrier if you have one near, or the opinion of the farrier used by whatever vet school you have nearby though.
OK, I can now see the RF, which has a seriously long heel. And your farrier is saying that the heels are too short??
Horse would benefit from a G-Bar shoe and floating the entire side of the hoof where the crack is until the coronary band settles to a straight line. I can’t tell of the heels are too long because I can’t see the frog. Generally you want the heels to be short enough that the frog is touching the ground.
Any update?
Sorry I haven’t been able to update sooner.
The vet was closed half of the week so he has an appointment Monday morning for X-rays. The shoer has come out and laced the crack and put an egg bar shoe on him for stabilization until we can get into the vet. I will grab some photos today!
Same farrier or new one?
[QUOTE=JB;7934676]
Same farrier or new one?[/QUOTE]
This is my thought too! No way would someone who has taken a sound horse and crippled it would be working on one of my horses. After the stupid comments showing his total lack of understanding of how a hoof functions he needs to go to a lot of clinics before ever touching a hoof again!
Very curious to see the photo of the hoof with the shoe. There are so many good farriers out there. I would call a reputable farm and ask them who their farrier is (call a few) and see what people say. There are so many people out there who know nothing about hooves, but think they do.
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