Draft hooves..I have questions

[KBC]

My knowledge in this area is non existent I find, I have always assumed that draft hooves are much like any other, only much bigger, often covered by feathers when you try and work with them, and the bigger the horse, the more they appreciate a person cradling their leg for a while.

Recently, this pretty girl came to our barn

She was well overdue for a trim, and when I saw her after she had been done, I thought that she had been given a ‘half way trim’ and that the next one would take her to a “finished” look.

I’ve since been told that the shape of her feet is what they will be, quite pointed, and long. I will grab some pics next time I see her, but for now just looking for resources, or personal experience sharing, to expand my knowledge, because I want to understand what I am seeing.

[4Frogs_aLilypad]

Are you referring to her back feet being long and pointed, front feet or all of them? I’m used to seeing the hinds sort of “pointed” and the front ones round. If it is the hind feet that you’re referring to, that can be a result of how well the horse is able (or not) to stand for the farrier. If the horse is weak in the hind for whatever reason, that can definitely affect how long the farrier can work on the feet. It also can depend on whether or not the farrier is used to working with drafts. I’ve seen plenty of drafts with normal looking feet, and others with not so normal feet and the latter is usually always down to some sort of physical issue, rather than a behavioral one.

[Foxglove]

Had a Percheron for 22 years. His feet looked like our saddle horses, but much bigger. Same shape. Show draft might have longer flared hooves (Scotch bottom?) but that’s a show horse thing. We rode and drove and did farm work with ours. Regular hooves.

[KBC]

Didn’t get pictures of the backs today, for some reason I managed to mess that up!

These are the fronts, backs are more or less the same shape.

[JB]

those are unhealthy feet no matter the breed or size.

I would get xrays asap to see what’s going on inside.

[B_and_B]

Those are not right. Not for a draft, not for any horse! My drafts have Big round feet. I’ve found they tend towards rounder than many light horses. A lot of drafts have flares, either due to long shoeing cycles (they are hard and cost more), their sheer weight, or Scotch Bottom shoeing which accentuates the flare and therefore the action of the gait. But, that, that is not normal. Would love? to see x-rays.

[4Frogs_aLilypad]

Holy smokes! That is not normal at all. Any chance you can get some cleaner shots of the sole? When was this horse last trimmed? Has canker been ruled out?

[KBC]

@JB

those are unhealthy feet no matter the breed or size.

I would get xrays asap to see what’s going on inside.

Not my horse, trying to get the owner to get her checked out by the vet, one step at a time.

[KBC]

@4Frogs_aLilypad

Holy smokes! That is not normal at all. Any chance you can get some cleaner shots of the sole? When was this horse last trimmed? Has canker been ruled out?

I understand she had not been trimmed for a while, so her feet were very bad. This trim was done about 3 weeks ago I guess. I will see if I can get better shots over the weekend, depending on if the next storm hits us, or misses us!

[Kyrabee]

My friend had a Belgian draft cross. 16 hands and 1600lbs. Her feet were entirely “normal” looking horse hooves. Now, she could get flares, especially on the hinds if she went too long. Her back feet initially kind of had the “spade” shape this mare has. Definitely looked better with regular trimming.

It will take a good farrier/trimmer and frequent attention but these feet should come around. I agree with whoever said to get some X-rays to evaluate the internal structures.

Susan

[Bogie]

Not normal. I have a Clyde-TB cross. Her feet are huge but they are normal shaped. That poor horse needs some attention from both a better farrier and a vet. If that horse was trimmed 3 weeks ago, that’s even more concerning.

Here’s my girl in February. She gets a trim every 5-6 weeks. When I first got her, she had feet the size of dinner plates and a lot of flare, but my farrier was able to bring them back to a regular size and shape.

[StormyDay]

Oh no, that trim is horrible.
That horse is suffering from long term poor trimming practices, and probably nutritional deficiencies too.

[Posting_Trot]

My Irish Draught has large, very round feet.

What the pictures show are not “normal” feet in any way. Poor horse!

It may take a while (and several trims over a few cycles) to get the hooves towards something that looks more normal. As a result of those hooves, she might be bodysore now, and as the hooves are initially altered in shape, she might initially become bodysore.

How old is the horse?

[KBC]

@Posting_Trot she is 16 I believe, and yes is sore!

My thought was that this is a lot to do with the feet, and I sympathize with the owner trying to get someone who does big girls like this, I understand not everyone wants to take them on.

This is such a sweet, patient girl, I want to see her feeling good and hopefully moving well.

This is her on a short trot up

Tanq ru up

She’s definitely off on off fore, and funky moving behind, never sure quite where that is.

My gut is screaming that the feet should be the start point, It seems to me if your back feet are too long, and you naturally don’t have much ground clearance as you move, that is going to interfere with your gait.

[Scribbler]

I wouldn’t ride a horse with feet like this until they were checked out and on the road to recovery.

I’ve seen a lot of pasture horses and horses overdue for trims and lots of pathologies online, because feet interest me. I have never ever seen a hoof wall shaped like that. It is very strange.

[candyappy]

No wonder she is sitting down in that first picture! She needs some serious professional help to see what is going on with those feet. I would not be working , riding , or asking her to do anything.

Poor girl.

[KBC]

@candyappy

No wonder she is sitting down in that first picture! She needs some serious professional help to see what is going on with those feet. I would not be working , riding , or asking her to do anything.

Poor girl.

Lol, I don’t know how often she sits! She was fast asleep when the photographer went out, and this was her waking up!

She is now on the “no ride” list, owner is aware that she has issues, now to wok with her, and any other support I can get, to get the mare right.

She was, I’m told, 100% sound last year, and those feet have been an odd shape for long while. Trimming to what’s there will be interesting, I’ve been told you have to trim to the foot you have, and what we have is odd shaped feet, from coronet band down.

[Posting_Trot]

What a sweet face! I’m glad the owner is taking steps to help her out. But they need to go slow–any radical changes all at once will make her very ouchy.

Good luck to the mare! She deserves the chance she’s getting.

[KBC]

@Scribbler

I have never ever seen a hoof wall shaped like that. It is very strange.

It is, and I’m keen to find out more.

[Postandrails]

I know the shape is strange, but the sole shape doesn’t look strange except for the very pointed toe, which is probably due to a ridge of excess sole and the long wall at the very tip. If you trimmed the sole (only at the very tip) to find the white line, I think the shape would be quite a bit more rounded.

The rest of the strangeness seems to be extreme flaring from the crack that you can see on the RF all the way back, on both sides and on both feet. Basically the feet look like they have flared badly everywhere except the front third of the hoof, which has maintained a decent white line connection. The hoof has ended up with a kind of 3 leafed clover shape. If you look at the sole pic you can see just how badly the walls are flaring outwards, and again a lot of that hoof shape would be improved just by removing the excess wall and addressing the.flaring. It would probably take a few trims because the flaring is pretty bad.

If those feet were trimmed 3 weeks ago, I have no idea what the farrier thought he had achieved, but I do agree that the hoof is probably naturally a bit more of a pointed shape than most.

The sole shape is what’s telling the truth, because the walls have flared and distorted the hoof shape. I think once it was cleaned up, the sole shape would be like this one (scroll down to pic of grey Percheron). The hoof shape would mirror the sole shape if there was no flaring and the walls were trimmed to a consistent length.

https://www.hoofrehab.com/Draft.htm

edited to add - I should have started out by saying that she’s beautiful and looks so sweet. I hope the owner can get her back on track.