Is it not normal for them to look long at the end of a cycle? :-/
I talked to the vet further about the X-rays today and was told that her internal angles are good and everything is aligned nicely. But was also cautioned that “good” for this horse will likely always mean something a little different due to her conformation.
How do I help the lack of heel? This is the most heel she’s ever had. They’ve always been under run and low. She was on a 5wk schedule for ~13 months with me rasping her front toes weekly for ~7 of those months and has been on a 6wk schedule for ~4 months.
Your horse’s feet look like they grow similar to my horse’s - he is also a paint (grade/no papers, but very much a pinto stock horse). I have had to keep all four shoes on him, and my farrier has been working closely with my vet and looking at regular xrays to keep him on track. We also currently have him in 1 degree rim pads to help the angles stay correct. Most importantly, my farrier consistently works on setting the shoe farther back to encourage the hoof to grow down under the heel instead of out and flat, which is what it wants to do naturally (and makes him very ouchy!). It is definitely going to be an ongoing process. Like someone mentioned above, I liken it to a human like my DH who naturally toes out (walks like a duck!) and does better wearing orthopedic insoles.
I can only offer my recent experience where my horses who are on a 4 week cycle in the summer, and 5 in the winter, had to go almost 7 weeks because of dangerous ice conditions hitting right when they were due. Their feet didn’t look out of balance even going that long. I agree that it’s hard to find a good farrier, but be sure to share the x-rays with your farrier and let him/her see them as well. Mine loves to look at foot rads and make changes as needed, and also watches the horses get jogged out every other cycle just to make sure they’re moving and landing how he wants.
To me it is looking like that red line leads to where her heel actually makes contact with the ground. That’s a lot of foot behind that point pushing down further driving the heel forward. The traditional method is to add a small wedge, some people do it barefoot, some do glue ons. I’m not a farrier and don’t want to pretend to be one but it looks like you’ve got a very long heel but it isn’t providing much stability or support.
Do you have a front on view of the feet?
My hope is that when the farrier is scheduled I’m thinking “seriously? Let me check my calendar. The feet look perfect”. By the time things “look long” what you’re probably seeing is foot distortion and then each appointment is trying to bring the foot back to balanced rather than maintaining balance.
I do 5 week cycles. Financially it sucks but I notice a big difference in balance and hoof quality.
Thank you. Yes I can get some updated shots. The vet clarified that her plantar angle is positive in her LH but flat or slightly negative in her RH. She got shod all around yesterday and I’m happy/relieved to report that her posture is already a lot better.
Two month update!
I took some shots of her fronts today. These aren’t exactly 1:1 with the previous shots in this thread, because she’s still about 2 weeks out from her next farrier visit. But almost exactly 2 months between these sets of pics.
He brought her toe back further than normal this last time and moved her break over point back. He also put her in a slightly different shoe than she had been going in. I didn’t realize how different her feet actually looked until I compared the pics. I know a lot of hoof can grow in 2 weeks but I think we’re on the right track!!
End of Jan FL
End of March FL
End of Jan FR
End of March FR
I don’t have shots of her hinds, but she is SO much more comfortable with hind shoes on. There is a day and night difference in her posture. And at her bodywork appt last week, instead of being super tight in her hamstrings like she had been, she had “normal riding horse” stuff vs. obvious postural dysfunction. So that’s a big win too!
Those fronts look so much better.
I am doing balance x-rays on my girl tomorrow. It has been way too long since the last ones (years…) and she was neutral behind then (0 degrees). She is barefoot and trimmer was able to stand her up better without making her sore so I have just kind of let things be. Her hocks got sticky last summer and I want to make sure that an angle issue isn’t contributing to the hind end discomfort. So far doing well with hock injections and a course of Adequan but if there is something foot wise we can fix (or try) we will.
Good luck!
Thanks…and today, while I was clipping her I found a big bump on her right hind just above the fetlock. I don’t know when that popped up? She was doing a lot of kicking at the previous barn. She appears sound but ??? Good thing we are going to the vet 
.
Well, happily, even though it has been years her NPA (neutral) is now 1-2 degrees. Not ideal but certainly improved from 0. I may try glue-ons on her back feet (and stay with boots on the fronts). Her fronts don’t fit the shape of most glue on shoes.
The lump on her fetlock…possibly a little chip off her sesamoid but probably just bruising, no doubt from kicking 
. Vet was not worried and there was no effusion around the joint or tendons and she is sound so will do some laser on it. That leg is a lumpy mess from her kicking. It seems to be her dominate kicking leg 
. Luckily she is no halter specimen and will be 23 yo this year so we will call it life’s jewelry.
Improved angles!! Victory!
May we all get through life with some jewelry 
Update…
My SO had to hold the horses today so I am not hearing this firsthand or seeing it for myself. The farrier said her white line is red in her FR and when I texted him about it, he said it’s the first possible sign of founder and told me to cut my feed back?? I’m spooking at mention of the f-word and am wondering what to do? She just got X-rays in February and the vet said her front angles were good!
This was her latest FR X-ray. The very next day she got reset so her toe is long in these shots. I think there is a little bit of rotation in this shot but again if she got trimmed the next day it would be possible her angles were corrected?
I have to ride her across a paved road (just to cross the road) to get to our trail riding place which is 100% gravel. Could it be a bruise from riding on hard surfaces?
She gets alfalfa pellets and Purina Enrich Plus. I’ve put her in our backyard to graze for 30m ramping up to 2hr but not in a few weeks and that’s the only grass they’ve been on.
Yes it could be a bruise . . . but this is the time of year to really be on the lookout for laminitis. Was there blood in the white line of only one hoof? Or more than one hoof? If more than one hoof then I would be much more suspicious of laminitis. Do you see any prominent ridges growing below the coronet band? Is the white line stretched at the toe?
One of my horses is prone to laminitis, and in my experience the blood tinge in the white line appears several weeks after the acute laminitis event. Same with the ridges on the hoof. By the time these are visible the acute laminitis event is resolving. A big clue that laminitis is brewing is increased ouchy steps on a hard or rocky surface. That really gets my attention.
Bottom line though . . . blood in the white line is an indication that something happened to the foot, and it’s always best to play it safe. Wouldn’t hurt to leave off the grain and restrict grazing on lush grass.
Just her front right. I can’t see her toe because she’s shod. I wasn’t at the farrier appointment today bc of work so I’m going off of my farrier’s very short texts. I texted the vet asking if we need to pursue it further. Is this an SOS or just something to keep an eye on?
If it’s because I put them in the backyard to graze a few times I’m gonna kick myself over it hard 
She takes 1 weird step out of like every 200 when we’re riding on gravel, even fully shod, so I’m not remembering a time where she was more sensitive than others. The gravel road we ride on often has fist-sized rocks.
Leave off the RB?
Ugh, he left her pretty long today from what I can tell. I think her angles are improving with every trim but I want him to keep her toes back as much as we can. She’ll be on a 5wk cycle from now until the fall so I’m hopeful we will continue to make progress…
Does your farrier always use 8 nails?
Good eye 
I just texted him asking why she only has six in her front right
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