Negative plantar angles- Natural trim or hoof boots?

[4horses]

My mare has negative plantar angles in both hind feet with under run heels. I’ve been reading everything I can on the subject, but am getting conflicting advice.

Would it be more beneficial to put her on a short trim cycle, and keep the toes pulled back, while leaving her barefoot? Or use shoes with wedge pads? Hoof boots?

This mare is not currently in work. She is getting the summer off due to time constraints and due to the fact that I have horses in training that need the extra work. The footing here is very soft, and usually wet. She’s not standing in mud, but often in wet grass. I have stalls with mats and she could be stalled part time in a drier environment, if that would help.

Most of the articles I have read suggest shoes with wedge pads are more beneficial. But then some articles say that wedges can further crush the heels. If I get a different farrier and put her on a short trimming cycle and give her a few months, would that be enough to see some improvement?

I don’t want to put her in shoes if I don’t have to. She doesn’t seem uncomfortable. I do have hoof boots for her, somewhere in storage around here.

[RedHorses]

IME wedge pads can encourage underrun heels to run forward even more.

[akdraft77]

Assuming the farrier is good, a shorter trim cycle will be good. I had one with this issue a few years ago that we put on a 3 week schedule. There was never much to take off, but we got him straightened out in a few months. In his case, we also had to treat aggressively for thrush and there were some dietary things I straightened out for him that helped a lot.

Also, may be evaluate why the horse ended up this way? If this happened under the care of your current farrier and a reasonable trim schedule, consider a new farrier.

Also, take a look at what is going on with her fronts. sometimes postural issues stemming from front end lameness can show up in back feet. *they stand weird to compensate for pain or discomfort somewhere else and this can cause their feet to wear/grow badly.

[Kyrabee]

If you have a good trimmer or farrier you trust, you can change the toe plane (slowly, of course). My mare was the same. To see if changing the angles would even help, I got some 2 degree wedges and put them in her boots. It did help the “symptoms” of the negative angle…primarily late breakover and dragging the front of her hoof along the footing (some toe wear but lots of dorsal wall wear). So, I showed my trimmer the x-rays and she carefully took off toe from the bottom. Certainly not as big a change as you can do with shoes and pads but, I felt the changes were adequate.

This mare hated being shod in her younger days. She reacted very badly to the nailing process. If I had decided to keep her in shoes, we would have had to go to a tranquilizer. I gave the above trimmer a chance and like I said, it worked adequately for my mare. (it’s been 11 years since she has been shod). She was only about 1 degree negative so if the issue is worse than that, shoes and pads may be necessary.

You might get away with a small wedge pad in a boot. I was using Renegades and it worked in the short term but I think long term, the wedges could easily come out the back. Other boots, you have to take into consideration that the wedge will affect boot fit.

Susan

[JB]

It needs to be whatever is best suited for the severity of the NPA, and the competence of the farrier. Shoes with wedges can immediately correct the Hoof-pastern angle/alignment (HPA), even when the trim cannot, in a given trim. So, shoes and wedges have that going for them, and may be needed/the best if the angle is low enough. Short-term, they are not going to crush the heels, assuming the toes are properly addressed

NPA can be corrected with proper trimming. Sometimes trimming alone doesn’t do the trick, and orthodics (shoes, wedges, whatever ) are needed.

So without a lot more info - how long has it been a problem, how much body compensation has it caused (if any), just how negative things are - it’s not possible to direct one way or another.

The only thing I would say is - do whatever is necessary to get this corrected sooner rather than later. Don’t make the horse sore such that he won’t properly weight his feet, but don’t dink around with tiny little trims here and there to “take things slow” either. The longer it remains negative, the more it affects the rest of the body.

The footing sounds like it’s a good situation for barefoot, which will allow for more frequent trimming, but without more details…

[IndysMom]

My horse has this. The vet reviewed the xrays with my farrier and he now wears a bar shoe behind. Seems to have solved the problem.

[Obsidian_Fire]

First hand experience here. Keeping my mare barefoot and short in the toes did nothing to help her. (She is also NPA in the hind feet).
I ended up with a new farrier…… Anyway, he put her in “flip flops” rather than wedges. Because, while wedges might be a short term fix, long term not so much. He felt that she was capable of growing heel if they were “floated”, and told me it would take awhile.
Timeline - she was first shod this way in late November. First of June, we took her to vet for fresh films. We discovered she put on an additional 5mm of sole depth, and - we have corrected her angles. Now that said… we took 2 sets of films. One before trim, one after. The before trim pics, she was at 6 weeks, and her angles hadn’t changed at all! The after trim pics - perfect angles. Something to note, before trim she still wants to run her heels under and in. Now that we have so much more hoof to play with, farrier was able to trim slightly different on those heels, which over the last cycle allowed her to grow a straighter heel. Also, we now have her on a 4 week cycle so that her angles stay corrected. So from June 1 to July 1 - she stayed really nice behind.
So yes, a shorter cycle, but it needs to be the right “type” of hoof care. My farrier is hoping (as am I, because this is expensive) that we can transition to a more normal shoeing after about a year. My plan is to have films taken again in January, and go forward from there.
One thing that stands out at me is looking at pictures from the previous farriers work, to my new guy’s work - there is no comparison. She has a LOT more foot. And not in a bad “oh gee this horse needs a trim” way either. She now has the right amount of foot for her and her size!
Best thing I ever did was get a new farrier.

[BoyleHeightsKid]

Do you have pictures? There can be a number of reasons for this. If you want to keep the horse bare behind, hills/pole work and boots with pads can stimulate the back of the foot to build the heel.

Sometimes if the bars and quarters are left long and flare it will pull the heels forward causing them to run under and crush.

Pictures would be great if you have them. Straight on from the side and a solar shot at well.