Some great advice here, but just wanted to ask, does the farrier ever trim her frogs? They should not be touched except looks flaps taken off.
We used to use Farnum’s Reducine on the coronet band to stimulate new hoof growth on horses with slow hoof growth. It works well. Apply it to the upper inch of the hoof, DO NOT get it into the hair line, do not use under boots. We applied it with an old tooth brush.
www.equimed.com/drugs-and-medications/reference/reducine
Might also add some Biotin, and Uckele Tri-Amino’s, and Flax/Omega-3. The feet look like nutrition may be a factor in the slow growth
Her feet look really good for 8 weeks out. I had a farrier teach me how to trim my mare and I’ve maintained her feet for nearly 2 years now. I leave her well shaped, but a hair long to help her out on gravel, I don’t mess with her sole, and her frog is only messed with when she’s shedding it. Anyway, rounding her off with a rasp and maybe taking a little wall down is probably all you would need to do. Have a farrier look at her every once in a while to make sure you stay on the right track.
I was told by some really good farriers that we should not try to change the way of going in an adult horse. That trying to fix the feet to be balanced just make them more sore up the leg. Maybe that is what this horse is trying to say?
They don’t look bad to me. Self trimming nicely. I’d be touching them up between farrier visits and waiting a bit longer between major trims.
I agree these feet look wonderful for 8 weeks this time of year, where they are often growing much faster.
This says the amount of wear is all but keeping up with the amount of growth, and that is a good thing. Yes, the edges are a bit ragged but not nearly what one often sees at 8 weeks on a bare foot in the Summer.
From what I see, if I were to trim these feet right now, it would be probably a few swipes at the heels to bring them back a little, a light swipe or 2 across the walls just to level things a bit, and redo the roll on the outer walls. Oh, and take care of the bars. That’s about it. It would likely be much more a maintenance touch-up, than a full trim.
The breakover might need to be brought back, since the horse is wearing one into the toe, but that can be done WITHOUT lowering the toe height, or at least not lowering is much, depending on how much there actually is.
I would say, based on what you’ve said, the feet are over-trimmed if these feet don’t fit your boots, but do when freshly trimmed.
Maybe the original fresh trimming was correct for the feet, and now they have expanded with more health.
[QUOTE=tazycat;8811317]
Her feet don’t even look like the need a trim just smooth rough edges. If that’s all the foot, she grows in eight weeks,no wonder she’s sore being trimmed every 5 weeks.
If mine were trimmed every 5 weeks they’d be sore/ lame all the time. All that’s been done on my horses in last 3 month is file rough edges smooth.
No wonder people have trouble with horses being sore ,their being trimmed way to much.[/QUOTE]
THIS!!!
Being trimmed every 5 weeks does not equate to being trimmed too much. At 5 weeks these feet COULD be trimmed, and that trim would likely be just a touch-up trim - clean up the bars, renew the roll, maybe correct any minor imbalance developing, and that’s that.
Trimming is about trimming what shouldn’t be there, no matter the frequency
IF that trim at 5 weeks is making horse sore,then it is too often. Horses i have, have been rasped 2 times to take off rough edges,in last 3 months. From looks of OPS horse those feet hardly grow,so only need very little done.
Not all horses grow hoof during the summer or warmer months, i own three who grow hardly any hoof all year round.
Seems most farriers can’t just do a clean up rough edges and bars…they rasp off to much and take to much sole out. Leaves horse sore after till weeks later,when hoofs finally grow some.
I had this issue with farriers they just don’t listen to the owners,they blow you off and do what they want. 
More accurately, it’s too much taken off.
If there isn’t enough to take off, then that is on the farrier/trimmer to tell the owner the trims should be pushed out another 1-2-3 weeks, depending on how much there is.
Horses i have, have been rasped 2 times to take off rough edges,in last 3 months. From looks of OPS horse those feet hardly grow,so only need very little done.
They are growing, or they would be much more worn down than this. This really is ideal- wear keeping up, or nearly so, with the growth.
Not all horses grow hoof during the summer or warmer months, i own three who grow hardly any hoof all year round.
They ARE growing foot. They are just wearing it off almost as quickly. Feet wear. Period. Unless they are in a stall all the time, which isn’t the case with yours, then they are wearing every day. Maybe a little, maybe a lot, depending on the footing and movement.
Seems most farriers can’t just do a clean up rough edges and bars…they rasp off to much and take to much sole out. Leaves horse sore after till weeks later,when hoofs finally grow some.
That’s definitely as much of a problem as trimming for obvious imbalance 
I had this issue with farriers they just don’t listen to the owners,they blow you off and do what they want.
Incompetence is incompetence, whether farrier or trimmer, and I agree, those individual exist far too frequently.
You might find that the separation resolves when a little more wall is left at each trim. I have one that throws a sole like that when overtrimmed, it seems to hyper react and grow so that a trench forms near the WL. I took over trimming him, I leave a little more wall and trim more often to prevent flare, and the sole settled down and had no more separation.
[QUOTE=Katy Watts;8811589]
I was told by some really good farriers that we should not try to change the way of going in an adult horse. That trying to fix the feet to be balanced just make them more sore up the leg. Maybe that is what this horse is trying to say?
They don’t look bad to me. Self trimming nicely. I’d be touching them up between farrier visits and waiting a bit longer between major trims.[/QUOTE]
Exactly. The underlying conformation is more important than the prettiness of the the trim. So when posting photos, it’s a good idea to include some confo pics, or at least the legs.
Thanks for all the comments!
As some of the posters noted, her feet are in fact growing quite nicely, which I can judge by seeing how long it takes a mark to travel down her hoof. She is wearing them down through an hour of walk/trot on gravelly sand every day: self-trimming, without any large chunks breaking off.
I just know from experience that I can’t rely on this alone. The summer that we got into trouble with the wall separation, her feet looked really good, seemed to be self-trimming, was going fine on sand and gravel (different facility, different paths), weren’t long enough to “need” a trim. But then it turned out that there was separation going on I hadn’t noticed, because the gaps got packed up with clay from her field. So that’s what I look for all the time now.
I’ve talked to my farrier, sent her photos. We know each other well enough that we collaborate, and she trusts my sense of what is going on with the horse. She says she will take out less bars, and I explained how much the horse seems to like her current soles.
I think the Renegade boots will fit once the slight flare is gone, the walls rasped back. And maybe I do need to get my hands on a rasp, and bevel the walls back around week 4, before they start fraying.
[QUOTE=S1969;8808975]
Well, I will agree that the horse should not be uncomfortable on day 1 of their trim - but many horses are not comfortable without shoes, no matter what the trim is.
So, I agree that it sounds like this horse could be trimmed too short, if she seems suddenly very sound on gravel at 5 weeks. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that all horses should be sound on all terrain when barefoot.
I’d consider getting a 2nd opinion on the trim before doing anything else.[/QUOTE]
I didn’t say that all horses can be sound barefoot. The 2 horses I have can go barefoot so they are. If my horse took 5 weeks to be sound barefoot she would be shod.
ive just literally been through this…
3 horses trimmed on a 6 weekly cycle.
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OTTB shod from age 2-7yo. BF from 7 to 11yo. Good feet, VERY hard, prone to flare.
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KWPN NEVER shod (is only 4yo) excellent feet, not prone to flare, hard feet, good frogs, zero issues.
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irish draught X. shod from 4yo-9yo. BF from 9yo to 21yo. Soft feet prone to flare, dramatically better when in regular (albeit very light, walk mostly) work.
just a few times all 3 were off for a week after trimming. Not dog hopping lame, but off, NQR, a bit hmmmmmmmm.
in the end she did it once too many times and i sacked her, spoke to a LOT of experienced BF people, decided to see how much they could self trim. all we have done is roll toes very lightly on a 10 day schedule, i have not touched flare, bar, soles.
12 weeks since their last trim and they are ALL moving better than ever, not at all ouchy or iffy or off.
the TB does have some odd looking feet ATM as the flare grows out (rather than being rasped off leaving him with no foot which i suspect was the main problem with the trimmer, wanting a pretty foot). BUT you can see the new tighter growth at the top and the bottom flare growing out.
the old boy seems to suddenly go flared and then overnight it disappeared?! his feet look the best they have in YEARS.
the 4yo KWPN is back to utterly rock crunching even on broken up old bricks and fractured tarmac (the rubbishy car park surfaces we come across at shows!)
if you are working on fairly abrasive surfaces my advice would be to leave her be and let her self trim for a good few months. let HER body work out where everything needs to be, maybe just tidy up any huge cracks as carefully as possible.
