Equestrian Thread

[Nagishkaw 510]

No, he doesn't have navicular. He has very good feet, in fact. I meant the lines are not up and down, but going around from side to side. He is slightly flatfooted, however...and barefoot.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Kathryn, maybe you could post a few pics ?

I'll have to download some to the computer and don't have a scanner yet. I'll see what I can do

[Nagishkaw 510]

That would be so awesome!

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Someone told me that very visible ridges/lines on the hooves mean at some point the horse was stressed. Any truth to this?

Which ways do the ridges go?

Sideways around the hoof can indicate different types of stress. The hoof grows out of the soft tissue at the top of the foot so if there is any injury to that area it will affect the growth of keratin that forms the hoof. These can be indentations or mis-shapened areas. Times of dietary stress, dryness or something like founder can also cause ridges to form around the hoof. These grow out as the hoof grows although areas in between ridges can become stress points prone to cracking when that part of the hoof reaches the bottom of the foot.

Putting something like pinetar (Hooflex is the one I used to use all the time) on both the sole of the foot and the hoof wall and at the top of the hoof will help strengthen any areas of weakness. Increasing food and providing a good quality hay during winter when cold weather can place physical demands on a horse can help prevent ridges caused by dietary stress, and practicing good feeding habits will help prevent founder (ie, introducing to new grass in a pasture gradually, not overfeeding 'hot' foods like grains and sweetfeed, etc.).

To help keep the bottom of the hoof from cracking and breaking off when the horse goes barefoot, you can round the edge of the hoof at the bottom with a rasp so it is stronger and less liable to fragment.

Edited March 9, 2012 by Kathryn41

[Nagishkaw 510]

After reading your post, I'm sure it has to be the dietary stress because he has never foundered. So that WAS true what someone told me about the ridges.

At the other place, he was not fed properly at all. He sees the farrier about every 5 weeks now as opposed to every 10 to 12 ( yes, you read that right ) weeks. His new farrier told me that the old farrier was trimming so badly that it was causing the horses to become bow legged, as 3 of them moved with Koda to this new facility from the old one.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Yeah, that would do it. The ridges will grow out now that he is on proper food. Once he gets his feet back in shape you can probably get by on an 8 week schedule as well. A bad farrier can really do a lot of damage to a horse's foot, that's the truth! I'm glad you've got that under control. There was a time when I was not impressed with any of the farrier choices in the area that I ended up learning how to trim Kassan's feet myself. It took me forever! (especially as she liked to 'lean' on the foot I was trimming and I had to keep putting it down as the weight would kill my back!) but it worked well as a transition to when I could locate another decent farrier. I ended up trimming the feet of my best friend's horse as well during this time. Because I was worried about over trimming, I tended to under trim (made sure I got the angles right, however) and then trimmed more often to make sure they didn't get too long.

Edited March 9, 2012 by Kathryn41

[Nagishkaw 510]

And the thing of it is, Koda has really good feet.

I'd be so terrified to even TRY to trim him myself and even watching the farrier makes my back hurt so I give you a lot of credit there.

[mounir412 101]

Australian Stock Horse Photos

[Nagishkaw 510]

That was a very good video.

[mounir412 101]

Egyptian Horse Dancing

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Here's a photo I took at the Georgia Renaissance 2 years ago - it won last year's Georgia Renaissance Photography contest! This is one of the Andalusian stallions performing

not sure how to get the photo to appear here

Edited March 10, 2012 by Kathryn41
to remove personal information

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

Here's a photo I took at the Georgia Renaissance 2 years ago - it won last year's Georgia Renaissance Photography contest! This is one of the Andalusian stallions performing

Edited March 10, 2012 by Kathryn41

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Thanks!

[Nagishkaw 510]

Here's a photo I took at the Georgia Renaissance 2 years ago - it won last year's Georgia Renaissance Photography contest! This is one of the Andalusian stallions performing

not sure how to get the photo to appear here

No worries, 5 took care of it. He paws the keyboard faster than me.

[mounir412 101]

Canadian horse