Feet Pictures
| September 16, 2010 | Posted by Melinda under Uncategorized |
It’s been awhile since I posted hoof pictures!!!! Cameras always make the angles look weird. As always, I’m a complete novice at this so I appreciate any and all feedback. If any one wants to use these pics as an example of something in their own blog, go ahead. These pics were taken on Wednesday, I last trimmed (rasped) on Monday. I’m considering having the farrier trim her today (Thursday)…..due to the fact I think the toe on the RF is getting too long, but I don’t know what to do about it.
Right Front
I feel like that this hoof has a tendancy to grow out on the toe and have a short heel….but by looking at the pics, it looks like the heel could even go down further!!!!!! But I’m a’scair’ed to do so because the toe looks so long when the hoof is on the ground…..I have trouble with the quarters flaring, but it’s better than a month ago. I have a feeling once the sole starts shedding again, that I’m going to find I can take down the hoof wall a lot more and some of that dirt in the white line will resolve it’s self???? That’s what happened with the hind – once the sole started shedding out I realized I didn’t have a stretched white line as much as I had retained sole and a high hoof wall……any opinions?
Left Front
Likes to grow a lot of heel, but looking at the bottom, not sure I’m comfortable taking any more heel off? What do you guys think? The toe on this hoof tends to have flare, (as opposed to the RF having flare at the quarters), which seems to be getting better as I address it each tme I rasp. If I’m not careful, this foot tends to want to break over any place EXCEPT over the middle of the toe – so I always go back a few days after trimming to make sure the breakover is over the middle and adjust as necessary. The sole plane is level – ignore the black line that makes it look like the right side (in the picture) of the heel is higher…..I think that line is sole that is about to shed (whoo hoo!) but it’s level for now.
The hinds…..
She’s standing under herself here, but it gives you a general idea.
Right hind. Nice chunks of sole are coming out, leaving a very nice concave hoof. You can see a retained chunk of sole on the right side of the picture.
And finally the left hind.
I think her feet look great! My arab has the same problem with the high/low feet in front, and I’ve come to the conclusion (from observation and reading what other experts have to say) that she is just happy that way. I can even them out a little, but one will always be taller than the other. As long as Farley is comfortable and sound, there shouldn’t be a problem.
Based on the pictures, yes you could probably take a little more heel off the low one, but if you’re not comfortable call the farrier out for sure.
Overall I think her feet are gorgeous! You’re doing a great job taking care of them and keeping the walls down. Have you been using your dremel? I found one lying around in the garage and got some new grinding tips to try out…I’m not sure I’m sold on it.
are you measuring angles? I still do just because I don’t work on enough horses to be able to visually see a 2 or 3 degree difference.
everything looks pretty good – it’d be nice to see the photos larger when you click on them.
Karen – I’ll keep that in mind when I post hoof pics in the future. blogger sometimes hangs up when the pics are larger which is why I’ve been compressing them, but I’m sure I can figure out a work around.
re: angles. **sigh**. You totally have me there. I experimented with a protractor and some plexiglass etc but nothing replaces that neat little tool you have. The angles may be closer than I think.
Thanks Breanna for the kind words! I haven’t used the dremmel in a couple of months – the hooves have been soft enough that a really good, sharp rasp is doing the job. I got some advice from Renegade that my mustang roll doesn’t need to be quite as agressive and it would help my boot retention if it wasn’t, so I’ve backed off a bit. I used the dremmel mostly for a good mustang roll. I still like having the dremmel as an option though. She DOES hold her feet in a way that is consistent with the high/low so some of this may just be a result of her behavior.
I really wish I had something intelligent to say, Mel. But Farley’s feet are like Dixie’s – they’re so nice, and I only have the eye to see obvious problems. Not that Farley’s feet or Dixie’s feet are perfect, but they’re mostly good and I can only see the big flashing red flags of bad feet.
Well I certianly don’t have anything intelligent to say. The feet look good to me, but I’m still a newbie horse owner (2 years) and feet are still an enigma to me. My mare always seems to have long front toes, and she’s had 3 different farriers work on her (3 because we are in different places through out the year). I liked the last one up in Colorado best, he did only barefoot trims and he did the best job so far in making her stand more upright on her feet. But I just wanted to leave a comment to let you know I was here and reading and enjoyed the “education”, even if I don’t know much about feet yet.
You guys are really quite kind. Although it is reassuring that it seems like most of us are in the same “boat” when it comes to feet. LOL.
At least you can take a photo that doesn’t make things look “odd”. I’ve tried photographing Phebes hooves and always end up with some weird camera angle that doesn’t justify her pretty little hooves! I will admit that the high/low thing bothers me on my own horse, and Doug has done well gradually getting the angles closer, but it took a good year to get them where they are, and not sure how low eventually we can go on the higher heel. I’m just happy to be fitting boots well all of a sudden! Your girls hooves look very nice and that is about all the opinion I’m qualified to give 🙂
Jacke