Balanced Stride

"Bo" is a gelding that I have been shoeing for some time, close to a year and I have not been able to get a good growth of heel under the left front foot. There is also a slight problem with the right front foot as well. I have been creating a wedged shoe with a rolled toe to help in the process of heel pressure, but the problem is so far advanced that all other farriers that have seen the problem have felt that nothing can be done to improve the situation. Remember that I personally feel that each horse can be helped.

Here is what the feet looked like after close to a year of trying to get the heels to grow without much success. It was at this point that it was decided that a more drastic measure was needed to help the horse with the health of its feet as well as the overall comfort of day-to-day use.

Here is another look at the foot and the legs with the shoe removed. As you might notice the left front foot (the one closest) is at a worse angle then that of the right front foot. What this picture does show you is that the foot is what is referred to as "broken back" or out of the proper alignment with the pastern of the leg. Our main goal is to see if it is possible to correct that problem and allow the horse to be much more comfortable. At the present angle there is internal pressure to the joints and will cause pain to be felt as well as a long term arthritic problems can become apparent.

This photo is used to show how low the heels are in relationship to the ground. It is at this particular point in time that what the horse is doing is referred to as "walking on the bulbs of their heels". What that does mean is that the foot is not being properly supported as the horse steps down on it. If you look closely at the side of the foot you might notice a crack that is quite evident at the area of the heel. This has been caused from the increased pressure that is being realized by the low heel problem.

This is a photo of the same foot, only from the other side (the inside) and it show the deteration of the heel area of the foot. This amount of deteration is due to lack of circulation within that specific area of the foot, insufficient circulation means inadequate nourishment and that means lack of growth to a point of falling apart.

This photo shoes the type of shoe that I had been using to help this particular problem. I have had a very high success rate with the use of this shoe, but as in all cases there are exceptions and I have found one.

Once that the foot is trimmed there is little change in the angle of the foot, although it does start to match the angle of the other foot better. What that tells us is that the is a problem with both of the front feet and addressing them both will be the only way to help the horse properly. 

Once that I have trimmed the foot to an angle that allow us to retain comfortable use of the foot without the use of a pad, what is necessary is the starting of the preparation work to the area that will accept the acrylic material that will be used to build up the heel area and support the entire foot at a much more comfortable angle for the horse.

Once that the heels are totally cleaned up and made as smooth as possible the heels have to be removed. In this case, as in most of this type of problem, the heels tend to roll under and inward and create what is referred to as "crushed heels". Once that this situation has occurred the only way to eliminate it is to cut out the heel down to solid foot and support it in a manner that will allow it not to re-occur.

This is the inside of the same foot once that all of the dead tissue has been removed and only the solid healthy tissue was allowed to remain to create a solid foundation to build a new foot on.

This photo shows the same front foot with the first two layers of the foot rebuilding material applied and setting up. Already you can see a great improvement in the overall support and condition of the foot.

This photo shows the outside of the front foot that I have been working on, it has the same two layers applied, except in this case the excess has been dressed down. With the removal of the excess material it allows you to see how the acrylic material adheres to and fills in the gaps that were created at the start of this process.

This is the same foot once that the third and fourth layers have been applied and allowed to set up. What is evident here is that we are now starting to see additional heel appear to be added to the foot. The addition of this height to the heel will allow the angle of the foot to change in a manner that will relieve the internal pressure of the foot.

This is the same foot with a view of the inside of the foot, again with the third and fourth layer applied.

This is the same foot once that it is dressed down and the excess material has been removed. This material is good in the sense that it adheres quickly, has a consistency close to that of the hoof wall and creates a solid and workable area in and around the foot.

Again the inside of the foot once that it is prepared to be finished and the shoe applied. It was at this point that I decided to use an ordinary keg shoe since we were able to get the angle that was required by the bone structure of the leg.

This photo is of the other front foot, the right one, and is done to show that there is need of a slight raising of the hell of this foot as well.

Here we have finished both front feet and corrected them to the angle that is necessary to match the skeletal structure of the horse that I am working on. WE have been able to take the horse and make it more comfortable while allowing it to move around more easily with lass pain and interference than before.

WE were a bit lucky in the completion of this work, it rained quite heavily two days after completing the job, it give the acrylic material 24 hours to set up and cure properly before the weather made itself known. I have talked to the owner since and there are no ill effects from the rain (the horse is kept in a pasture) and does move around the pasture much more freely. In fact he is now starting to run through the field much more than he did before the acrylic work was completed. That alone tells us that he is much more comfortable.