Healthy Hind Hoof
Parts of the Hoof
This is a good example of my normal healthy foot trim. As you can see, I trim the bars, heels and tip of the frog. I trim the caulky sole next to the tip of the frog to the dirtline which is between the ends of the bars to the tip of the frog. That is the point at which you would measure concavity. This is a draft cross with no contraction issues. As you can see, the hinds are asymetrical with the inside wall being a bit straighter. I rasp the walls just a few mms higher than the sole. I almost never trim any toe callous. So in years and years of trimming, most of my horses never ever get the toe callous trimmed. I trim very little sole at all and the only places you see what looks like trimmed sole is where I trimmed the bars off the sole. The sole in the heel/bar triangle is sometimes trimmed only slightly to lower the heels.
In the lateral view, you can see the hairline looks very straight with no "dip" in the toe. I trimmed a nice scoop into the lateral and medial walls to help with good mechanism. This hoof has both black and white horn.
In the lateral view, you can see the hairline looks very straight with no "dip" in the toe. I trimmed a nice scoop into the lateral and medial walls to help with good mechanism. This hoof has both black and white horn.
This horse has fairly healthy hooves. Nice and round; a little overgrown with the bars, but he's just about to get his trim..Compare this hoof to the one below. They are the same foot! This one is a photo of the left front when the horse was only a yearling. The one below shows the same foot at 5 1/2 years old. It is a draft cross which typically have big round feet . The owner has been doing her own trimming for most of his life with occassional help from me an another SHP.
But it's interesting to see this horse's same foot from the age of a yearling, (when the palmar processes have not fully formed), to a 5 year old when the palmar processes are fully formed.
Healthy black horn appears bluish. Note the toe where there is damaged horn from a crack, which is a 'dead' looking black. This hoof has some problems with toe cracks as a result of owner trimming which left the heels and bars too high. This photo is after my trim to correct that imbalance.
But it's interesting to see this horse's same foot from the age of a yearling, (when the palmar processes have not fully formed), to a 5 year old when the palmar processes are fully formed.
Healthy black horn appears bluish. Note the toe where there is damaged horn from a crack, which is a 'dead' looking black. This hoof has some problems with toe cracks as a result of owner trimming which left the heels and bars too high. This photo is after my trim to correct that imbalance.
Paso Fino
Although this foot is somewhat contracted, It has a good laminar connection, concavity and hard horn. The sole is smooth and elastic the frog doesn't seem to have any abscessing or disease.
Right front when seen from the side (lateral view) shows nice healthy horn with tubules aligned in the direction of force.
Right front when seen from the side (lateral view) shows nice healthy horn with tubules aligned in the direction of force.
