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Blaze
Tennessee Walking Horse Gelding
Initial Assessment
All four of Blaze's feet show similar issues: underrun heels, toes so
long his breakover is non-existent, narrow, stretched forward hoof
capsule showing heel contraction and deep central sulcus. We
gave him a conservative set up trim, but just pulling his shoes
encouraged his heels to stand up some.
Trim Notes
Blaze showed dramatic improvement very quickly. Problems with
his canter and running walk disappeared almost immediately following
his first trim. His heels are expanding quickly, and hoof wall
quality is improving steadily.
Progress Report
Blaze's flat soles stayed flat and refused to exfoliate even a tiny bit for a very long time. He seemed to reach a plateau a few months ago, and backslid some; his frog health suffered, and he developed a toe crack on the right front, likely due to all that retained sole. We revisited his diet and I recommended some additional changes -- mostly paring back carbs and boosting trace minerals. As of the end of October, he is FINALLY shedding some sole, and showing concavity for the first time!!
His heels have also opened considerably!
Blaze wore boots initially, but is going barefoot now and moving beautifully.
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