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Mixer
2002
Paint/Quarter gelding
Mixer has
never been shod; he was trimmed by numerous farriers initially, and
barefoot trimmed by me for the last 5 years. His collateral groove
height measures a full 5/8" at the frog apex, 7/8" at the back of the
foot!
Mixer's left front is considerably turned (toed) out. Had I
known when he was a foal what I know now, I could probably have
mitigated some of that angular deformity. Rather than
fight it now, I simply trim to the live sole and use collateral groove
height at the heel to dictate heel height. This is one of those times
when you just have to question the conventional wisdom of trimming a
foot to try to compensate for an angular limb deformity. It would
clearly throw the foot completely out of balance if I were to suddenly
trim off a bunch of lateral height to try to force him to land on both
heels simultaneously! Instead, because the foot lands slightly outside
heel first, the hoof is rolling over the inside of the toe, instead of
dead center. Trimming the hoof for adequate, uniform sole depth
has resulted in remarkably even wear on the very crooked left front,
as well as Mixer's other three hooves!
12-19-09
I took pics today, mostly to show what happens when you follow sole plane consistently. Looking at almost 2 years of trims, and ZERO change in the shape of these very healthy feet.
03-02-10
...and a good example of how easy it is to take bad hoof photos -- the December pics drove me crazy 'cause they made his toes look long and his heels look underrun. New, GOOD pics today show that;s not the case at all!
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