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| Discussion on Do all horses do better with a short toe?? | |
| Author | Message |
| Member: scooter |
Posted on Wednesday, Nov 10, 2010 - 6:35 am: Dr.O. this question seems to rear it's ugly head in my mind quite often.Is it really necessary to keep a short toe on all horses or are there exceptions??? I'm not talking a LONG LONG toe, but a little more then is considered "proper" Last time I had the farrier here, about a month ago I told him not to touch Sam's and Hanks toe, all he did was rasp down on them a bit to clean them up. Both horses walked off sound which is rather unusual, especially Hank. Sam's hooves are about as ugly as a hoof can get, he flares easy, breaks out and chips, his toe is much longer than it should be, his heel is under run, it has become quite misshapen since his bad founder last winter. He has multiple rings on his hooves. I "maintain" his toe where it is (too long) and that boy, ugly hoof and all, can canter on septic rock and not flinch. He literally can walk on anything and never miss a beat.( he is very metabolic, PPID, EMS, IR) Hanks hoof has come a long way, not a ring to be found on his hooves  He doesn't flare in a day anymore, his heel is darn near where it belongs. I have also been maintaining his toe a little longer than it should be. He isn't a rock crusher like Sam, but he is walking on gravel well, and I saw him trotting on the septic rock yesterday when out in that pasture. I do roll both of their toes so their break over isn't horrible. When he starts tripping a little I trim their toes a bit and he is back to "normal" They both keep their toes "knocked" back a bit since I ride on hard ground and pavement. If I showed you a pic of Sam's hoof you would probably think he should be crippled. There is nothing good about them! He did have a good hoof up until his ordeal last winter. Is a slightly long toe always a bad thing??? I think this would help Hank with the frozen rutted ground that is heading our way soon. Sam really has never had a problem with that. ( I think he must be blessed with a thick sole) unlike Hank. Would I be asking for trouble down the line maintaining the boys with a toe that is not as "short" as it should be??? Thanks |
| Member: paul303 |
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| Member: scooter |
Posted on Wednesday, Nov 10, 2010 - 10:06 pm: Thanks Lee, I agree easing break over is good for everything including joints. My problem is these pathological hooves. Hank with the thin soles and I guess Sam, however Sam can usually be trimmed normally, since he had that founder last winter it seems he doesn't tolerate a "normal" toe as well.While I do roll their toes(sometimes square them) to help with break over, their toes are not "optimal" length. Yet if I get their toes "where they belong" they tippy toe until they hit a certain length. I am maintaining them at the length they are comfortable with, rather than trying to get them where they should be, if that makes sense  While not terribly long they are longer than they "should be" That sentence just made me remember what Dr.O. said on one of Hanks hoof threads... I guess that's my ans! So never mind!!! Here's from the other thread....sigh, I need to quit worrying about it, just don't want to go back to where we started. I think I have found Hanks and Sams "comfort zone" and can't "push any further. but can maintain... I think I got it Diane, Feet that are allowed to grow or trimmed out of balance create extra stress to both the superficial and deep tissues of the foot. These tissue's jobs are to both support the hoof's structure and deal with the normal stress of locomotion. In time the extra stress of poor conformation can cause degeneration of these tissues to less functional fibrous tissues (essentially scar like) which creates abnormal anatomy and function that does not deal with stress as well. You can only permanently correct the tissues that have not yet degenerated and been replaced. But to not keep trying to push the foot back to normal will usually allow it to get worse as often the conformation faults are is a bit of a positive feed back mode. The skill comes in knowing how hard you can push any particular foot. DrO |
