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Discussion on Sloping pasterns, long toe and low heel
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Member:
cathyb1
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Posted on Friday, Nov 27, 2009 - 2:56 am:
Hi Dr. O,
I have a 4 year old WB/TB cross, a very tall horse, very good moving, although rather immature physically - he looks like a giant foal at the moment!
He has very slopey pasterns, and although his feet are in line with his pasterns, he doesn't have much of a heel, and I can see the potential for extra strain on the support structures within his foot. Should I start with remedial shoeing? I would like to see him grow more heel, but how do you encourage the hoof to grow at the heels? His feet look good when you pick them up; round and good frog and heels, but on the ground, from the fetlock down it all just looks too angled, and his feet just look a bit weak. He isn't lame. But this is a good horse, that I plan to use for dressage, and I want to do the right things to keep him sound!
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Friday, Nov 27, 2009 - 7:41 am:
Hello Cathy,
With the hoof in line with the pastern (let's call it balanced in both the anterior-posterior and side to side directions) you do not want to grow more heel than the rest of the hoof. This will unbalance the foot. For an explanation of this see: References » Equine Illustrations » Muscoskeletal Anatomy and Conformation » Foot: Anterior - Posterior balance.
As to the length of the foot itself I would have to say that most folks who grew up around shod horses have developed a eye that prefers a longer hoof than what is seen with many healthy unshod hooves. These well maintained barefoot horses have excellent horn with tough soles and thick walls and should not grow out longer walls as this destabilizes the hooves horn. You will find an informative article and discussions on barefoot horses at Horse Care » Hoof Care, Hoof Trimming, Shoeing Horses » The 4 Point or Natural Trim.
As to whether you should shoe or not depends on your goals and your horse's unshod hooves ability to stand up to meet those goals. There is one other aspect to shoeing, you can probably get a flashier action from your horse with a bit longer foot and shoeing.
DrO
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Member:
rtrotter
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Posted on Friday, Nov 27, 2009 - 8:32 am:
Cathy,
I'd like to pass along a very valuable lesson from 30 + years of dealing with horses. IMO you can not shoe a horse sound unless you are dealing with serious pathologies, and even then I am not so sure that shoes don't exacerbate some problems and lead to more downtime. The horses hoof form and function are more important.
If your horse is sound and barefoot, you are well ahead of the game. As Dr. O says you need to make sure he is balanced and his foot is being "read" properly to allow for his bone growth and proper skeletal development.
The way to correct what appears to be a low heeled horse is to make sure those long toes are taken care of ( beveled, mustang roll)so the horse can break over naturally. It is not so much the heel as the toe that is most of the problem.
There are a lot of lively discussions on this board about trimming methods and opinions on one trim over another, but basically its a balanced foot that is the optimum ideal for your horse.
Can you post some pictures of what he looks like? Some good conformation shots and some of his legs and feet?
Rachelle
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Friday, Nov 27, 2009 - 10:04 am:
Cathy having been dealing with this problem for a long, long time, I would have to add getting it under control BEFORE it causes problems is the smart thing to do. 
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Friday, Nov 27, 2009 - 11:59 am:
Cathy,
Ditto to the above advice.
Please post a good side view of your horse standing square in his natural stance..in other words, don't try to stand him perfectly, but do try to get his front feet even. We need to see if he stands under himself, and where his heel point is.
One good picture of his hoof from the side, when the hoof is on the hoof stand (forward) so we can see the front of the hoof wall.
A couple of shots from the bottom of the hoof. To see bars and how much wall there is. One looking from the heel down to the toe also, should not see much sole.
You'll get some good advice after we can see pictures.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Saturday, Nov 28, 2009 - 8:51 am:
Hello Everyone,
I am still in a quandary over this post. Despite her title Cathy states the hoof is in alignment with the pastern which argues against a poorly trimmed low heel, long toe situation. Either a horse with naturally low heel long toe or possibly a misinterpretation of what she is seeing. Some good images would help us settle this question.
DrO
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