What an Improvement I'm Seeing Now!

Yesterday I had another lesson in new knowledge. I finally found the lady whose website & youtube channel is known as The Happy Hoof. She is Linda Harris (sorry I don’t remember which US state). She invited me to join her web group.

Linda has just added a new series of videos to her channel called Hoof Distortions. She has the dried hooves of 2 known horses with various distortions that are reasonably common. However Linda’s take on what caused those distortions is much different & hence the trim method to recreate a good hoof.

When I saw them I had a cold chill as I realised they were exactly what Sonny’s feet would look like inside. I started to understand what has caused his mechanical founder. Linda showed how the PERIOLE (the heel bulbs) get very tall as can be seen on Sonny's heels quite clearly. Internally there may be 2 sets of old bars & sole growing, poking up into the back of the coffin bone, squeezing & killing to sole corium, jacking up the heels & causing all sorts of distress. It's from leaving the bars laid over or not recognising overlaid bars & keeping them short before they grow internally due to the horse's weight on them. Linda invited me to join her group & I am to provide history & photos & eventually new xrays so she can advise me about what different trimming might be advantageous. I have sent the link to Cas to get her opinion also.

If anyone wants to view these videos, find them here:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKcimcR9MZQ&feature=relmfu

there are 9 in the set all about 7-10mins long. I was riveted for the whole series. It is so informing to see the inside of the hoof.

 So with new info in hand it was time to trim the horses again. I have been using the dremel with reasonable results except the last time when their soles were so hard nothing could grind them. We have had rain over the last couple of days so I took advantage & got out after the humidity dispersed. But by then I was racing the light. I got Cassie done all round, a little off the soles of Jude’s fronts, then had to move on to Sonny’s fronts.

By the time they were just roughly done I was shaking from working so fast to beat the fading light, so the photos are a bit blurred but even so you will see there is a huge improvement in sole shape. Since I was down in the orchard working in the shade there was nowhere to stand him to take upper hoof shots, so today there is only sole shots. His feet are nowhere near finished, just the first rough going over to remove overlaid bars.

I have taken out much more than I would usually take out of the sole. I know Cas removes what I think is a lot with the grinder. There are lumps that grow in the collateral grooves which are apparently overlaid bar material. However I never realised it caused so much damage internally. Once seen never forgotten I can assure you! Please go see those videos. It’s a wonder many horses can walk at all!

So I now know for sure that all that overlaid bar material MUST come out. The true bars are way under all that. That’ll be why all my horses shed sole parts so often, mostly the back half of the foot. It’ll be why Sonny keeps getting abscesses that make his heels so sore.

Today after that nice soaking rain for 2 days all feet were much easier to use the knife on. I easily lifted more than 5ml deep of overlaid bars. I could see the dirty join & the hoof was soft enough to lever it up. They aren’t often soft like that. Such a great opportunity & such timely knowledge.

I will finish their feet tomorrow.

Here’s the link to the photobucket album where you can see the other shots all dated 19Nov2012.

http://photobucket.com/sonnysfeet_november2012