This was his left front hoof in December of 2012
This was also our first barefoot trim.
Ashke's left front has always been the bigger issue of the two in the front. I'm pretty sure the lack of good nutrition, bad footing and a lack of regular farrier work has all contributed to this issue. Additionally, he's struggled with his hind end issues, which cause him to use his body incorrectly and effect the amount of "strike" impact on his front hooves. He compensated for so many years, that even after six and a half years of working to get him right again, we are still dealing with issues.
Right Front in May of 2015
I switched to my third barefoot farrier because of all the issues we were having with staying sound.
In 2015, we struggled a lot with the hoof thing. The feed program at the barn I was at contributed to his overall unfitness. The farrier I had prior to the one who had trimmed in this pic was a nut job and actually made the issues worse. We coasted with this farrier and struggling with hoof boots for another year before I moved into shoes.
Best damn decision I've ever made.
Left front May 2018 - this has always been his bad hoof.
You can see the overall shape of the hoof is better, and his hoof capsule is a bit longer than when we started.
We finally have the WLD showing real signs of improvement. I had been treating his hooves with a combination of hydroperoxide and betadyne every other week. The White Lightning didn't do anything at all. We could see the hoof hardening and the squishiness in the cracks was drying out.
July 2018 Left front before the trim.
Ashke's hooves were so hard this time that the farrier had to use a blow torch to soften the sole in order to use his hoof knife on it. You can see that there is still some separation on the outside of the hoof wall, but that tissue was dry and hard, not black and squishy.
Right Front in May 2018
In May, there was still a divot in the inside hoof wall in the back quarter but the outside edge was pretty clean with very little squish.
Right Front July 2018
The outside area where there used to be a deep crevasse with black gunk, was tight and dry. The toe is tight. There is a little on the inside of the hoof, but again is was dry and hard. I am hopeful that our next shoeing will bring us even closer to this being gone for good.
One of the changes that is helping is that Ashke's stall is always clean and dry. The barn worker who cleans always makes sure to take all of the wet shavings out and with the stall having a dirt floor, it doesn't hold the moisture. That was a struggle at my old barn, because they would pick but they wouldn't do more than turn over the wet shavings.
Additionally, we haven't had an issue with thrush, so I am hoping once we get him back to just healthy hoof, my maintenance should be fairly easy.
WLD is a frustrating thing. Carmen had a touch of it in her right toe. The farrier cut open the area to expose to air. But th3 whole hoof? Oh dear.
ReplyDeleteVal has also had issues with white line off and on - usually when it's really wet here, which it is right now as we've had 16 inches of rain in July so far. :(
ReplyDeleteI've had great luck using Honey Hooves. It fills the crevices and stays in long enough to be effective, which I think liquid treatments sometimes don't...