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 Expert
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| First off, I have an outstanding farrier, I have had lengthy discussions about this with him and my vet. My 3 year old is growing more hoof wall (From coronet band to bottom of foot, not thickness) on the OUTSIDE of his foot than on the inside. When you clean his feet and look down you can see it. Absolutely not affecting him what so ever. His is not pigeon toed etc. Vet says its like some people when they wear shoes and the sole of the shoe wears uneven to one side of the other based on each individual. Both say that if he is sound to leave it well alone. SO thats my plan. Just in all of my years of having horses I have never seen it before. Anyone else? I thought maybe a half rim pad on the inside would be better to level it but vet says his tendons have adjusted to his natural growth and let it be. Any ideas? Thanks!
Edited by FLITASTIC 2014-12-16 8:50 AM
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 Owner of a ratting catting machine
Posts: 2258
| Have you x-rayed his feet, fetlocks and knees? I'd be interested to see if any of the angles in his internal foot/fetlock is causing him to put more weight on the outside of his foot. |
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Expert
Posts: 5293
| Not yet.. THe farrier said he has seen it before and its not real uncommon. You don't see it every day but certainly not unheard of. My vet is of the opinion that if its not bothering him, to just let it go. Once he starts his barrel racing training then if he starts having problems we can look into it further. Xrays at my clinic are 100.00 set up fee then 25.00 a pop. SO all of that would be about a 500.00 xray of a sound horse. lol He did have a complete set of xrays all of legs last march for a pre purchase and they came back clean. If need be I will have a half rim pad put on to kind of level it out over time if need be. |
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 Saint Stacey
| Â Is the coronet band level? If the outside is higher than the inside, you WILL have problems eventually in that the coronet band will form a bubble at the greatest point of pressure and then it will crack from the top in order to relieve the pressure. I'm speaking from experience. Took me over a year to get a horse fixed once that this happened to. The shoer I finally got literally did not touch the low side for a year but would take up to 1/4" at a time off the high side and pare the sole away there only. |
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  Northern Chocolate Queen
Posts: 16576
Location: ND | To me that's an indication that he is not landing flat, he's landing uneven therefore causing more wear on the inside. It looks like he's growing more wall on the outside but in reality he's just wearing more of the inside off & that indicates an imbalance somewhere. Either in the trim or his legs aren't perfectly straight.
I've also done some reading & watched video's of massage therapists who say that if they are needing body work through the back & shoulders that can lead to uneven wear. I'm interested in that theory but haven't had the opportunity to look farther into it. |
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 Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | SaraJean - 2014-12-16 8:50 AM To me that's an indication that he is not landing flat, he's landing uneven therefore causing more wear on the inside. It looks like he's growing more wall on the outside but in reality he's just wearing more of the inside off & that indicates an imbalance somewhere. Either in the trim or his legs aren't perfectly straight.
I've also done some reading & watched video's of massage therapists who say that if they are needing body work through the back & shoulders that can lead to uneven wear. I'm interested in that theory but haven't had the opportunity to look farther into it.
I have a horse that toes out that does this. We just trim him as he stands and the outside eventually looks longer. When I pick up his feet though, he has even wear looking at the bottom. If yours is uneven at the bottom that is strange. |
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Expert
Posts: 5293
| Awesome observation. He is Shod. I can't imagine what it would be like if he were barefoot. I'm going to have my chiropractor take a look at him. Might be best option! Thanks for noticing that! |
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Expert
Posts: 5293
| I will try and get a picture later today! |
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Expert
Posts: 5293
| wyoming barrel racer - 2014-12-16 8:01 AM
SaraJean - 2014-12-16 8:50 AM To me that's an indication that he is not landing flat, he's landing uneven therefore causing more wear on the inside. It looks like he's growing more wall on the outside but in reality he's just wearing more of the inside off & that indicates an imbalance somewhere. Either in the trim or his legs aren't perfectly straight.
I've also done some reading & watched video's of massage therapists who say that if they are needing body work through the back & shoulders that can lead to uneven wear. I'm interested in that theory but haven't had the opportunity to look farther into it.Â
I have a horse that toes out that does this. We just trim him as he stands and the outside eventually looks longer. When I pick up his feet though, he has even wear looking at the bottom. If yours is uneven at the bottom that is strange.Â
The bottom of the foot doesnt look uneven, the shoe is flat against the wall, just looks like outside is longer. lol |
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 Expert
Posts: 2457
| FLITASTIC - 2014-12-16 10:52 AM wyoming barrel racer - 2014-12-16 8:01 AM SaraJean - 2014-12-16 8:50 AM To me that's an indication that he is not landing flat, he's landing uneven therefore causing more wear on the inside. It looks like he's growing more wall on the outside but in reality he's just wearing more of the inside off & that indicates an imbalance somewhere. Either in the trim or his legs aren't perfectly straight.
I've also done some reading & watched video's of massage therapists who say that if they are needing body work through the back & shoulders that can lead to uneven wear. I'm interested in that theory but haven't had the opportunity to look farther into it. I have a horse that toes out that does this. We just trim him as he stands and the outside eventually looks longer. When I pick up his feet though, he has even wear looking at the bottom. If yours is uneven at the bottom that is strange. The bottom of the foot doesnt look uneven, the shoe is flat against the wall, just looks like outside is longer. lol
What does the coronate band look like? Level from side to side? What's the angle of it as you look from the front to rear of the hoof? Lots can attribute to growing more hoof/wall on the inside when compared to the outside. Are his heel bulbs similar in size?
He may be off in his structure - not a huge biggie as long as you keep him landing level and not sore. SaraJean has the right idea ... if he isn't balance, that also will cause the hoof to grow more on one side.
Got pictures of him standing on a level surface? Maybe also from the knees down? |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| I would be xraying the feet and having the farrier there to trim to the xray.
My understanding is the lamania detaches and reasstaches as the foot grows, his coffin bone may be unbalanced in his foot and he is compensating by growing faster.
Also is your farrier just eyeballing, or is he using a t square, is he measuring the angles of the foot and is he measuring the length of the toe? For a horse that is growing "funny" I would expect the farrier to be using these tools to ensure the horse is level.
Also how is the shoe wearing?
I disagree with your vet, this horse is 3, as with any young horse or even person, they can compromise and look healthy and pain free even when they are in horrible shape,
Then their body can't keep up, and it becomes catastrophic.
I suggest taking the horse to a different vet for unbiased eyes, then take what they say, the X-rays back to your vet and compare.
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| FLITASTIC - 2014-12-16 10:52 AM
wyoming barrel racer - 2014-12-16 8:01 AM
SaraJean - 2014-12-16 8:50 AM To me that's an indication that he is not landing flat, he's landing uneven therefore causing more wear on the inside. It looks like he's growing more wall on the outside but in reality he's just wearing more of the inside off & that indicates an imbalance somewhere. Either in the trim or his legs aren't perfectly straight.
I've also done some reading & watched video's of massage therapists who say that if they are needing body work through the back & shoulders that can lead to uneven wear. I'm interested in that theory but haven't had the opportunity to look farther into it.Â
I have a horse that toes out that does this. We just trim him as he stands and the outside eventually looks longer. When I pick up his feet though, he has even wear looking at the bottom. If yours is uneven at the bottom that is strange.Â
The bottom of the foot doesnt look uneven, the shoe is flat against the wall, just looks like outside is longer. lol
It is important that the bottom of the foot to be even, but not as important to how the bottom of the foot is in relation to the rest of his foot.
I was talking with someone yesterday that went to a lecture by a farrier who says when SHOEING no farrier has a good enough eye to balance a foot, they MUST use the tools, such as a t square, measuring tape, and angle.
This farrier said research has shown via xray if a horse is unbalanced (he also said most farriers will leave inside higher then outside) by 1/8" by the knee they are out 1/4" by the withers out of alignment substantially.
What I found interesting she said the farrier said if BAREFOOT, horses can compensate if unbalanced and are not out of alignment as a shod horse.
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Elite Veteran
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Location: The barn...where else? SW Missouri | wyoming barrel racer - 2014-12-16 10:01 AM SaraJean - 2014-12-16 8:50 AM To me that's an indication that he is not landing flat, he's landing uneven therefore causing more wear on the inside. It looks like he's growing more wall on the outside but in reality he's just wearing more of the inside off & that indicates an imbalance somewhere. Either in the trim or his legs aren't perfectly straight.
I've also done some reading & watched video's of massage therapists who say that if they are needing body work through the back & shoulders that can lead to uneven wear. I'm interested in that theory but haven't had the opportunity to look farther into it. I have a horse that toes out that does this. We just trim him as he stands and the outside eventually looks longer. When I pick up his feet though, he has even wear looking at the bottom. If yours is uneven at the bottom that is strange.
I have one like this also that slightly toes out. His outside always looks and grows longer. |
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Veteran
Posts: 139
Location: Abbotsford B.C. Canada | Take a picture and draw a line straight down and see if he cants out a bit such that he has to put more weight on the inside than the outside. That is why there is more wear on the inside and less of the outside so naturally as the farrier and vet say it is what it is. If you try and level it up you may do more harm than good as the tendons are probably set by now and changing the level of the foot will torque the tendons and collateral ligaments.
He was probably born this way . Not all horses are perfectly string straight.
However, make sure you exercise evenly and that should keep it from becoming an issue as he will be equally strong both sides for muscle ligaments and tendons and it will get a little natural wear on the faster growing side . I would look at his whole body and he probably has compensated with a slightly different amount of muscle on one side or the other if it has indeed changed his movement.
I would efinitely use a good joint supplement and lenty of omega 3's and it may help a bit with the uneven load etc. causing any little extra stress on the joint ?
FYI
Coastal Rider
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Expert
Posts: 5293
| Thanks all. Yep farrier uses all the tools every time he is shod. Tapes and all kinds of gadgets. From what I can see the shoe wears evenly as well. |
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Veteran
Posts: 114
| SKM - 2014-12-16 9:36 AM
 Is the coronet band level? If the outside is higher than the inside, you WILL have problems eventually in that the coronet band will form a bubble at the greatest point of pressure and then it will crack from the top in order to relieve the pressure. I'm speaking from experience. Took me over a year to get a horse fixed once that this happened to. The shoer I finally got literally did not touch the low side for a year but would take up to 1/4" at a time off the high side and pare the sole away there only.
SKM is 100% right! My gelding was growing the same way as yours. One day I noticed a slight bump in the coronet band. Few days later he had a crippling quarter crack that started exactly at the coronet bump. Took him into vet for x-rays, even though he appeared completely correct from outside view, his pastern on that leg was nearly vertical. What we see and what the x-rays showed were so different. I highly suggest getting x-rays. My guy will probably be out for the year because of this. I know you said your x-rays were expensive, but this is one of those injuries that can cause serious damage if not permanent. |
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 Sock eating dog owner
Posts: 4557
Location: Where the pavement ends and the West begins Utah | Seems your horse is balanced if wearing evenly.If the horse is landing heal first and then toe I wouldn't worry. I've had several crappie farriers that shod my horse as she was (toes in) leaving my horse to land left to right instead of back to front. When barefoot she gets an overly long inside toe which I need to trim back constantly to keep her in balance. Since no body is capable of shoeing her properly I leave her barefoot and trim myself. I think if you have your horse trimmed or shod within 4 to 6 weeks without delay you'll be good to go. Horses will grow the direction they need in order to keep the bone in the hoof at a balance then they slough off that extra hoof by breaking off.Mine is just the opposite of yours. |
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