[luckydragon]

Originally Posted by JBandRio

How did you come up with these numbers? Hind feet are generally a few to several degrees steeper than front feet.

It may be the hind are 1-2 degrees more then (I can't remember for sure). A professional farrier told me those angles.

[idlewild]

Well, Katie... this last winter wasn't exactly the most riding friendly winter we've had

Originally Posted by JBandRio

Toe flare automatically puts the breakover too far forward which does mean it's a bad angle. The only way to "fix" the angle is to raise the heels, but that is not a good thing if you're doing it without regard to getting the toe back. That is how you end up with a tall contracted foot.

And I'm trying to avoid that at all costs. He had very VERY contracted heels when I got him, they are finally gone, now it's the flares and angles I want to get fixed.

I gotta admit... I did let his feet go for awhile in February and March when it was cold, wet, muddy and miserable and I didn't have time to mess with his feet or didn't have the time to clean his feet. Now I'm paying the consequences with trying to get them back to where they should be.

[IIIBarsV]

I'm just going to speak about what I'm seeing currently and how I would improve it. This is operating under the rule that you don't touch the sole, period, or the frog unless you see a piece that is exfoliating. Right now both your soles and frogs appear solid and well calloused. They will shed when they need to, especially if he's out walking around for at least 6 hours a day. You'd be amazed how quickly the sole and frog can actually exfoliate themselves, even on soft footing.

This explanation will apply to both feet wherever the noted bits are causing issues, including hinds if need be.

Heels- Take them down to 1/16 of an inch above the sole, or level with the bars. Do not touch sole with rasp. Roll them both on the outside and a little around the back of the heel. Rolling to the outside takes pressure off any flaring in that area. Rolling the backs of the heels allows the new heel growth to "straighten" itself and move back. Been experimenting with this and it's working better than even I expected.

Also, check to make sure the balance from heel to heel is in line with the heel bulbs. The "higher" heel will be the straighter of the two- the low heel will tend to flare out or run under. Use the sole as your guide, it seems to dictate where it wants everything to be by itself. They are decontracting very nicely, and there's no really severe faults here.

Quarters (sides of hoof, where all the chipping is happening)- I have a gelding who chips in exactly the same areas, and now I've almost got him 100% not chipping. The chipping is occurring in areas of the flaring, more to the outside because the outside heel is receiving more pressure. To really get on top of this and grow it out (again, you'd be amazed how quickly- 2-3 weeks), you have to treat it like a flare and make sure the area as well as the areas on either side of it are well rolled. This goes back to rolling the outside of the heels.

From your pics, the roll you've applied only really extends in the toe area and then tapers off, with little or no roll on the heels. Basically you'll just want to extend the same roll on the toe all the way around the hoof. If the growth lines on the hoof at the quarters seem to dip upwards, then you also need to provide more relief in that area- this is what the chipping is trying to accomplish on its own. I usually do this by carefully lifting the whiteline in that area slightly above the sole (we're talking 1/32"") from the bottom of the hoof starting and ending where the upward-dipped quarter growth lines are. Generally it starts from just past the corn of the heel to the beginning edge of the toe area.

Some square-on bottom pictures would make it a little easier to say exactly where all this should be happening.

Toe- Not much more I can say about this one, you've done a good job. Just make sure it's fairly even all the way around. I've found applying a really steep roll works well on bringing the toe back- like more of a 50-60 degree angle than a 45 degree one. Generally I apply the steeper roll in the same area you've done (or, in problem areas with noticeable flaring), and use the 45 on the rest of the hoof.

From the top of the hoof, I take off the flaring at a fairly steep angle also, going until the whiteline at the bottom. It ends up looking a bit rounded with no or little edge where the roll stops. This way there's no "lip" of flare sticking out that could potentially receive pressure.

Overall

Leaving the trimming schedule even a week or two longer can undo your work. Right now, on hooves that are needing work to bring back toes, etc, I'm continually checking at least weekly and touching up the trim where it needs to be touched up (problem areas). My two geldings who are coming out of shoes get touched up as regularly as every two or three weeks because as soon as they start to get pressure on their very flared toes, it starts hurting. This could mean I'm only touching up 1/32"" or 1/16"" every time, just to make sure the pressure never has a chance to start pushing up on the flares again.

On my sound horses who've got similar problems as Buddy, I use a 4 week schedule, with possibly little touch ups half-way through (like on a horse who needs heels levelled better, or if they have a bulge that I'm trying to relax on the hinds).

Since Buddy has no soundness issues right now and his flares are all only 1/2 way up the hoofwall, you can basically have him on a 3-4 week schedule, or check him weekly and touch him up whenever he needs to be touched up.

Just remember- use the soles as your guide, steeper roll in flared or chipped areas, roll the back edges of the heels. No rasp/hoofknife on sole/frog. Things will pretty much correct themselves over time.

[luckydragon]

Originally Posted by idlewild

Well, Katie... this last winter wasn't exactly the most riding friendly winter we've had

True, but isn't that the idea of an indoor? For me, riding in the indoor provided most of the riding I could do. Otherwise I had to brave the cold and little to no daylight.

[idlewild]

3Bars thank you very much for that detailed analysis! That was very informative and exactly what I needed, thank you! I went out this afternoon after reading it and did a little more on Buddy's feet, worked on his toe flares mainly. I'll take some more pictures soon to see what ya'll think. Again, thank you

Originally Posted by luckydragon

True, but isn't that the idea of an indoor? For me, riding in the indoor provided most of the riding I could do. Otherwise I had to brave the cold and little to no daylight.

Yeah, but there were a few times, for me, that even the indoor was too cold.