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Nature needs a helping hand, or does she?  Self-trimming hooves.

18/8/2014

 
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On this occasion she did need a hand.  This is the hoof that was trailed in plastic shoes (see previous entries) and was left to self-trim after removing said shoes.  5 days later bars, heels and quarters were all pretty much back on track, but it was obvious the toes were not going to trim back naturally (as shown in last entry).  The ground is baked rock-hard here now and, if anything, would cause the toes to leverage further.  So we gave her a helping hand, and, as you can see, you will need to take a look at the previous photos if you haven´t already done so, with just one trim what appeared to be a horrendously stretched toe is all but gone.  The heels will require more time than the toes to recover from this shod interlude, but all will come right in no time.  You can see the bars have already returned to their correct length and position.  It just goes to show how much bar either a; a horse grows to compensate normal wear and tear on the bare hoof or b; it greedily pushes out when ´looking´ for the ground, when you look at how relatively enormous they became in just 3 weeks of being ´trapped´ behind a plastic shoe - the shoe gave full frog and some bar support, it was not a peripheral loading rim shoe.  The frog appears to have suffered the most during this interlude.  An aside - When the hooves were trimmed and shoes reset after the first 4 weeks there was significant bar growth, but not as much as the following 3 weeks produced.  A bare hoof grows much quicker than a shod hoof (far better circulation and stimulation), therefore when first shod everything may appear excessive as the hoof continues to grow at it´s "bare" rate initially, before slowing down, as nature dictates, due to the constricted blood flow and therefore stimulation.  But, back peddling now, the plastic shoe is still permitting lateral and vertical flex, so the hoof may get rather confused!

So why not leave these BFB´s to mother nature?  Why the shoes?  Why the nails? 

In our experience a horse competing, and thus training, at 80km+ level in endurance, on the lunar-like harsh terrain of this countryside can not do so barefoot.  The hooves need protection, as they not only wear quicker than they can grow, but they suffer severe internal bruising due to the sharp rocks and loose shale.   This statement is not made lightly.  We have been studying the hooves of our horses for the past 10 years.  Horses with everything at optimum (diet, living conditions and exercise), who are producing the most beautiful, strong, healthy bare hooves, and can compete up to 60 km level barefoot, they can trek out for hours on end 3, 4, even 5 days per week barefoot (no protection at all), but asking more than that they definitely need protection.  And who is going to push their horse further, just to see exactly how much they can endure?  I most certainly am not!

We asked over 200 barefoot endurance competitors (I am talking race rides to clarify to my American friends) and not one rode at 80 km level without hoof protection.  Most, 78%, are using protection from 40 km´s upwards.  If there is anyone out there with information to the contrary I would love to hear it, but for now, I don´t know anyone who competes truly barefoot at that level and certainly not beyond.

We weighed the pro´s and con´s of plastic shoes over glue-ons.  We had to include cost into this decision.  If you go the glue-on route, you either glue-on and leave on for 3 to 4 weeks and suffer the consequence of not being able to clean the hoof for that time and have no idea what´s going on in there, along with the risk that you are using a chemical compound to thoroughly seal the entire palmar surface and some way up the walls, or you use them just for competition and train in boots.  But which boots?  Again, remember we have a seriously hot and humid climate here and the only boots that stand up to and stay on over this terrain are not designed for such heat and humidity, subsequently risking over-heating the capsule and the inherent problems that may bring.  And again, think of cost!  Glue-ons that have to be thrown once removed (and the cost of the glue) and boots for training.  Hence the decision, long and hard thought, to trial the plastic shoes.  Now we know how that went - no where fast! 

Though again, as I mentioned previously, the same shoes, set by the same farrier, did not cause these toe problems
(but the heals most definitely started to draw under him) to a horse who walks flat, to occasional toe first landing (a horse in transition), though we did have the nail shearing problem.  We thought this may be due, to a degree, to the terrain.  It is all hills and loose rocks and shale, so we contacted an acquaintance who has been trying the same plastic shoes and we know only walks, with the occasional trot, on same surface but far less hills, to learn she also had nails shearing on the shoes about every 10 days or so. We since learnt of more people who have found the shoes too flexible and therefore the nails do move and some are pushing the nails in further on a daily basis to keep them seated - until they run out of nail I presume!

Back to the drawing board......... but hey, watch this space, we are working with Equine Fusion, the most innovative hoof boot company, to produce something quite unique, especially for advanced barefoot endurance horses.  Meanwhile, there is still the full range of Equine Fusion Jogging Shoes for horses available to riders of all other disciplines.  Apt for dressage, jumping, eventing, western disciplines, trekking and so much more.

As for the naysayers - they are always going to naysay! - Here is the same hoof after competing 88 km´s free-speed endurance, and winning (and taking Best Condition trophy).  The x-ray was taken 3 months prior to that.  You can see bruising beginning to appear in the sole immediately after the race.  Three weeks later, during a routine trim, the sole looked like it had been through a B-movie bath tub murder scene - sorry, no photos of that.  That was the final straw!
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P.S. Fool unto myself that I am, I often ask myself why I lay myself open to the forums that love to bash with half the information - then again everyone´s a critic and there are those who bash even with all the information!  But I will continue to publish my experiences as I know they are of benefit to those that actually listen.  Whether you use the information or dismiss it, it has been of service!  I have my regular readers who follow on each post here, as well as my blog on my livery web page (thank you lovely people), so I forget there may be newbies who aren´t aware of the story behind the story (!) - to them I apologise.  You see, when I say "you´ll have to take my word for it", you have to.  Those that follow me know they can, but some have been following me for years (this is a new web site).

Raising the bar

15/8/2014

 
In a follow on from the plastic shoe debacle, just take a look at how the hoof is self-trimming. (I rather like the spooky, detached, effect of the hoof in the dark! ;) )

Both fores have lost the bar on the lateral side.  Both retaining the bar on the medial side.  The heels have already, in just 5 days and approximately only 40 km´s of movement, trimmed back to the first level of deviation.  Of course the dead sole has exfoliated away, as have the higher than necessary quarters.  But those toes need some assistance.  The ground is too hard right now for them to ´dig in´ and wear themselves away.  As for the frog - there´s a tadpole under there waiting to grow.  What you see on the surface is now redundant.  
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Plastic, not so fantastic!

15/8/2014

 
You will have to take my word for this.  Hopefully that should not be too difficult to believe!  The hoof in the photo below was a perfectly healthy BFB (competing in Endurance) prior to being guinea-pigged with plastic shoes.  Now I am not talking all plastic shoes, but certainly the ones here, have not done any favors at all to this horse.  We wont even discuss the regular nail damage - that is a given - but I will explain the dragged holes!  The plastic grips TOO MUCH.  The extremity hits the ground, the plastic stops, and the hoof continues to travel.  This cause the nails to be dragged backwards, extending the holes, but also, more gravely, it caused the heels to become under-slung.  Yes, they were not like this 7 weeks ago!  Being the weakest structure of the hoof they can give so easily with this type of extra, traveling, force involved.

Now, further explaining, that the shoes were removed after 4 weeks, the hooves trimmed and a new set placed, doesn´t help the case at all for these particular plastic shoes.  Just look at the bars and the stretched white line at the toe.  I promise, none of this existed 7 weeks ago and nothing else in this horses life has changed.  Diet, living, work, all have remained the same.
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It is quite possible that this particular model is too flexible.  The flexibility that sells them for the good of lateral and vertical movement of the hoof, is detrimental for the holding of the nails.  It just doesn´t work!  During trails we had way too many nails ´snap´.  Yes, as I have promised, we thoroughly trial everything before making a noise about it, be it a good noise or a ruckus!  Another horse has been using these plastic shoes for some months.  He was going through transition and still moved rather flat, to occasionally toe first, landing.   Nearly daily we had to re-set, or remove and replace nails.  This was great fun for our local friendly farrier - thank heavens he is friendly!   They didn´t "drag" back, we now know that to be due to his gait, but they clearly still moved too much, judging by the amount of broken nails.

So, back to the drawing board on that one!

Is your horse really ready to rock and roll?

13/8/2014

 
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About Maturity and Growth Plates by Dr. Deb Bennett, Ph.D

"Owners and trainers need to realize there's a definite, easy-to-remember schedule of bone fusion. Make a decision when to ride the horse based on that rather than on the external appearance of the horse.

"For there are some breeds of horse--the Quarter Horse is the premier among these--which have been bred in such a manner as to LOOK mature LONG before they actually ARE. This puts these horses in jeopardy from people who are either ignorant of the closure schedule, or more interested in their own schedule (racing, jumping, futurities or other competitions) than they are in the welfare of the animal.

"The process of fusion goes from the bottom up. In other words, the lower down toward the hooves, the earlier the growth plates will fuse--the higher up toward the animal's back you look, the later. The growth plate at the top of the coffin bone, in the hoof, is fused at birth. What this means is that the coffin bones get no TALLER after birth (they get much larger around, though, by another mechanism). That's the first one.

"In order after that:
2. Short pastern - top & bottom between birth and 6 mos.
3. Long pastern - top & bottom between 6 mos. and 1 yr.
4. Cannon bone - top & bottom between 8 mos. and 1.5 yrs.
5. Small bones of knee - top & bottom on each, between 1.5 and 2.5 yrs.
6. Bottom of radius-ulna - between 2 and 2.5 yrs.
7. Weight-bearing portion of glenoid notch at top of radius - between 2.5 and 3 yrs.
8. Humerus - top & bottom, between 3 and 3.5 yrs.
9. Scapula - glenoid or bottom (weight-bearing) portion - between 3.5 and 4 yrs.
10. Hindlimb - lower portions same as forelimb
11. HOCK - this joint is "late" for as low down as it is; growth plates on the tibial & fibular tarsals don't fuse until the animal is 4 yrs old! So the hocks are a known a "weak point". Even the 18th-century literature warns against driving young horses in plow or other deep or sticky footing, or jumping them up into a heavy load, for danger of spraining their hocks.
12. Tibia - top & bottom, between 2.5 and 3 yrs.
13. Femur - bottom, between 3 and 3.5 yrs.; neck, between 3.5 and 4 yrs.; major and 3rd trochanters, between 3 and 3.5 yrs.
14. Pelvis - growth plates on the points of hip, peak of croup (tubera sacrale), and points of buttock (tuber ischii), between 3 and 4 yrs.

"And what do you think is last? The vertebral column (spine) of course. A normal horse has 32 vertebrae between the back of the skull and the root of the dock, and there are several growth plates on each one, the most important of which is the one capping the centrum.

"The spine does not fuse until the horse is at least 5-1/2 years old. This figure applies to all horses, small scrubby, range raised horses to huge Warm Bloods. The taller your horse and the longer its neck, the later full fusion occurs. For a male (is this a surprise?) you add six months. So, for example, a 17-hand TB or Saddlebred or WB gelding may not be fully mature until his 8th year. Something that owners of such individuals have often told me that they "suspected."

"The lateness of vertebral "closure" is most significant for two reasons. One: in no limb are there 32 growth plates! Two: The growth plates in the limbs are (more or less) oriented perpendicular (up and down) to the stress of the load passing through them, while those of the vertebral chain are oriented parallel (horizontal) to weight placed upon the horse's back.
Bottom line: you can sprain a horse's back (i.e., displace the vertebral growth plates) a lot more easily than you can sprain those located in the limbs.

"And here's another little fact: within the chain of vertebrae, the last to fully "close" are those at the base of the animal's neck--that's why the long-necked individual may go past 6 yrs. to achieve full maturity. So you also have to be careful--very careful--not to yank the neck around on your young horse, or get him in any situation where he strains his neck." ~ Dr. Deb Bennett, Ph.D. is a 1984 graduate of the University of Kansas, and until 1992 was with the Smithsonian Institute. She is internationally known for her scientific conformation analysis.

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