Heels- Where Are They?

Heels are a Hot Topic DuJour in the Horse World. Too high, too long, none there- you name it, heel health is one of the most often asked questions in our practice. If we had a dime for every time we heard, "My Horse Has No Heels", we'd be able to travel to each and every one of you out here, and do a mini-clinic.

In response to the Invite post, (which was GREAT! THANK YOU ALL!! Keep them coming!) we start the first in what will most likely become a series on hoof health and owner questions. Today, we are going to start with heels, and The Orientation Of Growth.

The hoof is constructed of finger-like tubules, that interlock through hair like growth not just from the hair line (coronary band) down, but through the entire length of the hoof. (In fact, Dr. Bowker proved that hoof does NOT just grow from the hair line down as we have all been taught for years, but thanks to these fine connections that grow laterally, the hoof wall has the ability to grow around as well.)

These tubules initiate growth from the hairline. If you look closely at the top of your horse's hoof, you will see for the first inch or so down from the hairline, the direction that hoof WANTS to grow in.

For today's topic, we are going to view and discuss how this growth can be affected by NOT trimming heel, thus making it APPEAR that there is "no heel".

I am going to start off by saying this:
It is a physiological impossibility for the hoof to NOT grow heel as it grows toe. Period. They ALL grow. It is what the hoof care provider DOES with that growth, that determines what they LOOK like.

The image below is my horse, Sonny Bunz. Look at the two arrows- and you will see the Orientation Of Growth is DIFFERENT in his feet. (This was taken in early fall.) The off side (or right) hoof tends to grow very forward. The near side (or left) tends to grow upright. We are not going into WHY this happens today- just the direction. Looking at his hooves on the ground however, it appears that he has decent heel HEIGHT. Which he does.


Now, looking at this image below, the blue arrow shows two things: one the orientation of growth, and the arrow point itself shows you exactly where that horse is STANDING on it's hoof. Sonny, above, stands with his feet underneath him, thus supporting his limbs and allowing for energy dissipation. The horse below must-- MUST -- stand "in front" of himself.
This image shows where the horse is standing. Those heels look to be about 2 1/2" long, and growing forward. The red arrow shows the weight bearing point. The blue arrow inside the circle shows what could potentially be a fairly painful condition for the horse, with the bars overgrowing onto the sole. On the right side of the hoof, the blue arrow there again shows where the horse is carrying the bulk of his weight, and the orange is merely showing less bar tissue than the other side.
This image below again shows long heels. Overall, the hoof would be easier to correct.
This image of a rear hoof again shows bar material that is leading to problems. Known as the "seat of the corn", it is one of the areas that we see abscesses develop. Also the heels are about 2 1/2" long, with very forward growth.
How would this be corrected?
Hoof care providers Have Got To Trim Heel. Period. The heels MUST be rasped level. Heels WILL grow. A lot. How would we correct the bar tissue? By trimming it to the level of the existing sole. Having bars folded over like that is quite painful and can trap material in there that will set up decay and abscessing.

By trimming heel, you bring the heel back up under the horse. Once you have a horse who has shot their heels (and consequently, the entire hoof capsule) forward, (underslung is also a common name for it, as is crushed heels,) you are probably looking at more frequent trims for that horse. Is this something the horse owner can do? Why not? If you have a competent hoof care provider, who can keep an eye on things, you are actually going to be making his or her life easier by touching up the heels.

Thus ends Part One of Heels, Where Are They? Look for Part Two to explain "heel purchase" (and no, I don't mean buying some 'ho shoes!)