Time Is On Your Side

(Great. Now I'll have that blasted song stuck in my head all day... Oh well...)

Beamer. A 14.2 hand package of dynamite, athletic talent, good mindedness, and heart.

He has a good start going on getting healthier feet, and with TIME and conservative trimming, it is my opinion that in six months these solar shots will look wonderful.
They honestly do not look bad now.

This first photo: the biggest thing I was hoping that you would see was the "ridge" of retained sole. In time, this will come out.

What Would We Have Done?
Used our knife, and lowered it a bit. BUT--- We ONLY take what the hoof is willing to give. Period.



Next hoof: Circle indicates where to look for, and WHAT to look for, when you suspect an invasion of pesky bacterium / fungus. ANON is correct- this will (as it did with Turk, BrownEyedCowgirls big Paint gelding,) affect the internal structures, and weaken the rear portion of the hoof. There will be a lack of stability, that will make the horse quite tender.

However, I vary from the treatment used by ANON, in that I don't use ACV. It has it's place, but... most people are so hard pressed for time, in a case like this we'll advise a strong flush/ scrubbing with Betadine (q-tips work great for this to swab things out,) and pack it with a treatment commonly used for mastitis in dairy cattle. (Essentially it is PenG in a tube with a wonderful applicator tip.) Or you can use cotton balls, soaked in PenG, and insert them in there.


Mellimaus, don't let color mess with your head. The color you spotted (nice eye by the way) was a bit of pink in the white line. Always an indicator that you need to ease up and not be quite so aggressive with your rasp work.

Mikey (aka: Wonder Woman), we've talked at length about hooves, and girl, I love hearing your thoughts. Personally? I don't care for that much sole. BUT-- over time, I think that the hoof will set how much sole it needs, and will self-regulate. Again-- we'd only take what the hoof was willing to give.

Kate- You need to give yourself more credit! You've proven in the past that you have a good eye. Trust in your eye and your instincts- it will do you well.

TJ- Sounds like you are getting as obsessed with hooves as I am. Going to turn you into a "sole sister" yet!

Breathe- Nope, Beamer has five legs... we just looked at the fronts this time... And Of Course you can send along pictures of Smokey. In fact, ANY of you who would like to can always feel free to send along images. And they don't even have to go into a blog post if you'd rather avoid that.

Funder- Ahhhh Grasshopper has been observing and learning much I see. The length of his frogs does not bother me (remember- photographs DO alter the way things look. In the flesh, these feet WILL appear entirely different). He is sound, and moves nicely, and side view (top) shows flare in the toe that will work it's way out in time with careful rasping from the top.

ANON- Easy there Rugged. Not being mean here, but this is where we deviate strongly from much more aggressive trimmers. Time is on Beamer's side, and staying a conservative course will have these feet in fantastic shape in short order.

Nice job guys! Y'all get gold stars today! (OK, I'm KIDDING... I don't have any stars. Will chocolate do?)