I have to agree with Karen on this point. An Xray and a vet are the way
to go. I have baseline Xrays on my horses feet, front and both sides.
When I start a horse in training I get baseline Xrays. It is an
investment worth it weight in gold. I now know what I am dealing with
and how I need to shoe him. If a question comes up - is this new, we
can find out.
There is a lot of external stuff that can be proposed and argued about
- but when the rubber meets the road, an Xray will provide a lot more
information.
Truman
Karen Standefer wrote:
Any
deviation in the dorsal hoof wall (viewed laterally) indicates
pathology. And, actually, if it is more toward the lower third of the
hoof wall, the worry is less than if it's at the top portion. There is
not much attachment to the coffin bone in the lower 1/3 of the hoof
wall, but the top 2/3 should be tightly attached to the coffin bone.
So, if there is flaring/deviation in the top 2/3 of the hoof wall, it
is indicative of trouble that needs to be fixed immediately.
Typically, when the top 1/2" or so of the hoof wall is at a steeper
angle than the lower portion of the hoof wall, it indicates that the
coffin bone is sunken (distance from the extensor process to the
hairline has increased) which means the laminae are stretched and/or
torn. That is not to say that you can't have a sunken coffin bone
without this deviation, but most of the time if you have this
deviation, you have a dropped coffin bone with laminar inflammation and
possibly worse..
