New Barefoot Trimmer!

(written post trim, which was on the 19th)
7/20/10

Well I’m stoked. ^_^
It seems like a few things are finally being lined up properly. I had an appointment with our new trimmer Marion Figley yesterday. I got a lot of information about D’s feet and health, conformation and movement and confirmed some suspicions of mine. It also helped do away with some of my pessimism about other issues as well.

Feet First
The condition of D’s hooves, especially the walls were about as bad as I thought. She hardly took anything off except to bevel the walls and lower his heels. His heels are definitely growing forward, and she felt they’re out of balance (the front), and his hinds need to be lowered, gradually to help the toe-drag he does with the hind feet. The integrity of the walls is not good at all and needs to be strengthened by good nutrition and worn properly by – you guessed it – regular work.

Conformation
She noted D’s slightly more ‘upright’ hind legs, the dragging of the hind toes and a slight ‘coon footedness’ (that being the straight line/angle of the hoof matching the pastern is broken one way or another). She feels a good part of the hoof drag can actually be addressed by proper heel height (lower) and hill work to strengthen the muscles. She suggested a joint supplement might be in order but we will have to see, I don’t know if I can afford it currently, so I’m leaning towards the hillwork.
She also explained D’s bump in his spine behind the saddle, calling it a ‘hunters bump’ more technically a spinal subluxation (yeah I had to look that word up). Mostlikely came from an injury or fall, possibly in a pasture where his hind end slid the wrong way – out of synch with his front end. Knowing how wild he can be when he wants I wasn’t surprised. She recommended a chiropractor who’s name I quickly forgot. Will have to get that again… She also noted the muscle wastage all along his back when I pointed it out and recommended her favorite bareback pad (BestFriend Barebackpad). She feels there’s some muscle wastage on top of his quarters as well but that regular hillwork will fill those in.

Diet
His hooves were definitely in that terrible shape from lack of nutrition – plain and simple. Grain just doesn’t cut it (like at Leslie’s) and even the good quality hay at Adrian’s wasn’t enough. To get everything in good healthy growing condition again she suggested a ration balancer, surprise surprise. Needless to say I’ll have him 100% on the Gro N Win again ASAP.

On first glance D’s hooves still seem too long – the toes are. But I can definitely see a difference today in the way he uses his hooves, with the lowered heels. In time I know the toe will be able to be taken off, just not now. He now lands heel first and I see the roll-the transfer of the weight from front to back. Almost a rocking of the hoof… but no straining or digging like if he had a long toe on a 100% flat hoof.

She also was quick to say she’s willing to train anyone who is interested. My boyfriend showed some mild interest in learning and I am definitely interested, so she told us she’s looking to train apprentices. I really should look into this, as she’s moving to Montana next year… o.o talk about timing. ;)