Corrective Trimming

Corrective Trimming


This horse was rescued and was in need of corrective trimming.  The right hoof was severely curled laterally.  Overall the horse walked okay, but there was concern about the position of his coffin bone


Front View         Side View

Radiographs were performed to ensure the position of the coffin bone.  It was noted that the distal pastern and the coffin joints have a tendency to rotate laterally, also known as valgus.  This would explain why this horse's hoof without proper trimming became so overgrown laterally.  Because of the overgrown heel, the hoof has a club-footed appearance on the lateral view of the radiograph.  The coffin bone is in alignment with the dorsal hoof wall so evidence of laminitis is minimal.

Dorsopalmar View     Lateral View

With the help of an experienced farrier, the hoof wall was trimmed. The medial (inside) aspect of the hoof was rasped flat to give the horse a level surface to land and encourage the hoof wall to grow more normally.

After Front View     After Side View

A follow up farrier appointment and radiographs will be performed in 4 weeks. Depending on how the horse's hoof grows, more frequent farrier appointments will be needed until a maintenance schedule can be developed.  The club footed appearance was able to be corrected in just this corrective trimming alone. The hoof pastern angle did become broken back.  Care will be taken to ensure that the pastern angle corrects once more normal heel height can be established.

After Dorsopalmar View      After Lateral View