colts hoofs?

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okla-paints

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hello everyone this is my first mini foal so there is lots that i have never seen

on a mini have with big horses,

hoofs on my boy Bandit he is 2 months old he has long toes and no heel

he needs a trim now and hasnt had one yeat.

is this a common in mini foals?

well trimmin help the heels?

i plan to trim him this weekend after advice from you all

thank you so much for your help

yes.gif
 
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I don't think you should be trimming this foal.

I don't want to insult you in anyway, but I feel that if you have to ask these type of questions, then you should not be doing a thing to his feet. You can really mess him up badly when you are not sure of what you are doing.

It's important for your foal to get off to a good start by having you bring in a professional farrier. Please don't feel bad but I've been in horses for over 35 years and I still do not have the expertise or the knowledge to go doing my horse's feet at all. Everytime I try I mess them all up. Again not meaning to offend you. Just trying to guide you to hiring a farrier that has been well trained in his field.
 
I agree with Marty, let the farrier do the first trim unless you are absolutely sure of what you are doing- the first trim is very important. But, to answer your question, this sort of thing is common in ALL foals- the big foals have more weight and seem to break their hooves off more readily, but I still trimmed the Arabs hooves, just as I do the Minis.
 
[SIZE=12pt]It is my opinion that miniature foal's hooves often times need to be trimmed the day they are born, especially if they have tendon laxity and are rocked back walking on the bulbs of their heels. They are not able to wear off their "baby slippers" normally.[/SIZE]

I adopted a filly that had a tough time being delivered, they had to pull on her front legs very hard to get her delivered, after getting one front leg that was bent back, out in front of her. Her front legs were very crooked and her knees were swollen, she had tendon laxity in her back legs as well. The vet that saw her when she was about 12 hours old trimmed her baby slippers. But at 21 days old this is what her back legs and hooves looked like, and I bet you this looks very much like your colt's hooves.

Toysbacklegsbeforehertrim51205.jpg


I took Toy up to Texas A & M to have Dr. Honnas trim her hooves for me, thinking that perhaps she still may need the *Magic Shoes* afterwards, but as you can see Toy did NOT need the shoes after all! Many farriers are just not aggressive enough with trimming these babies, and then the horse suffers for it. Notice how long Toy's heels were, they were just sloping underneath her.

Here's Toy legs and hooves after her trim:

Toysbacklegsleftaftertrim505.jpg


[SIZE=12pt]I would recommend that you have an equine vet that is very knowledgable about corrective trimming, trim your foal's hooves or a farrier that will know how to trim this baby. It is SO VERY important to get these babies off to a good start with the right trims.[/SIZE]

I took step by step pictures of Toy's trim, and I would be happy to send them to you. My webmaster is working on getting Toy's trim pictures on the *Magic Shoes* website, but I don't think they are there yet.

Janell
 
They are not too bad- certainly need attention, but not deformed and obviously too hard to break off- I always let my water trough overflow so the foals especially can paddle and make mud, which helps the feet condition. The feet are not so bad that they cannot wait a couple of days to get expert help but I do not recommend you do it yourself
 
Thanks for posting the before and after pic's. I have two foals. One has feet that look like yours and the other one has been up on his since the minute he was born. Both mothers were fed the same. The littlest one has the "funny feet" as I call them. I have had him trimmed and he looks better, but obviously the farrier didn't take enough off to my way of thinking.
 
[SIZE=12pt]It's really hard to tell exactly what a horse's hooves look like when they are standing in grass, but it's JMO that your colt's hooves are still too long.[/SIZE]

Here's a couple pictures of Toy's hooves to give a comparison of what they looked like before her trim and after her trim.

From the side:

Compar.jpg


View of the bottom of her hooves...yes, there were some pin-points of blood, but sometimes it is necessary to take a horse down this much in order to get them right. Her hooves were painted with sole paint, and she was not hurting at all.

Can you see how long her heel was before her trim?

ComparToyshoovesbottom.jpg
 
[SIZE=14pt]Janell,[/SIZE]

Very well put and great pix to back up what you say! Thank You!

We too take some of our foals to the UNVI. of TN. for the first trim! And they are very agressive to make them right! As everyone stated, "It's very important to get these babies started out on the right foot from to get go"!

Bill
 
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Marty, I agree with you completely- if you have to ask, dont touch them. Have a professional come do it. They can explain to you what they are doing and why, and help teach you how to do it.

The first pics there, the heels are just starting to roll under. This has to come off too. It is so easy to trim too much, not enough or get them out of balance and you sure dont want that.

Please have someone come look at your baby and do it. If you do not have a good farrier, I bet your vet can recommend one.

Laurie
 

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