Mini mare's hoofs trimmed incorrectly by farrier - need help

[Trish]

I am helping a friend clean up his mini herd so he can sell them. There are 2 stallions, 7 mares, 1 gelding and a mini donkey.

I am getting the gelding as part of the deal for helping him find good homes for all but 1 stallion, 1 mare and the mini donkey.

There is one little mare who's feet are trimmed like a mule. Not sure why his farrier has trimmed her so she is standing on her toes. And her back hoof is really messed up. I know from my experience in trimming hoofs, this mare needs to come down on her heels, at the proper angle, but how do you correct the back hoof??

Any suggestions?

There is a mare who (in my opinion) is foundered on all 4 hoofs. She was trimmed this week, but still turned out with the others in the wheat field. Arg.

 

[ohmt]

Yikes-she needs to get to a good barefoot trimmer asap! I am far from expert when it comes to trimming hooves, but I can do the basics and even if the farrier was trying to correct bad hooves, this is all wrong. Her hooves were not cleaned out-since you do a little bit of trimming yourself, can you get a pick and knife in there and get it cleaned out a bit? Those heels HAVE to come down and it looks like even the toes could be cut a bit. I won't give any further advice as again, no expert here! But, barefoot trimmer as soon as you can!!

 

[Matt73]

She really does need a certified, competent, knowledgable, and professional farrier...Poor girl

 

[MindyLee]

x rays!!! that coffin bone needs to be seen what direction it is and if the horse is ok to correct in a few trims or if its to late. Otherwise them heals are super scary!!! I trim minis for a side job and if I was faced with that, I would start by taking that heal down and HIGHLY recomend a x ray imediently!

 

[Trish]

See that's what I don't understand, why was this farrier trimming her hoofs like a mule? I am trying to be very gentle with the person who owns the horses, but I'm not sure he really understands the severity of the situation with this little mare and the other one that I think is foundered on all four hoofs.

 

[circlesinthesand]

ouch! Poor pony. I watched my dad (retired certified farrier) work on his neighbors foundered mini just this afternoon. I can hear him in my head saying TAKE OFF Those heels!! You always hear farriers and vets say take off the toe for a foundered horse...this is correct but you still have to trim heels too!!!! People are often too hesitant about taking too much foot when most of the time more needs to come off.

 

[shorthorsemom]

Hi, I had a "bargain farrier" that with 6 months of trims started building my horses feed into upright high heel clubby looking feet. I got an experienced new farrier and in 6 months we were able to get the feet back to normal a little bit at a time. My guys had not foundered, just bad trims. I have no idea why so many farriers leave the heel and take the toe off of minis, but it is a common problem according to my new farrier. He trims the minis just like the big horses with balance and proper angle. He also uses a tool to measure the angle. Don't be surprized if it takes awhile to get the feet back to normal, but persist, you really really need some pro work done on those feet. Get a good natural hoof person and you will start to see results very soon. What I would not do is to start trimming the feet yourself, especially if your mini had foundered in the past. You might need xrays as mentioned with the other poster especially if the hoof angle is causing stress to the bone and if your baby has a rotated bone. Well worth the money for xrays and proper trims and vet guidence. Horses can founder from mechanics in the foot, not just from grazing or being too heavy. Good luck and thanks for sharing. lessons here for all.

 

[rubyviewminis]

Right now I can tell you her coffin bone is tipped straight down looking at the length and angle of her hoof, sort of like if you wore 7 inch heel shoes. I use a file and start filing because that is just me, I can't handle nippers and filing can take incremental lengths of hoof down. She needs 9 to 12 months to grow a new hoof with proper trimming, and unless her legs are a crooked mess her hooves can be taken down a little at a time. As her hoof grows into a proper angle for her, the coffin bone will adjust and correct to as close to normal or normal as she needs. Hard to say without seeing more or knowing how long she has been like this. We finally gave up trying to find competent farriers and took classes, here and online. I also have Pet Ramey's DVD's and a master farrier friend who coaches online from Virginia.

 

[Marty]

I live in the land of mules and they don't have feet trimmed like that. Please do not attempt to fix this on your own. You need a natural barefoot trimmer with credentials. If you PM me with your county/state I will try to find you someone close on the list.

 

[StarRidgeAcres]

Poor little thing. And I agree, not even a mule is purposely trimmed like that. The right thing to do is a vet who can then provide a reference to a qualified farrier. But I'm thinking, based on how long it took to get in this shape, the owner is either clueless or has no intention of spending the money necessary to do the right thing. maybe both are true. I wish you the best.

 

[Trish]

I talked to the owner of the horses and explained what has happened to this mare's hoofs. He said that his farrier cut her hoofs short on the toes and left the heels because her hoofs grew out too much on the toes.

I recommended that the farrier trim her to a correct angle and explained it would take a long time for her hoofs to be normal. He said the farrier owns about 20 minis himself, and I said he should know better on how to trim correctly. I really thing the owner will be getting a new farrier since this guy is clueless to what he is doing. I was looking at the stallions (2) and they too have long heels as well as a few other mares.

I did convince him to keep all of the horses out of the wheat field. I will go out each day (except Tue/Wed bible study and bible class) and check on them and give them hay.

 

[attwoode]

It's hard to tell exactly what's going on there but an xray would help you to know what you're working with. You might be amazed what a good farrier could do with a single trim, but it will take time to correct the contracted heels. Will be much worse if the bone is rotated or tendons have become contracted because the strain on bone, tendon, and hoof wall if you try to correct may also cause problems. A good farrier knows how to assess the situation and adjust slowly if needed.

 

[Joanne]

Hi, I had a "bargain farrier" that with 6 months of trims started building my horses feed into upright high heel clubby looking feet. I got an experienced new farrier and in 6 months we were able to get the feet back to normal a little bit at a time. My guys had not foundered, just bad trims. I have no idea why so many farriers leave the heel and take the toe off of minis, but it is a common problem according to my new farrier. He trims the minis just like the big horses with balance and proper angle. He also uses a tool to measure the angle. Don't be surprized if it takes awhile to get the feet back to normal, but persist, you really really need some pro work done on those feet. Get a good natural hoof person and you will start to see results very soon. What I would not do is to start trimming the feet yourself, especially if your mini had foundered in the past. You might need xrays as mentioned with the other poster especially if the hoof angle is causing stress to the bone and if your baby has a rotated bone. Well worth the money for xrays and proper trims and vet guidence. Horses can founder from mechanics in the foot, not just from grazing or being too heavy. Good luck and thanks for sharing. lessons here for all.

We have seen a lot of minis arrive here with high heels. I have never understood it. Our farrier trims the minis just like a full size horse and we have seen the minis move better and in many cases loose weight, as they were unable to move well with their previous hooves.

Of great importance are the newborn foals. Within the first few weeks of foaling our farrier is here starting them out with a balanced foot. Foals can get very messed up quickly without a great farrier right from birth. It is amazing how little has to come off to balance the foot.

Those horses hoof problems did not happen quickly and it will take many months to correct them. You have to take down the heels slowly so that the tendons can stretch out.

 

[Mareish Mom]

I just don't get this. A mini horse should be trimmed just like a full size horse. And for that matter so should a mule. The structure of the hoof is the same. That farrier should be reported to the board (assuming he's certified). Let everyone know where you are so we can see if we can help you find a qualified farrier for these poor little horses...

 

[allaboutminis]

Not trying to change the toPic but wOuld you report one for throwing on the ground and putting rope around ones legs for not standing still

 

[chandab]

Not trying to change the toPic but wOuld you report one for throwing on the ground and putting rope around ones legs for not standing still

Others will likely disagree, but I say it depends on the circumstances. My farrier has laid down a couple of my horses to get the job done (so neither he nor the horse gets hurt), but he does NOT throw them. [You have to really know what you are doing to be able to lay them down.]

 

[Little Hooves]

My husband is a very good barefoot trimmer (not certified, although attended school and didn't graduate due to the organization breaking in two after he finished his last semester). He has always researched and gone to great lengths to help out minis and their hooves. They have the most complex hooves of all because as you go down in size, the forces you're taught to trim for on large hooves change, and you don't get as much force as you do when you're fighting natural hoofware on minis... to get minis to correct, it takes much, much longer! So we finally decided we needed to "add hoof" as well as subtract.

We recently started using epoxies on the little guys to add height where needed (like on the toe) when trying to get the heel down and get to correct angles sooner. I only wish everyone could be so lucky to have my husband as their farrier!

Maybe I can convince him to do some clinics!

 

[MindyLee]

I hear ya Little Hooves! I wish I could go out and help everyone who is in need of a great mini farrier! I hate going to farms and having to clean up months if not yrs of incorrect trimming from a big horse farrier. At this time, I have been cleaning up after 1 farrier and he found out that his clients are calling me instead of him and now hes being childish and wont come trim their biggies, which he dose great job there. He runs his mouth about me and runs my name in the ground and says Im the bad farrier.

Yeah what do you guys think?

Here examples of his trims and then my fixs. This is 3 diff animals from 3 diff farms!

befores vrs afters

 

[Trish]

Wow! What a difference. I worked on one of the other mares tonight. He had her like she was wearing high heel shoes on front and the back hoofs looked like he hadn't cleaned up the frog in months. I will file her down again in about 2 weeks. It just blows my mind on what his farrier has done to these poor minis.

I love the example above that reflectively shows the difference in the correct trimming.

Keep your fingers crossed that we locate a good barefoot farrier to correct the other farrier's mess.