So on Friday I left you with this to look at...
and you came up with some really interesting comments - you guys are good :-) I'll answer them as best I can although of course there are elements of speculation as well (I'll try and make clear what is known for definite and what is guess work).
Obviously you all pointed out the medial flare and that it was too extreme and specific to be simply a long hoof - which you'd expect to be much less one-sided. As Val pointed out, if a hoof was just over-long it would normally split off rather than deviating as its done in this photo. Most of you were suspicious that it was the result of an injury or conformation problem - and of course you were right!
Obviously you all pointed out the medial flare and that it was too extreme and specific to be simply a long hoof - which you'd expect to be much less one-sided. As Val pointed out, if a hoof was just over-long it would normally split off rather than deviating as its done in this photo. Most of you were suspicious that it was the result of an injury or conformation problem - and of course you were right!
Most of you also spotted that on this view the digital cushion on the lateral (left hand) side of hoof appears more robust than the medial side; it certainly seems to be the case that this foot has a tendency to overload laterally.
Taking that into account, it seems likely that the "flare" on the medial side is acting a bit like an outrigger - if the flare weren't there, the hoof would be even more unstable and less able to load evenly. As it is, the load isn't perfect even with the "outrigger" because deviated hoof wall is a compromise and not as strong as a properly supported hoof capsule. As C says, there is a crack in the wall because hoof wall alone isn't really designed to take this sort of load but the crack is actually only superficial.
Overall, the leg is fairly straight - not sure, Deered, whether the lean you saw is the slope or the red wine :-) - and the hairline at the coronet is fairly level - if you look at the concrete ground line in the first photo it gives you a better idea of what is truly horizontal than the borders of the shot.
This particular horse has a mild medial wall deviation on both front feet which appeared once he was sound and working barefoot but the dramatic wall deviation in the photo appeared after he had a shoulder injury.
I don't have photos from then, unfortunately, but he had quite severe atrophy of the deltoid and supraspinatus muscles (the visible muscles on the outside of the shoulder) at the time. That has improved but there is no doubt that this is still his weaker leg and its the one which is most prone to injury, though he is sound and in work.
For me this hoof is a good example of how resourceful horses and hooves are at stabilising, compromising and carrying on as best they can even after injury. I'll let you know if the wall deviation ever disappears :-)
Overall, the leg is fairly straight - not sure, Deered, whether the lean you saw is the slope or the red wine :-) - and the hairline at the coronet is fairly level - if you look at the concrete ground line in the first photo it gives you a better idea of what is truly horizontal than the borders of the shot.
This particular horse has a mild medial wall deviation on both front feet which appeared once he was sound and working barefoot but the dramatic wall deviation in the photo appeared after he had a shoulder injury.
I don't have photos from then, unfortunately, but he had quite severe atrophy of the deltoid and supraspinatus muscles (the visible muscles on the outside of the shoulder) at the time. That has improved but there is no doubt that this is still his weaker leg and its the one which is most prone to injury, though he is sound and in work.
For me this hoof is a good example of how resourceful horses and hooves are at stabilising, compromising and carrying on as best they can even after injury. I'll let you know if the wall deviation ever disappears :-)
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