Today was very informative with my farrier and I got new insight into Buttercup's own conformation. But first, like always, updated pictures of Bud's hooves.
Left:
Right:
He left a lot of heel this time around (something that I speculated would be trimmed off this cycle because of it looking pretty warped). He said he wanted that heel since he's been taking more toe. He isn't concerned that the heel is really ugly, so long as she's sound and comfortable. Plus, it helps him remove as much toe as necessary. The frogs on both her hooves have grown very nicely and he even trimmed some of the icky parts off. A first!
If you take a look at her right solar shots especially, you'll notice that she's not very even around and that brings me to the next point.
A good farrier always works within the confines of the individual's conformation. As much as I love Buttercup, she's not a perfect specimen. From last trim's pictures, I noticed Buttercup looked a little high on her insides, and made sure to mention something to my farrier this trim.
What he had to say amazed me. Bud turns out at her knee through her cannon on her front right (shown below).
She also turns out at her knee on her front left, but then at her fetlock, turns back through her pastern.
So much for straight legs! He went on to say that not only is he having to re-make her hoof, he also has to constantly fight against her conformation – impeding the rehab process. (As a side note look at her crack growing out! Doesn't it look great?) Her natural break-over point on the front left is more toward the outside of the hoof, so therefore, the inside gets a bit longer because it doesn't wear on that side as much (which also brings me to the next point).
Bud will go back to being more aggressively booted for turn out but we will start removing the frog pads. The reason? She wore down a lot of hoof this cycle and my farrier wants to keep that hoof so he can better mold her. And the reason why we are trying to remove the frog pad is to encourage her to support herself instead of letting the frog pad support her.
I have moved her to the softer density frog pad so that on days where she does need her frog support, she isn't getting much support.
She was slightly ouchie on the concrete after the trimming, but he did take off some toe. I put her Rx boots on and she immediately licked her lips and looked content.
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