Midway update on Bud

(Buttercup makes the sweetest faces)

Wow so having Buttercup an hour away is much more complicated now. Her next trim will be Nov. 17, and I won't be able to be there since it is a Wednesday and a girl's gotta work.

So I decided to take pictures of her hooves this weekend to show how they transform over the weeks between trims. I have touched up her bars and her toes in these pics to prevent some separation issues that were trying to form, but overall I'm quite pleased how they look in between.

I think it is really important to be on a four-week or less schedule. Otherwise you are jumping between too short and too long, and always have hooves in transition. At four weeks, you can really keep the hoof from abrupt transitions. That's important for long-term soundness.

Front left:

Front right:

Solar, right: (excuse the gunk, I couldn't find a wire brush at the barn to clean her up)

Solar, left:

Notice I really "squared" the toe here. I was concerned that she would get additional torque on that crack while waiting for Scott to come out and trim her in a few weeks. 

Ideally, the hoofwall all the way around these soles would be brought back to a tight line against the soles; you can see from the pics that separation is still very much apparent.

Here is a tighter hoofwall against the sole to compare (from Sept. 4):

And we are getting quite a bit more concavity in the hooves. I still kick myself every time I think about what the farriers told me when Buttercup was three and four years old: "This horse is genetically flat footed and she'll never develop concavity. She'll also be uncomfortable outside of shoes." Now she's turning into a veritable, barefoot rock crusher even with her hooves still in transition! 

To compare, from Sept. 4:

And September 2009:

It isn't a significant change over the last year, but it's something. She'll never have true "rock crushing" hooves. But she can develop concavity and she can be fine over 90% of surfaces barefoot, even with her softer, inferior hooves. 

Hope to get pictures of her new trim the weekend of Nov. 19!