foal hoof question

[Lisann]

My farrier was out Sat - trimmed by foals' feet for the first time. He said both had underrun heels on the rear hooves. Is that normal?

I was pretty impressed by how well they stood for him. I've only been able to work with them since the 1st of this month (they were away for foaling and mares getting bred) and they've only had halters on for a week.

[griff]

ask your farrier.. if he's expert enough to see a problem he is has more info than most you will find here; especially me..

griff

[Roguelet]

I was curious after reading your post so I did a little Internet searching and found this reference to underrun hooves in foals:

In recent years, it appears that an increasing number of foals are born with a low heel. Over or under trimming foals or the frequency of trimming foals may contribute to this type of foot. Environmental factors may predispose a horse to long toe-under run heel. Well known farrier Eddie Watson has often stated, "A horse's feet are the product of its environment". The type of climate and footing a young horse is raised in whether dry and hard or wet and soft may play a role. On a hard surface, a youngster will wear its feet normally as opposed to soft footing where the foot sinks in the ground. Horses that are subjected to continuous or excessive moisture may be affected due to softening of the hoof. Horses with forelimb conformation such as long pasterns or short straight pasterns may be more likely to develop this type of foot. This problem is particularly common in Thoroughbred horses but is present in all breeds.

Entire Article: http://www.equipodiatry.com/long_toe_underrun.html

Off to do more searching...

[Roguelet]

Here's another:

Conference leader Pat Reilly, who is now resident farrier at New Bolton Center, reviewed his use of high-tech measuring systems to question the probability factor of correcting what he feels are the universal malady of the horse's foot: underrun heels. According to a study quoted by Pat, as many as 60 percent of horses are affected by low-heel syndrome and he maintained that every foal he has seen has had underrun heels. He defines "underrun" at being as least five degrees lower than the toe angle, as set in stone by Tracy Turner DVM in published papers.

Entire article: http://hoofcare.blogspot.com/2008/06/event-wrapup-upenn-technical.html

[Shammy Davis]

My suggestion, as a retired farrier, is to let the hoof growth run its normal course. In a healthly foal, it is highly unlikely that the foal whose turn of foot seems natural is suffering from underrun heels. You need a second opinion. I assume that you have VET. Have him or her take a look. After over forty years of horses leaning on my back, I can tell you that the incidence of underrun heels in foals is relatively rare. The reason for that is that problem has more environmental factors than congential.