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Primo has extremely long, under run heels. Xrays show negative rotation of P3 -- it is almost ground parallel in both front feet...without the Xrays, the bull-nosed dorsal wall would have been a good clue. The coffin joint has migrated down into the hoof capsule. His frogs are very narrow, but were making ground contact once the shoes were pulled. Primo walked like he was wearing clown shoes....he'd land heel first (he had to -- no way he could've landed toe first with these feet), slap the front of the foot down, and lift again from flat footed. The stress on the tendons in the foot had to be tremendous, and one can only imagine how that stress translated to the rest of the body.

Surprisingly, Primo's hoof walls are thick and relatively healthy. The strong mustang roll I applied to his toes allows the foot to break over more than an inch sooner than it was in the half-round, square toed shoe. Because of the substantial pathologies of Primo's front feet, my first trim was very conservative. I opted to roll his toe as much as I could, and left his heels long. With his ground-height frogs, I couldn't trim much heel anyway. With his new breakover, Primo will land decidedly heel first; a quickly shortened heel would very likely have been painful. In another week, I will take just a little more heel, and I will be diligent with the mustang roll at the toe.

Obviously, Primo's collateral groove height at the back of the foot is very deep. Collateral groove height at the apex of the frog is approximately 3/4".

Primo has been sized for boots so that we can keep him as active as possible through his transition.

Primo walked home from his first barefoot trim carefully, but his breakover was so fabulously improved, and I swear he looked very pleased!

Primo's X-rays from one year ago:

Making progress! Primo's very narrow, infected frogs are opening up. What a beautiful feeling to actually be able to see the bottom of that formerly bottomless crease! His heel purchase has moved back considerably, and I was able to give him a slight heel bevel today, which should help to accelerate the process. Other than that, I simply rolled his toes back, and used a round rasp to take out some sole in the area between the bars/quarters that was ready to go. Primo is moving MUCH more comfortably now. He is still wearing his boots 24/7, while we continue to attack the frog infection.

Primo's frogs are now HALF AN INCH WIDER than they were! Primo is scheduled for a Cleantrax treatment next week.

Primo had a Cleantrax treatment last Wednesday. Between the religious use of Pete's Paste, and the chlorine dioxide soak, Primo's frogs are finally widening! He is also MUCH more comfortable now, and owner Anita is riding him in the arena without boots! We still have a ways to go on those underrun heels; I am taking very little height when I trim, and simply trying to relieve the radically bent hoof tubules.

WE HAVE REAL HEELS!! I've been patiently waiting for Primo to shed some sole at the toe in order to make my next move. While his collateral groove depth told me I could have forced the issue, I opted to wait. Today, Kristi bagged up Primo's front feet and we soaked them in plain water for almost 2 hours. My plan worked -- the excess sole peeled off exactly where it needed to with just a little coaxing. I had also been playing a waiting game with Primo's heels. Early on, adjusting heel height made Primo too tender, due to the deep chronic thrush infection in his frogs and up between his heel bulbs. Weekly White Lightening soaking finally bought us an edge on the infection. While we're still booting him for trail rides, Primo is moving beautifully without them now, too, and probably won't need them for too much longer.

(Right Front, 1st row before trim, 2nd row after trim 01-15-08; 3rd row after trim 03-11-08, 4th row after trim 03-25-08, 5th row after trim 04-20-08, 6th row after trim 05-20-08, 7th row after trim 06-16-08, 8th row after trim 07-07-07, 9th row after trim 08-06-08, 10th row after trim 08-31-08. Click image to view full size.)