Here is a series of pictures of Luke's feet about 1 week after a trim. They are not as I'd like to see them look yet as his overall hoof height is too tall in my opinion. Luke has been barefoot most of his life. I had shoes on him for about 5 months last year. And for just 4 weeks this year for the month of May. I've ridden him a lot of miles this year barefoot with no trouble at all over any terrain. He's had a chronic problem with thrush for many years. It seems to be cleared up at this time but it's made a mess of the frogs on his two left feet. The frogs on his two right feet, which cleared up first, are looking good now.
Seeing this post makes me realize that I know nothing about mule feet...
ReplyDeleteLOL. Dom. Overall, I don't think Luke's are THAT bad. He has a great solid hoof wall. His heels (and overall hoof) are too long (IMO) but his heels aren't underslung or contracted. And his two left frogs need to continue to heal and grow normally from the damage done to them from chronic thrush problems. I think keeping him barefoot and getting his whole hoof shorter will help him grow and develop good frogs quicker. Mules usually have a long, narrow cone shaped hoof more like their donkey parent. With very thick wall and a more concave bottom to them. And their heel bulb tends to stick out past their heel buttress though on Luke, it's not that much.
ReplyDeleteHis hooves are actually pretty bad. Nothing that cannot be fixed though.
ReplyDeleteDom, no need to know anything about mule feet, the same rules apply here too (palmar/plantar angles at 2 to 3°, hairlines around 25 to 30°).
Fronts are very tall, hinds a little better.
Mules should not have tall hooves.
Pictures of good mule hooves can be seen here:
http://naturalequinehoofcare.weebly.com/donkey-and-mule-hooves-slideshow.html
Jennifer
Yes, they are bad Jennifer. What I mean when I say they are not "that bad" is he hasn't lost a good hoof shape.
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