Mini Donk with missing hoof Wall

[bbredmom]

So my little guy hasn't seen a farrier in a while. The soonest the "local" (he covers multiple counties) farrier can come is monday. Ruth is really good about having his feet messed with, and with all the mud and muck, I've been cleaning them with a pick daily. They are really long.

So Monday night I was cleaning his feet, when I noticed the back left hoof had a horizontal crack in it. The hoof wall was actually lifting away from the hoof. I was terrified it would split even further up, so we snipped it and rasped it. So his hoof wall is longer on one side than the other, but nothing is loose to catch on anything.

I have pictures, but no way to upload them to photobucket at work.

Should I nip the remain hoof even around, or wait for the farrier?

The sole is exposed about 1/4". He is favoring the foot a little, but I dont know if thats from pain for because its unbalanced. Also, his other rear foot looks really good, so its obvious his feet are trying to self trim.

I'm checking the foot morning and night, cleaning out the bottom and checking for heat or smell. Is there anything else I can do?

I know about horse care, but hooves scare the bejueesus out of me. So many things can go wrong!

 

[aggieterpkatie]

I know about horse care, but hooves scare the bejueesus out of me. So many things can go wrong!

And that is why I would recommend waiting for the farrier to come out, especially if Ruth is already favoring that hoof. I hope it works out.

 

[patandchickens]

I'm not sure which of several things you're talking about, pics will help once you can post them.

Is this a defect on the outside wall of the hoof, so you can see it when the donkey is standing with its foot on the ground? If so, is it roughly-parallel to the sole of the foot (so, basically horizontal when the foot is on the ground) or is it parallel to the horn tubules i.e running at a sort of vertical angle from the ground up towards the pastern?

The former is generally seen when you have a coronet injury (from abscess blowing out top of hoof, or from actual injury near the coronary band e.g. hoof interference or stuck in fence but there are lots of ways it can happen)... it creates a weak zone in the hoof growth rings and as it grows down towards ground level it often dries and opens up and becomes conspicuous. It is not a big deal, it will grow out soon.

(Oh, there is one other thing you might describe this way, and actually now, thinking about it, it may be the likeliest thing you have -- you can get a part of a flare of hoof wall breaking off and sometimes it doesn't break FULLY off but rather remains "hinged" to the hoof at the top, sticking out sideways like a little airplane wing. Does that sound like what you've got? If so, totally harmless, don't worry about it, it happens.)

The latter (a crack parallel to the horn tubules, parallel to the axis of the pastern) would be an actual hoof crack, if it is just superficial it's no big deal but in some circumstances (if it's full-depth and moving) can become a chronic problem. Is something for farrier to see and deal with.

OR, is this a defect on the underneath of the hoof, so the donkey is normally standing on it and you can only see it when you've lifted the foot and are looking at the sole etc. In which case, it sounds like you mean a separation of the hoof wall from the sole along part of the white line? This can be from an abscess or bruise growing out, or if very large and punky inside can reflect 'white line disease' which is a still rather poorly understood can of worms which can be trivial or serious depending on the situation. Separation at the white line would be something to ask farrier about next time, but not necessarily something to wig out about right now, don't be pokin' at it, although you can shoot a squirt of thrushbuster or something like that up there if you like.

Unless of course i've totally misunderstood and it's *none* of the above

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[bbredmom]

IT sounds more like the flared hoof thingie. Here are pictures, I was sneaky

Before:

After:

See the jagged bit of hoof? Should we trim that just so its even and he's not uncomfortable? Sorry for the first pics, it was dark, wet raining, and I had a slightly irritated donkey.

Oh, tell me if the pics dont work. I can't see them either way.

 

[patandchickens]

Looks to me like his hooves were WAY too long to begin with, and a chunk broke off. You might want to think about either having him trimmed a lot more frequently or (if he's already being done every 6-8 wks) maybe consider a different farrier.

He may indeed be a bit tender on that foot for a while, and the corresponding half is likely to break off too, but it is not a huge deal. The bigger thing is trying to get his feet into a more appropriate length/balance.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[bbredmom]

Oh, I just picked him up on saturday. I plan on having his feet done as often as the ferrier thinks they need it to get back in good shape.

So should I go ahead and trim it to "control" how much comes off?

 

[patandchickens]

If you've trimmed a lot of horse hooves before and his aren't too hard and he is happy to stand there and let you do it without wrasslin', then you can take off some of the excess.

But since I would tend to suspect that probably not *all* of those planets are in alignment -- especialy since you already mentioned he was cranky when you took the pics -- it might be a lot better to work on establishing a useful working relationship with him and not worry about the hoof. Nothing awful is going to happen because of it, better you should work on getting him to see you as the source of sensible rules and good things, rather than starting right in with something he mayn't like

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[bbredmom]

I've trimmed goat hooves, his hooves are hard, but he is good about letting me lift and clean them. He was just irritable because he I was messing with that bit alot, examining it. Otherwise he is very good about his feet. I think he likes the hoof pick. He kinda leans into me when I use it.

He's a very good boy. I'm very happy with him.

Ok, I will not stress about the hoof. See, I'm not stressing

 

[currycomb]

yep, i agree, just a breaking off of excessive hoof