Heel Trimming
June 10, 2009 · Print This Article
Understanding the back of the hoof and how it functions is fundamental in understanding how to trim the heels and the desired heel height.
Heel Height
The heel height should be short enough so that the frog is able to make light contact with the ground when viewed on a hard flat surface. (You can see this if you look at the back of the hoof on the ground.) Then on an uneven or yielding surface the frog will still receive the correct amount of pressure, release, and stimulation, that it requires for optimum health as the horse moves.
This ground contact for the frog is vital and if the heel height is too high, this will severely interfere with the functioning of the frog as well as the position of the internal structures including the coffin bone.
How to Assess Correct Heel Height
In order to see if your heels are a good length or not, one of things that will quickly guide your eye is what the frogs look like.
Are they wide at their base and calloused? In other words are they getting contact with the ground.
Pick up the hoof, with your rasp, place it across the back of the hoof and see where the frog is positioned in relation to the heels. i.e.:-
1.) Is the frog touching the rasp?
2.) Does the frog look sunken in and away from the rasp?
3.) Is the frog dried up and narrow, like a dried up mushroom?
From these observations you can then quickly determine how long the heels are in relation to the frog and how much contact the frog is having with the ground.
Height of the Heels in Relation to the Frog
Heel Balance and Uneven Heel Heights
The other thing to look for is balance. How even are the heels, is one much longer than the other? is one built up more than the other?
You need to hold the hoof and “sight the foot” to see how balanced the hoof is.
Look at the seat of corn, by the ‘turn around point’ of the bars. You don’t want the heel buttress/seat of corn on one side to be a great deal more prominent than the other side, as it is likely to bruise. (note the relevance of the name here, ’seat of corn,’ this area can be sore for the horse if it is not addressed when you are trimming.) i.e you are wanting an even weight bearing platform at the back of the hoof.
A Simple Test to Determine the Health of the Back of the Hoof
Also, in this position you can test the back of the hoof where the heels are. With just your thumb pressure, press on the back of the heels and see if your horse flinches.
If he does, this will confirm to you, that the back of the hoof is not functioning as it should be, and the heels are very likely too long, there may also be thrush present.
How We Trim the Heels
Once we have assessed the heel length in relation to the frog and sole plane, and assessed the heel balance (sighted the hoof), we will then trim the heels down to the level of the live sole plane or just 1/16″ above the level of the live sole plane.
The heels need to be trimmed back to allow them to grow down, so you are preventing them from getting too long/high and from them growing forward, (another name for forward growing heels is, underrun heels.)
You may well realize that the heels are far too long. You need to remove excess hoof wall growth until the walls are even with the sole. However, even when doing this it may take you a number of trims before you can get the heels down to the level which allows the frog to function properly as you can only trim them down to the level of the live sole plane.
If you just need to get the heels down a bit more, without having to trim any live sole, you can simply further roll the back of the heels. By this I mean roll the sides and the back of the heels, so that the whole thing is very passive.
What happens is the weight of the horse will actually slowly take care of this excess heel material, and the heels will lower almost ‘by themselves’, if you keep this trimming up.
Your goal is to keep the entire outer wall of the heels off the ground.
The softer inner wall and sole will then actually compress like magic.
Your Goal When Trimming The Heels
Your goal is to get the frog to work, and to do this you need to bring the heels down level with the sole, once the frogs start working the horse will now start ‘killing off’ sole in the back part of the hoof, in order to help lower their own heels.
Two Different Approaches to Heel Trimming
Strasser trim: Trim the heels to a 3.5 cm height (vertical from the back corner of the lateral cartilages). The reason is to quickly place the coffin bone in a ground-parallel position, which increases hoof mechanism. If, when shortening the heel to this measurement, you get to blood in the seat-of-corn, wait till the sole recedes before you shorten the heels anymore.
Wild horse trim: Trim the heels only to the outside edge of the sole in the seat-of-corn. The reason is to avoid thinning the sole, which can sore the horse. If the heels are long when trimmed to the sole, the sole in the seat-of-corn will recede over time (as the bone re-shapes itself), allowing gradual shortening of the heels.
The Back of The Hoof – A Few More Things to Remember
The back of the hoof, where the heels are positioned, forms part of the weight bearing surface of the hoof. In many cases it is the back of the hoof that is not being used correctly, that creates many of our hoof problems.
In a healthy hoof the back of the hoof, needs to hit the ground first and absorbs the concussion, this is called, heel first landing.
If the back of the hoof is poorly developed and by this I mean has long heels, or underrun heels and a dried up frog, the horse will then move so that instead of the heel landing first which the hoof so desperately needs, the toe will land first; and it is this that;-
1.) then puts unnatural strain on the muscles and tendons of the horse and especially the deep digital flexor tendon,
2.) and it is this that prevents the frog and internal structures of the hoof from functioning correctly,
3.) and it is this that can lead to the breakdown of your horse.
Finally
So keep in your mind, that the correct length of heels is vital for the hoof to function and finally to simplify trimming – all we really have to do, is to remove excessive hoof material that is working against the horse and allow plenty of barefoot movement…….
It is this, that is essential for the development of the frog, and the internal structures, ie. the digital cushion and lateral cartilages, which are the very important shock absorbing structures in the back of the hoof.
The Back of the Heels
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Hi
Thanks for the fantastic website and advice. We took the step of removing our 11 yr old T/B’s front shoes off about 6 weeks ago. She’s been barefoot at the back for over a year already.
I watched your video’s and was able to keep the newly barefoot hooves in trim in between seeing the farrier and I am now able to confidently speak to the farrier about her future barefoot trims.
So thank you so much for your wonderful website.
Our horse is doing very well barefoot, and, although we are still taking it carefully, she has already been able to compete in showjumping events successfully.
Doreen,
So so pleased to hear your story, and how lovely to hear she has already been show jumping, well done and thank you for letting me know.
It is a challenge at the beginning, but once you have grasped the basics, and it sounds like you already have, you will be well on your way. You are likely to continue to monitor her hooves and you will be amazed at the continued improvement in their form, the longer she remains barefoot.
Congratulations for taking the courage to transition her to barefoot and for being able to work with your farrier, not something owners find very easy.
Thank you Sarah for this excellent article.
I have read it before and appreciated it, but since then have been trimming a lot of feet.
I have 5 horses. I have also done a good deal of reading, researching and listening. I feel I have a pretty good understanding now, of how the hoof works and my trimming and fitness are improving.
Three of my horses are youngsters. Their pretty hooves have taught me lots since they are un-spoilt and healthy, having never been subjected to abuse.
Of course keeping them on grass is a form of abuse unless I can get the trimming right and keep it up at very regular intervals. Its wear they need and I know that any trimming is better than none at all, so I started gently and wrote down my findings and worries and trimmed every week or two weeks until I could see I had it right.
This is a good idea for young ones anyway since they need to learn to give us a hoof and to stand on three for a while. Its easy with one of the yearlings but the other likes to play games. However, we manage and they get better and better and I do too.
One foal is only 2 months old. He has already learnt to pick up a hoof for me and to let me give it a little scrape.
His mum is an Arab mare with hard as nails black hooves with a wonderful deep concavity, showing me an almost ideal foot with straight bars and tidy frogs. She has never worn shoes. but her feet were neglected and were very thrushy when I got her a year ago.
My QH mare has the flattest front feet you have ever seen. I bought her wearing shoes 4 years ago. I removed them 3 years ago and she is still not sound.
I had a very good Equine Podiatrist trim her from the start and she has been wearing boots and pads during sore times but the improvement was so slow and variable that I decided to take over. Leaving 6-8 weeks between trims doesn’t help this sort of horse. I took the responsibility just a few months ago and got an expert to give her a white line trim. I have been keeping that going since every week or two, and the progress as far as the new growth is concerned, is wonderful, from pancakes these hooves are gaining height and the flares are disappearing as the better growth reaches the ground.
I can’t say we have much concavity so far, but there is a little appearing now and I have had one very dramatic shedding episode when I could scrape lots of sole from the edge of the frog toward the sole callous. What a moment!
I should mention here that as well as getting the feed right, exercise is one factor in rehabilitating hooves which I feel is not made enough of in most articles I read. Without pushing the horse a little, progress can be very slow indeed.
Looking forward to your ebook.
Linda
Linda – what a great story, and well done. And yes you are so right:-
1.) exercise is the key
2.) frequent trimming – every 1-2 weeks is essential
3.) Sensible diet – grass is not as bad as we are all lead to believe – I will expand on this later.
Thank you for your story and time