viola_cooper62•1mo agoMost Upvoted

Question about trimming draft horse feet with a deep sulcus

I keep seeing folks at our local fair in Springfield try to trim a draft horse's foot like a light horse, just taking the wall down flat. That deep sulcus in the frog needs room to clear out, or you trap moisture and get thrush. I learned this the hard way after a client's Percheron got a bad infection last fall. How do you all handle that deep central cleft without making the foot unstable?

2 comments

2 Comments

umasullivan1mo ago

A lot of people miss the need for a different bevel on the inside of the hoof wall. You have to roll that inner edge more aggressively than you would on a lighter horse. It keeps the wall from pinching the frog as it expands, but still leaves enough structure for support. Skipping that step is a fast track to packed debris and soft tissue damage.

richard_mason1mo ago

My buddy up in Vermont had a Belgian with a sulcus you could lose a pencil in. His old farrier just kept paring it out super deep, trying to get it spotless, and the whole back half of the foot got sore and weak. It was a mess. What @umasullivan said about the inner bevel is exactly right, that was the missing piece. The new guy they brought in showed him how to leave more frog base for ground contact and just bevel the wall back so the cleft can still clean itself out. The difference in that horse's stride after a few trims was crazy.