This One Foot

04/24/2026

Another foot from the wet lab with Paige Poss.

I've rehabbed feet out of toe cracks, but
I'd not yet done a dissection of a hoof with toe cracks.

Studying this gave me pause...

04/24/2026

I had the opportunity to attend a wet lab offered by Paige Poss.
There was a nice continuum of pathology in the hooves that were available.
From what I've been seeing in feet the dark areas are in response to compression.
As hard as the capsule, sole, and frog are, they're still malleable and subject to pressure. Much more so the structures of the inner sensitive foot-lamina, papillae, etc. When the capsule shrinks and/or distorts, this acts on the inner structures and causes a restriction of blood flow. When blood flow is restricted so too is lymph flow. When both blood and lymph are restricted the foot can no longer rebuild and cleanse itself.
How reversable this is depends largely on trim, and the health of the horse.

04/24/2026

Another progression on the same big guy. This is his off fore.
First, second, third trim.
More buttress failure.
Sometimes things look worse as they get better.
The first trim allowed for his caudal foot to bloom and this in turn stood the whole foot up a bit*. The front of the foot pushed back into the back end, and as the bar (pic left) had no true attachment to the capsule, it did not move back along with it.
You can see above and below the bar how the capsule has moved around it while the bar stayed fairly static. At this point, the only thing acting on the bar is the soft tissues of the foot.
Note too, the quarter crack.
Between the quarter crack and the lack of buttress this left quarter of this foot lacks the stability that healthy capsules provide, but even more than this, the break at the quarter coupled with the lack of buttress and the fact that the bar has only soft tissues to support it at the moment, allow for the capsule of this quarter to shift out of concert with the rest of the capsule. Effectively having him walk with a cloven hoof. It would be very interesting to have a venogram and x-ray to see more what's going on inside of this foot.
The second trim shows the crack between the bar and capsule on the right has grown down and out, rendering them connected again.
By the third trim the back of the foot has grown back enough that a thin bar has been able to grow down connecting the capsule and bar on the left.
Not all quarter cracks are linked to buttress failure, but a good many that I see are.

*Picture the caudal foot like a flat tire that is getting inflated, as that happens the hoof becomes less negative palmar/plantar and the dorsal wall moves from a shallow to steeper angle.

04/24/2026

First, second, and third trim on this big guy.
Of note in this view is the "movement", more accurately, re growth of the bar left of pic. It's clear in the first and second pic that the bar is no longer attached to the wall via buttress. Note the placement of it pushed forward up the wall and the crack between the two. It's improved already at the second trim, and even more so at the third.
Also check out the shattering in the dorsal hoof wall. Again, much improved at the second trim and all but gone upon the third.
Not all feet improve this quickly and this guy has a way to go, but it's always nice to see.

12/30/2025

Five months change on this QH mare hind.
There's a whole lot of regeneration going on at the back end of that frog.
These two pics were May and Oct.
The single pic is December.
The increase in length of the yellow lines indicated how much caudal foot has grown in since October.
Notice how the frog thinned across the foot as well.
This is the pattern I see repeatedly.
The caudal frog thickens, then grows out caudal hoof wall.
And the caudal shot shows better how the new heel growth coming in has yet to reach the ground.
When it does, she'll have even more hoof behind her bony column to stand on.
Notice too the line of her periople on the caudal shot.
This will raise up as her feet continue to improve.

12/30/2025

Seven months progress on my TB.
This has been a tougher foot.
It's his off front.
When he came to me his medial buttress was only wall and bar, and he had a coronary band injury at his heel quarter on the same side. It's taken time to build any kind of vertical depth on that side.
The big win indicated on this pic is how much more live sole he's developed (pic right-live sole is creamy, failed sole is grey) and of course that there nice solid buttress.
As this buttress has come in, it's allowed for the hoof wall that grows down from the coronary band injury to remain more solid, where before, the flex in his poorly supported caudal foot would splinter the hoof wall that grew down from that injured spot.

12/30/2025

This is the left front on the most lovely Fjord gelding. He's as large as he is lovely.
Left-July, right-December. So five months change.
What's most notable from this angle is changes in his caudal foot.
Someone recently asked for a pic of a frog curtain.
The vertically striated bit between the 'frog bulbs' on the December photo is frog curtain growing in.
Comparing hairline to heels give a feel for how much vertical depth he's developed in his caudal foot.
The sole shot shows his central sulcus coming back in as well.
And, his toe crack is closing up and will likely be gone by spring.

12/30/2025

12 months change on this little QH mare's near front.
Before on left.
The frog is less pinched by the bars now as the angle of the bars have changed.
Yellow line across both images is a little off, but shows how much the hoof has grown out caudally on the right image.
The fissure between her lateral bar and buttress is gone on the new foot, and the one on the medial side of her foot is less pronounced.

11/16/2025

Just read the question:

"What is a full rehab?"

From what I'm seeing on the feet I tend, this is my answer:

Frog and sole are creamy color.
Bars are straight, and terminate naturally around mid frog.
Capsule is uniform thickness all the way around.
The capsule bar tip to bar tip is one unit.
Buttress is robust and "joined" solidly to capsule and bar (no cracks).
White line around seat of corn describes a uniform arch that leaves the buttress larger than the sum the capsule wall and the bar.
Frog has full frog stay up into hairline.
Frog has full frog curtain that grows from hairline to ground surface, supporting the caudal foot.
The lateral ends of the frog curtain occlude the caudal openings of the collateral grooves.
The central sulcus is a triangular wedge that forms naturally, widest at it's opening out the back of the foot between the frog curtain. Capsule tubules are longest at the toe, and grow shorter and shorter toward the buttress and shorter still to the bar terminus. Growth rings hit the ground at the same time.
White line is tight.

11/16/2025