Hoof, Body & Soul, Part III: Mission Impossible, unedited, by Gudrun Buchhofer. Blog 53, case # 53

CHAPTER 1 Atrophy, the fundamental cause for most all hoof pathology and upper body injuries

Diagnosed stifle injury

Case # 53

Nollie

trimmed from November 2012 until present 2025

As I am writing this, Nollie is twenty-three years old. I started trimming him thirteen years ago at the age of ten. He had been diagnosed with a stifle injury in the right hind when my clients bought him.

*Nollie* (left) showing the weakness in his hind end and the left shoulder. Photo: Anne Beaulac

I found Nollie very weak in his hind end. Nobody made a connection to his hooves. The back of all four hooves was atrophied, the white line was atrophied, partially warped and separated (where small rocks and pebbles got in). There were lots of stress cracks in the outer outside walls. The hooves did not support the bone column of his legs.

Nollie had boxy feet (high heels in fronts and hinds). The angles were steeper in his fronts than the hinds. This is unnatural and points to an imbalance. Nollie also wore down his toe wall on all four hooves which is as well a sign of imbalance. He leaned on the lateral side of the right hind. He counterbalanced the weakness in the right hind with the left front leg (he turned his left front foot out and leaned on the medial toe and side). The left front foot was also twisted.

Nollie usually placed the left front leg behind the vertical. This had an effect on his shoulder, neck and TMJ. I gave him a few Reiki session.

Over the years heel height came down little by little. Nollie built up his hind end and developed his bump. He changed his stance which had a positive effect on his left shoulder and neck. His mane fell over more to the left. Overall, Nollie’s conformation changed. His body lengthened and he was less clumsy.

Left front August 2019 — the bulbs opened up and began to fill out

Since I took over his hoof care Nollie’s diet consists of mainly first cut hay. There was no access to green grass pastures, no commercially mixed feeds, no chemical dewormers and no vaccinations. He spent his time outside 24/7 in a beautiful paradise in the woods with access to a crusher dusted paddock and a run-in shelter.

Despite the diagnosed stifle injury Nollie was driven over paved roads and trail ridden in a rough environment (several times per week for many years) entirely barefoot without any hoof protection. I had the honor to test ride his hooves over crusher dust trails and along a rocky river bed in 2013. The diagnosed stifle injury has never been an issue.

Test riding Nollie’s hooves over crusher dust trails and along a rocky river bed in 2013.

photos: Gudrun Buchhofer

Stay tuned for the upcoming cases (under my care for up to 20 years) in this blog series as a replacement for the unpublished part III: Mission Impossible of my trilogy Hoof, Body & Soul.

What did all my client horses over the last 20+ years have in common? They needed to heal from atrophy of the back of the foot as well as other atrophied hoof structures.

Q: Why do we need to change the upbringing of our baby horses and donkeys? A: To prevent senseless suffering.

Gudrun Buchhofer

Gudrun BuchhoferOctober 17, 2025Hufprobleme, horse, hoof problems, horses, the natural trim, nhc, natural horse care, natural hoof care, donkeys, donkey hoof, lessonsfromthewild, foal, foal hoof, Fohlenhuf, barhuf, barhufpflege

CHAPTER 1 Atrophy, the fundamental cause for most all hoof pathology and upper body injuries

Hoof contraction

Every foal hoof has long toes and high heels at birth (diving devices for a safe delivery). About half of the hoof capsule needs to be worn down after birth. This requires movement in a fairly natural environment beginning within the first hours after birth.

There is a lot out there in the trimmer world about fighting and treating thrush. But there is hardly any material there in the first place that could be eaten away by thrush. The back of the hoof is unfinished at birth. At the same time, as the hoof capsule needs to be worn down, proper stimulation of frogs, bulbs, walls, the white line, bars, internal structures need to happen. Otherwise structures will go in to atrophy. The activation of true heels also fails if those processes do not take place.

Atrophy of the frogs, bulbs and internal structures as well as lack of true heels are in direct relation to hoof contraction. Fixed metal shoes might contribute to further contraction but it is not the underlying cause. Over the years I dealt with many contracted hooves which never had any form of shoes attached to them. With or without shoes, the unreleased false heels can contract inwards in an atrophied foot. However, not every atrophied hoof contracts. It really depends on the enforced decision a foal makes very early on about how to compensate for the unfinished hoof.

Due to a failed reduction of the hoof capsule right after birth, combined with the unfinished back of the foot (true heels, bulbs, internal structures), a lot of foals tuck the front legs behind the vertical (enforced decision). The famous scenario of toe first landing is a result. Most horses have problems walking on their own bare feet in the front. Horses endure injuries from the unfinished back of the foot in the hinds as well but are able to compensate differently. Most horses toe out with the hinds (often turn out the entire hind leg) and use the medial half of the hoof capsule for weight loading. This is different from naturally asymmetric hind hooves. The front hooves usually need longer to heal than the hinds. The fundamental problem applies to fronts and hinds.

Case # 1 Ace

trimmed from July 2013 – December 2024

Quarter Horse Ace was born in June 2012 in western Canada. Ace was shipped across the country as a weanling. After his arrival on the east coast he was kept in a stall on wood shavings for quite a while. When I started trimming him in July of 2013 I found Ace stuck with his pasterns still stretched, weak fetlock joints, unfinished baby hooves with unreleased long shanks or false heels. (We can safely assume an unnatural environment at birth and lack of movement in the first months of his life.) There was complete atrophy of the frogs, bulbs, soles, bars and internal structures. The outside walls of the hoof capsules were severely bruised. Ace toed outwards with all four. His hooves were already deformed at such a young age. He further developed a broken back axis stance in the front and a crooked right hind pastern. He tent to lean on the side of the hoof capsules. Due to the lack of true heels, internal structures, frogs and bulbs the front hooves soon contracted. For quite some years, the soles and bars were protected by a hard (almost shell-like) layer of horn.

By 2020 Ace clearly entered an important phase of the healing journey. In April of 2021 the layer of shell-like horn turned into crumbly white sole horn which was then ready to be removed. Over the years Ace improved his stance and the bruising on the outer hoof walls as well as soft tissue bruising subsided. Compromised and compressed tissue was released through a few abscesses.

Ace is ridden barefoot since he was started under saddle. From 2021 onward this golden boy makes his young owner proud competing. In 2023 they took home a second place in barrel racing and a first place in pole bending. Photo credit: CKPhotography

Closing note: Ace lives in a herd in a large paddock without green grass pasture, over the summer months with 24/7 freedom to move and he is stalled overnight in the winter. Longer periods of standing (on wooden floor with shavings) caused set-backs in the healing. His hooves tend to re-contract and grow towards a wry-foot as Ace tends to lean on the side of his hoof capsules. In Ace's case hoof contraction was not caused by metal shoes as he never had any. Also it was not thrush eating away his frogs and bulbs as his hooves were in atrophy to begin with.

Image 1: Left front pre-trim July 2013

Image 2: Left front pre-trim July 2013

Image 3: Left front pre-trim December 2019 note the bruised soft tissue and the rubber like skin of the bulbs

Image 4: Left front pre-trim October 2024

Image 5: Left front lateral pre-trim July 2013

Image 6: Left front lateral post-trim November 2023 — he still shortens his feet via divergent hooves; healthier bulbs emerging from further back bringing the hooves more under the bone column.

Photos: Gudrun Buchhofer