Hoof, Body & Soul, Part III: Mission Impossible, unedited, by Gudrun Buchhofer. Blog 55, case # 55

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

Ringbone/sidebone/ossification/arthritis

Once there is ossification it will be there for the rest of the time, right? My experience from the field taught me that the contrary is possible. Helping horses heal from the most common fundamental issue, the atrophy of the back of the hoof, will eventually put the body in the position to release ossification that is no longer needed. The body can rid itself from ossification either through the blood stream or an abscess. As I don't work with x-rays I cannot say to what extend but my eyes can see reduction of ossification. Also, I can feel newly gained freedom around the coffin bone by wiggling the hoof capsule (this applies mostly for the hind hooves).

Abscess getting rid of side-bone/ring-bone

Case # 55

Quarter Horse

trimmed from 2014 until 2024 -- for almost 10 years

I started this gelding with diagnosed ring-bone and side-bone in both hinds as a two-year-old. He was born in Manitoba and moved to Nova Scotia as a weanling. A photo I have seen from him as yearling showed the ossification in early stages. He dove his hinds (toe-first) straight down into the ground. There was no natural bow in the pasterns, the fetlock joints were oversized.

The hooves were petite in size (still in an infant stage). All four hooves were atrophied in the back and not able to support the body. The gelding compensated by leaning on and injuring the lateral side of the hoof capsule in both fronts. He had overall muscle tension but significantly in the left shoulder as well as the neck. He had an under-bite and held his lips tight.

Eventually, the horse was started under saddle. He may have had twenty rides in but was taken out of training. The owner wanted to give him the time to heal.

After eight years of trimming I was able to feel space around the coffin bone in both hinds; space that was not there before. I was able to wiggle the hoof capsule which to me is a sign of the release of ossification. Ossification was no longer needed for support because the hooves have healed so much. There was now a bow in the hind pasterns. The bulbs began to open up and fill out around the nine-year-mark. The hooves were more under the bone column as well. This was especially noticeable in the front. The shoulder issue faded away. The shoulders have become massive. Massage therapy supported the healing journey along the way. There were so many positive changes happening with this boy. Even the under-bite disappeared.

Fronts November 2017 — he was still leaning on the lateral side of both front hoof capsules

Right front March 2018 — mid-trim — atrophied bulbs and frogs

Right front October 2020 — bulbs open up and begin to fill out

Right front August 2022 — bulbs are filling out

Right front August 2023 — internal structures getting stronger

As I am writing this the gelding is twelve years old and in his full beauty. He gets ridden again.

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 BuchhoferNovember 2, 2025Hufprobleme, horse, hoof problems, horses, the natural trim, lessonsfromthewild, foal, Fohlenhuf, foal hoof, barhuf, barhufpflege, nhc, natural horse care, natural hoof care, donkeys, donkey hoof

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