Hoof, Body & Soul, Part III: Mission Impossible, unedited, by Gudrun Buchhofer. Blog 16, case #16

Author: Gudrun Buchhofer

Dedicated to all the horses suffering because of an unfinished foundation — their hooves.

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.

CHAPTER 1

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

Deformed hooves /crooked feet / wry feet / twisted hooves / slipper feet / folded hooves / flared hooves

Case # 16

Annie

Writing about the seven-month-old donkey jenny was very hard to do. I had just performed her first trim four weeks prior when Annie was put to rest at such a young age. She was euthanized with a diagnosed connective tissue illness after her left hind hoof capsule had sloughed off. The hoof capsule was with me for six months until I was finally able to look at it. Annie's hoof confirmed my conclusion in regards to slipper feet.

My studies in the field led me to the realization that our foals are born with long unfinished hooves. The last step has to happen outside of the mother’s womb within the first hours and days of birth through movement over firm and abrasive grounds. This results in the reduction of almost half of the entire hoof capsule (including the long toe) and the activation of the back of the foot. When this projected process does not take place the hoof runs into pathology — a slipper foot in Annie's case.

When I first met her at the age of six months (week twenty-four) Annie was still waiting for the back of the hooves to finalize. She was still standing in the stance they instinctively know to take after birth, pressing the back of the foot into the ground and holding the toe up, wanting to activate a divergent hoof with shorter toes, steeper angles and true heels as well as to stimulate internal structures. She was still waiting for the first true foal hoof to kick in after birth as a divergent hoof (from heel to toe) and exchange with the newborn hoof. However, her hooves never experienced the initial (and necessary) wear and stimulation. That explains why they were so long plus they continued to grow aimlessly. Her toe walls had never touched the ground and atrophied. The first two photos show the slipper foot development.

*Annie's* left hind prior to her first trim at the age of six months (week twenty-four).

The view from the back of the cadaver hoof shows that the lateral wall had crushed inwards and the toe wall is missing.

The lateral view from the cadaver hoof showing the lack of toe wall.

The frontal view on the cadaver hoof shows the lack of toe wall as well.

The different views of the hoof from four weeks after the first trim (the one that sloughed off) shows that the toe wall atrophied. Where is the toe wall?

I found atrophied toe wall in all donkeys and ponies with slipper feet I have ever worked on.

Now, compare Annie's hoof from week twenty-four and one of Cobe's hooves at week seven. We know Cobe from part I: Freedom from Pain of Hoof, Body & Soul, 26,27,33 and part II: My Search for the Truth of Hoof, Body & Soul, 27-40. He was exposed to gravel the moment he got up on his feet. He walked over firm and abrasive ground within the hour of birth. Cobe's first hoof after birth was coming in as a divergent hoof with a steeper angle and a shorter toe as well as from further back in support of the bone column. The remainder of the newborn hoof was properly discarded (pushed away from the body and worn). At seven weeks the back of Cobe's hoof is complementing the variant capsule angle-of-growth. Internal structures are serving as a cushion, frog and bulbs are on the ground in support of the bone column.

Thank you for the teaching, little Annie. ♥

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 BuchhoferJune 20, 2025horse, horses, nhc, natural horse care, natural hoof care, donkeys, donkey hoof, lessonsfromthewild, foal, foal hoof, Fohlenhuf, Hufprobleme, hoof problems, the natural trim, 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