Hoof, Body & Soul, Part III: Mission Impossible, unedited, by Gudrun Buchhofer. Blog 35, case #35

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

Dropped fetlocks

Horses (and donkeys) are born with their hoof serving as a "diving device" for a secure birthing. But the hoof is unfinished and needs to finalize outside of the mother's womb. And this is where most of our horses' (and donkeys’) hoof as well as body problems are buried.

Born with long stretched pasterns and unfinished hooves the foal knows instinctively (as soon as it gets up on its feet after birth) how to position the back of the hooves, how to search for ground contact in order to activate the finalization process in the back of the feet. The foal is literally pressing the back of the foot into the ground and holding up the toes. This attempt fails when standing on a bed of straw or any other type of unnatural grounds like pasture, rubber mats, wooden shavings or mud. The activation to finalize the back of the foot simply does not happen.

Naturally the foal is exercised right after birth as soon as the herd is moving or predators enforce this action. In a natural environment (one that favours the species or one that we mimic to the best of our abilities) the larger portion of the newborn hoof capsule (including the “false” heels) is reduced through travelling over firm and abrasive ground. All the various hoof coria get stimulated and the activation process in the back of the foot begins. The factor environment is key.

If there is no opportunity for the foal to exercise the pasterns, to activate the back of the foot, to shorten and then exchange the “false” heels with true heels (in order to complement the natural variant capsule angle-of-growth) the back of the foot and various structures go in to atrophy. The horse is forced to rely on other parts of the foot rather than having the pad (bulbs, frog, internal structures) in the back of the hoof available to support the bone column. The body will eventually get muscle tired holding the situation.

In dropped fetlock cases the foal grasps with the toes and keeps waiting for true heels to kick in. A starting point for unnatural wear patterns and hoof deformation. At some point in time fatigue muscles will force the horse to drop the still “long stretched” pastern.

Medial side from Noey’s right hind shows the long pastern in August 2011 (next case)

The hoof deforms from loading unnaturally. Unworn and unreleased, the now flared tips of the “false” heels pinch into the soft tissue (ingrown toenails). This is painful and the horse will grasp with the toe even more in order to avoid the pain in the back of the foot.

Atrophy of the back of the foot is the root cause for dropped fetlocks. Horses are euthanized because of a preventable and most likely often heal-able pathology. Pay attention to the length of the pasterns (and the stress on the pasterns) in the following cases. As the horse finalized the back of the foot the length of the pasterns always shortened.

In sync with the healing of the back of the foot, and when the fetlock joints finally get exercised, tissue (probably soft tissue ossification because it is pretty hard by touch) is often added all around the joint for support. Now the muscles can slowly and safely pick up the work. Eventually ossification will be released again either through the blood stream or in form of abscesses.

In dropped fetlock cases all four hooves are involved as well as the entire body.

Case # 35

Noey

trimmed for nine years (2010 - 2019) from age seven to sixteen

Noey was a Percheron/Thoroughbred cross born and raised in Nova Scotia. She was trained in equitation and hunter classes. Noey was given to my client as a companion horse for an older gelding when she was seven years old. I became her trimmer when she was nine years old.

Noey's hoof and body situation were complicated. She had dropped fetlocks in both hinds. Based on the fundamental issue (the back of her hooves were atrophied) she was literally clinging to her toes on all four.

Right hind July 2014 — the back of the foot is atrophied; the weight bearing point of the false heels is too far forward; the tip of the false heel on the lateral side is flared and pinching in.

Right hind November 2010 — she is turning out the entire leg

She turned out both hind legs extremely for bracing and clinging. In the front she was standing behind the vertical and both front hooves were twisted. The twisted front hooves were as well a consequence of the atrophy of the back of the hooves and the enforced decision she made when she was very little. Hoof horn had to shift around the digit one divergent hoof at a time.

Left hind December 2016 — frog tissue is bruised

Left hind March 2018 — *Noey* is still bull-nosing her toe and the hoof capsule is still distorted

Left hind October 2018 — she is jacking up the fetlock; soft tissue was built around the joint to support this process

Although Noey was a heavy horse by breed her entire front end was over developed from compensating. In the beginning her chest muscles would quiver when I trimmed her fronts. We worked with love, patience, lots of time, treats and body massage during the trimming sessions.

Noey was almost sixteen when my client made the hard decision to have her euthanized before winter. Time and circumstances did not line up for Noey. After loosing her companion horse Noey’s physical and emotional health declined, especially in her last year. “There were lots of days when she was hurting and had problems lying down and trying to get her feet under her. The winter time especially was difficult. Noey had problems crossing slippery icy snow patches. A few times I had to help her find a way to the barn. I miss her so much but couldn’t see her face another winter. She was a kind, loving mare.” Debbie H., January 2023.

Thank you for the teaching, Noey. ♥

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 BuchhoferAugust 11, 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