Hoof, Body & Soul, Part III: Mission Impossible, unedited, by Gudrun Buchhofer. Blog 38, case #38

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

Dropped fetlocks

Case # 38

Zilker

trimmed from October 2013 until April 2020

Zilker (breed unknown) was born in Indiana, USA, and later lived in Texas. He was bought by my client when he was about eight years old. Several farriers were consulted in regards to Zilker’s difficult hoof situation. My client was desperate. She started to work with barefoot trimmers and took a barefoot trimming workshop herself.

My client relocated with her family and horses to Nova Scotia, Canada, when Zilker was about twenty-two years old. I was Zilker’s trimmer for the last seven years of his life. Zilker was one of the most complex cases I worked on. The trust in The Natural Trim by Jaime Jackson and the healing powers of nature kept us all going: the horse, the owner and myself.

The foundation for Zilker’s hoof and physical problems was atrophy of the back of the hooves. After birth he did not have the chance to wear down at least half of his hoof capsules and finalize the back of the foot. Zilker positioned the fronts very close together. Both front hooves were severely deformed like crushed pop cans and the dead corner in the back was never complemented with true heels. The right front was deformed more. The fetlock joints were frozen from ossification. Zilker’s body was overbuilt in the front and weak in the hind (the withers higher than the rear end). Both of Zilker’s hind end fetlocks were dropped. Both hind hoof capsules were deformed as well. Zilker had self-bull nosed the medial toes as he was grabbing on to his toes. The back of the foot was not available for weight bearing. The lateral (false) heels had flared and the tips grown in to the soft tissue.

Right front May 2000 in Texas — the lateral heel is flared; the back of the hoof is not supporting the bone column. Photo: Nicole Winstead

Right front April 2018 — the medial bar is straight, the lateral bar is still curved and the tip of the heel flared, stress cracks in the toe wall, but the hoof has shifted back further under the bone column

Left hind December 2018 — the hair at the coronary band is sticking up on all four hooves= internal structures increasing

Fronts October 2018 — 4th dimensional healing changes happening in the fronts: enlarge the photo and you can see the increase in hoof horn with the next divergent hooves; also his stance has widened

Right front February 2020 — the lateral wall is more straight; the dead corner is clearly visible

Fronts from behind April 2020 — he was still bracing on the lateral wall of the right front; the dead corner on the lateral side of the right front is still there; however, the bulbs were in preparation to open = healing activities right below the hairline

Around the six-year-mark Zilker stopped snubbing (or self-bull nosing) his hind feet and jacked up his dropped fetlocks. His entire hind end came up.

Zilker went through many hoof abscesses releasing damaged tissue (as well as ossification). Abscesses revealed the severeness of the injuries he had experienced to the various hoof structures and joints. He had a full solar abscess in the right front in October 2019. The left front had abscesses in the sole and multiple abscesses on the lateral side. His hooves were not worn down after birth and true heels never activated. The false heels never exchanged with true heels (a process meant to happen after birth). The back of the hooves went in to atrophy.

Left front January 2020 — the back of the hoof is still showing the dead corner on the lateral side

Abscess at the hock right hind in August 2018

Abscess at the hock in the right hind in April 2019

Zilker lived outside 24/7 on an amazing track system on a mountain side with two other horses. Sadly, one day he showed up ill and went suddenly. He was almost thirty years old. I wish we had more time to give him some well deserved finalized hooves to live on for a bit. The fundamental issue for Zilker's problems was atrophy of the back of the foot. Dropped fetlocks in the hinds, deformation of the front hooves and ossification of the joints were results.

Thank you for the teaching Zilker. ♥

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 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