Hoof, Body & Soul, Part III: Mission Impossible, unedited, by Gudrun Buchhofer. Blog 83, case # 83

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

Body & Soul

Case # 83

Appaloosa mare

trimmed for almost ten years from 2009 until 2019

This mare was awarded a prize for her conformation as a filly when she was five or six months old. When I was called out for trimming a year later she presented a very sad picture. I found her in extreme muscle tension and discomfort from head to tail. The bones of her legs were literally all over the place. The hind end was very weak. She braced with her front legs. She kept her head dropped. The filly was stuck with unfinished and atrophied baby hooves.

November 2009 — pasterns still long and stretched (like after birth)

Here are some of my notes about her (not in any particular order):

- tension in the tail bone

- very little tail hair (at some point her tail hair broke off almost at the end of the tail bone; it did regrow nicer and thicker in the end)

- no forelocks

- wrinkles above eyes (we always felt she had headaches)

- tension along the nuchal ligament

- tension in the TMJ

- no withers (i.e. she had pulled up her shoulders so the withers were hidden)

- the entire upper body over muscled

- horse holding herself up via muscle effort

- hooves not supporting the bone column

- pasterns still long and stretched (like after birth)

- toes of both hind hooves were “pointy” (like after birth)

- difficulties to pick up her feet especially the right front; I have to literally brace against her with all my strength

- very weak fetlocks in the hinds

- atrophy of the back of the foot (frog, bulbs, internal structures); atrophy of the sole; atrophy of the white line

- weak internal structures

- stress cracks all over the hoof capsules

- the bottom of both front hooves had a strange cup-shaped form — the way I have seen in Jensen's right hind (Blog # 3) and Katie's right hind (Blog # 34); this had nothing to do with beautiful concavity as something was very off with the looks.

- the white line in her hooves was very strange as well; it was of a more glue-like or rubbery texture. It was not like the lamina from a healthy white line. It also had a strange orange colour (different from a yellowish white line)

- the hooves never gave excess wall to trim; it was almost like they never grew much up until 2017

Very weak fetlocks in the hinds — she often rested the hind legs like this

The mare had several abscesses during the healing time releasing traumatized tissue. In 2016 huge chunks of hoof wall broke off as a new and divergent hoof was growing down with a different healing angle and hoof length. There was a major healing breakthrough in 2017 = eight years after I started trimming. True heel emerged from further back on the medial side of the left front in May of 2017. There was flaky sole to be removed and wall to be shortened in fronts and hinds. New bulbs emerged from further back. Some activity happened with the white line. It appeared the white line was coming to life. Again true heel emerged from further back in May of 2018, this time on the lateral side of the left front. The variant capsule angle-of-growth in the back of the feet completed in 2018 (a step that should have happened in the first months of her life!); frogs and bulbs filled out; internal structures thickened. The withers could be felt in 2018 which was a moment of time for a happy dance for us. The mare had finally dropped her shoulders. At some point her entire tail hair broke off at the end of the tail bone. It regrew healthier and thicker in 2018.

Right hind post-trim August 2018 — the variant capsule angle-of-growth in the back of the feet completed in 2018; a step that should have happened in the first months of her life! Toe length is shorter and toe angle is steeper than before. This is a result of the increase in internal structures = pushing up the back of the coffin bone in to a healthier position.

I trimmed the mare for almost ten years. Besides a few times while away for training she has never been ridden. She lived outside 24/7 in the company of another horse.

Due to circumstances in my clients' life the horses were re-homed — the mare remained a companion horse.

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 BuchhoferMarch 31, 2026Hufprobleme, 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