Hoof, Body & Soul, Part III: Mission Impossible, unedited, by Gudrun Buchhofer. Blog 89, case # 89

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

Body & Soul

Case # 89

Quarter Horse

trimmed from December 2020 until October 2024

Note: The horses from my last two cases (case # 88 and 89) of this blog series (a replacement for part III: Mission Impossible of my trilogy “Hoof, Body & Soul”) were born three years apart, came from the same breeder and have different parents. They live at the same home, in the same environment, are on the same diet and they have been trimmed by the same professional barefoot trimmer from the time they were weanlings. They never had any form of shoes attached to their feet. What stayed unnoticed was the atrophy in the back of all hooves. In both cases it was not the horse's conformation. In my humble opinion: their bodies "broke down" on unfinished hooves.

I started trimming this Quarter Horse mare at the same moment in time as the Quarter Horse gelding from the previous case (case # 88). She was seven years old when I met her.

Notes from my first assessment: hooves not supporting the bone column; hooves turned out (more severe with the right front and the right hind and placing the right hind under the belly); atrophy of the back of the feet; atrophy of the white line; distortion in the outer outside wall; stress cracks in the wall from leaning on one side of the hoof capsule and from imbalance; difficulties to pick up hooves and stand for trimming; weak hind end; weak fetlock joints in all four (more severe in the hinds); distorted pasterns; muscle tension; bruised outer outside walls in the fronts (blue does not exist as a hoof colour; blue is bruising).

In the first year, after I met her, the mare lost a lot of body mass. It looked like her body was literally folding together (like a pocket knife). She had massage therapy but it took a while for her to fill out again. Unfortunately, lack of movement and standing around a feeder over the winter interfered with the healing.

The healing process of the feet were alike with the gelding from the previous case. (I started both horses on the same day.) About two years into the healing the atrophy of the back of the hooves clearly came to the surface. The frogs/bulbs opened in the centre. Frogs and bulbs began to fill out. Around the three-year-mark frogs, bulbs and internal structures had visibly developed. The coffin bone was pushed in to a healthier position from the increased internal structures. Toe length was released via divergent hooves. Eventually I was able to shorten the entire capsules from underneath. Hoof horn shifted around the coffin bones via divergent hooves = 4th dimensional healing. The hooves positioned under the bone column more and more. They were able to support the body more and more.

The final break through happened after crusher dust was added to the paddock and track. The horses were encouraged to move over firm and abrasive grounds for their hay intake.

Today, the mare is able to master challenging cross country trail rides. Sadly, well sad for me but I am happy for them, my client family moved out of the country.

December 2020 — the hooves are not supporting the bone column of the legs; she is placing the right hind under the body, counter balancing with the left front; the pasterns in the front are still straight (like they are when a foal is born)

September 2021 — It looked like her body was literally folding together (like a pocket knife)

October 2024 — bruising is fading away from blue/grey over purple over pink and then into white

Hinds December 2020 — she is placing the right hind under the belly

I am closing this case with some hoof prints from the right hind….

Right hind pre-trim August 2023 — six weeks after the last trim

Right hind pre-trim December 2023 — six weeks after the last trim

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 BuchhoferApril 12, 2026Hufprobleme, horse, hoof problems, horses, foal, Fohlenhuf, foal hoof, barhuf, barhufpflege, the natural trim, nhc, natural horse care, natural hoof care, donkeys, donkey hoof, lessonsfromthewild

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