Hoof, Body & Soul, Part III: Mission Impossible, unedited, by Gudrun Buchhofer. Blog 84, case # 84

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

Body & Soul

Case # 84

Tia

trimmed from 2015 until present in 2026

Arab/Connemara cross Tia was born in 2005. I trimmed her for a while as a yearling before she was sold by the breeder.

At birth Tia's right front hoof was white. By the time she was a yearling the foot had turned black. The hair above the hairline had turned black as well. Underlying bruising to the hoof capsule then caused the hoof to turn blue. As I happen to trim Tia again later in her life, and after working on her hooves for a few years, the right front foot turned white except for a few blue stripes. I suggest the pigmentation was killed from long-term bruising. We are now looking at “scar tissue”. The other front foot (as well as both hinds) turned dark blue/grey with some white coming in over time as well.

So, in April of 2015, when Tia was ten years old, our paths crossed again. I am trimming her ever since. My main challenge was her right front. The right pastern was twisted and the foot turned out. Everything about that foot was crooked. However, all four hooves and the whole body were involved with atrophy of the back of the hooves as the fundamental issue. The white line was atrophied for the most part as well. Except for the right front, there was a lot of bruising in the soles and the flared tips of the “false” heels were bruised as well.

I found Tia weak in her hind end. Leaning on the lateral side of the right hind hoof capsule, it was very difficult for her to pick up the left hind. Previously, Tia was hit with a rasp by a farrier because she did not lift the left hind. This was a traumatic experience for Tia and still today she fears to get hit. I trim her at liberty and let her pick up her feet on her own terms.

For the last eleven years Tia's hooves are healing (releasing bruising; building internal structures, frogs, bulbs and true heels). The hooves are shifting under the bone column more and more. Tia’s body is re-aligning in the process as well. (In 2024 we noticed her shoulders to become massive.) Her owner is supporting me in my task. Tia is turned out 24/7 in the company of other horses in a nice natural set-up with a small track. The horses are on a fairly natural diet with free choice first cut hay.

Besides that the back of her hooves went in to atrophy, most likely Tia experienced lack of movement after birth and lack of opportunities to straighten (like running along a track in a Paddock Paradise with the mother). Every foal is born crooked. Every foal bends to one side in the mother’s womb. Most likely Tia bent to the right as the photo from when she was a yearling shows all four hooves travelled to the right. I don’t know how much time (or if any at all) Tia spent in a stall after the delivery (exposed to shavings = unnatural to the hooves)? The paddock was textured but it was small as I remember (and not firm and abrasive enough). The back of the hooves never finalized after birth. The distortion (especially to the right front) happened from there.

Right front pre-trim January 2016 — bulbs are opening up nine months after I started trimming her again

Right front pre-trim September 2024 — bulbs and internal structures increased in mass; the entire hoof capsule has shifted mass around the coffin bone — one divergent hoof at a time

Right front June 2021 — internal structures increased in mass = pushing the back of the coffin bone in a healthier position = resulting in shorter toe length and steeper angle

I am bringing this case to a close by sharing some of the happier images in no particular order…

Thank you for your trust, Tia.

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 3, 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